This past weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma marked the 16th and final run before the 2021 All-Star Race. This coming weekend will see the best drivers in NASCAR compete for a shot at $1 million in the annual All-Star event. Of course, this is a non-points race with the regular season set to resume next weekend in Nashville. As such, it is a good time to visit the updated NASCAR stats and points standings to get a clear picture of how the season is shaping up. After all, when points racing resumes, there will be just ten races remaining before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

NASCAR Cup Series Standings Update

Refer to the table below for the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings through the first five races of the season. The table also includes additional NASCAR Cup Series stats including Wins, Top-5 Finishes, Top-10 Finishes and Total Laps Led. The table is sortable by driver and statistic for your viewing convenience.

Car NumberDriverStandings PointsWinsTop-5'sTop-10'sStage Wins
22Joey Logano1771231
20Christopher Bell1760340
1Ross Chastain1720123
12Ryan Blaney1610130
6Brad Keselowski1600121
4Kevin Harvick1550230
8Kyle Busch1531130
19Martin Truex Jr.1450010
11Denny Hamlin1400020
99Daniel Suarez1290130
2Austin Cindric1260011
47Ricky Stenhouse Jr.1241110
17Chris Buescher1220110
7Corey LaJoie1130110
45Tyler Reddick1110220
23Bubba Wallace1020110
16A.J. Allmendinger920010
34Michael McDowell920000
54Ty Gibbs900010
48Alex Bowman850240
43Erik Jones820010
3Austin Dillon800010
14Chase Briscoe720010
42Noah Gragson680000
38Todd Gilliland680000
41Ryan Preece630000
10Aric Almirola630000
24William Byron552223
21Harrison Burton510000
51Cody Ware500000
9Chase Elliott490110
5Kyle Larson430221
77Ty Dillon310000
31Justin Haley-250010

NASCAR Cup Series Stats Update

Refer to the table below which includes several different NASCAR Cup Series stats through the first five races of the season. The table is sortable by driver and statistic for your viewing convenience. Commentary on several notable stats can be found below.

Note: Only drivers running a full-time Cup Series schedule are included in the table.

Car NumberDriverAverage FinishDriver RatingPass Differential% Laps Led
11Denny Hamlin8.7107.0+8114.1
5Kyle Larson10.3108.5+23727.3
22Joey Logano10.897.7-76.8
9Chase Elliott10.998.7+2544.1
4Kevin Harvick11.290.5+571.9
18Kyle Busch11.499.4+1334.4
24William Byron11.997.1+644.5
2Brad Keselowski12.690.9+685.3
19Martin Truex Jr.12.897.6+21011.9
12Ryan Blaney13.188.8+325.9
3Austin Dillon13.479.4-80.2
48Alex Bowman14.088.3+993.0
8Tyler Reddick14.479.6+460.4
20Christopher Bell16.184.401.1
1Kurt Busch17.381.9+603.6
17Chris Buescher17.471.6-1341.5
42Ross Chastain17.874.3+250.8
21Matt DiBenedetto17.972.8-1291.1
34Michael McDowell18.365.5-790.5
47Ricky Stenhouse Jr.19.069.2+640.5
99Daniel Suarez19.864.4-531.4
23Bubba Wallace20.168.8-150.9
14Chase Briscoe20.561.7-370.1
43Erik Jones21.060.6-240.1
10Aric Almirola21.864.8-721.1
6Ryan Newman21.959.2-1560
41Cole Custer22.060.7+190
37Ryan Preece22.160.1+570.2
7Corey LaJoie25.550.7-150.2
38Anthony Alfredo27.244.3-2160.1
52Josh Bilicki32.432.5-450
00Quin Houff33.032.5-1260

Average Finish

The average finish statistic is the mean finishing position of the drivers across all races in 2021. Although it has been a quiet stretch of races for Denny Hamlin (7.7), he continues to lead all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in this statistic as he has for seemingly the entire year to date. Behind Hamlin, the list has shifted a great deal over the last several weeks. It has been the Hendrick Motorsports show on the track of late. The same can be said for the average finish and NASCAR stats. Chase Elliott (10.1), William Byron (10.6) and Kyle Larson (10.8) line up in order behind Hamlin in this statistic. The fourth Hendrick driver, Alex Bowman (15.6), ranks 13th in average finish on the season but has two wins in his pocket. 

Credit: AP Photo/John Locher

Driver Rating

The Driver Rating statistic is often one of the best indicators of exactly how well a NASCAR Cup Series driver is performing. With so much happening within a race, it makes sense to have a quantifiable statistic that is based on a combination of factors. A maximum of 150 Driver Rating points are available in a single race. Of course, it would require a perfect run to obtain a full 150. The Driver Rating formula combines the following:

  • Wins
  • Finishing Position
  • Top-15 Finish
  • Average Position While Running on the Lead Lap
  • Average Speed Under Green
  • Fastest Laps
  • Most Laps Led
  • Lead-Lap Finishing Position 

Once again, we see Denny Hamlin (109.8) holding the line atop this NASCAR stats category. However, things have shifted behind him in the driver rankings as well. On the heels of back-to-back dominant performances at Charlotte and Sonoma, Kyle Larson (108.9) is nipping at the bumper of the No. 11 car to take over the top spot in this statistic. Larson is now one of two NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three victories on the season to date. The other, Martin Truex Jr. (102.4) ranks third in driver rating. Joey Logano (102.4) and William Byron (100.5) round out the shortlist of five drivers with average ratings of 100 or better this season.

Pass Differential

The Pass Differential statistic indicates how many positions a driver has won or lost by way of passing over the course of a race. Those who have completed a greater number of green flag passes than they have been passed will have a positive number in this NASCAR Cup Series stats category. On the contrary, a driver who has been passed more times than he has passes completed will have a negative number. 


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It comes as no surprise that a Hendrick Motorsports driver sits atop this NASCAR stats category. That said, some might be surprised to see Chase Elliott (+191) with a sizable lead over Kyle Larson (+158) in pass differential. There is an explanation for this though. For as dominant as Larson has been, he has spent so much time leading races recently that he has not had to make as many passes. 

A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in Kyle Busch (+123) and Martin Truex Jr. (+112) are the only other two with a pass differential greater than 100 through the season’s first 16 races. A couple of other drivers with strong showings in this category include Alex Bowman (+94), Tyler Reddick (+65) and Ryan Preece (+42). Being fast while racing under green is always something to note!

Percentage of Laps Led

The percentage of laps led is calculated by dividing the sum of laps that a driver has led by the total number of laps that they have completed. It comes as no major shock that Kyle Larson holds a sizable lead in this NASCAR stats area. After dominating each of the last two races from start to finish, the No. 5 car has now led 28.6% of laps, good for over a quarter of the laps run this season. Although he hasn’t spent a lot of time out front recently, Denny Hamlin (17.6%) remains second on this list. 

The only other driver to lead more than 10% of laps on the year is Hamlin’s JGR teammate, Martin Truex Jr. (14.8%). Things drop off quickly after that with just two more drivers having turned greater than 5% of all circuits out in front. Both Joey Logano (8.3%) and Ryan Blaney (5.6%) drive for Team Penske.


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Henry’s passion for sports dates all the way back to childhood and has ultimately led to a full-fledged career as an analyst and content creator. After getting his start penning fantasy football articles, he forrayed into the betting side of the business in early 2019. His love for sports and statistics proved to be an ideal match with the dedicated research and strategy that handicapping requires. Henry currently specializes in betting analysis and picks for college football, college basketball and NASCAR. He counts the NFL, the WNBA, and NBA player props as additional leagues/markets of interest. Henry graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2021 with a Communication Studies degree and a Psychology minor. A native of the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York, he and his pup, Harold, have since relocated to Laramie, Wyoming. Thanks to his professional goals within the sports betting industry, there has been a whole lot of steam on the odds for a move to Las Vegas in 2023! Most of Henry’s free time is spent on outdoor adventures, playing chess, snowboarding, or reading a good book. He is also a competitive powerlifter and aspires to qualify for the USAPL Nationals meet within the next 2-3 years.

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