The NASCAR Cup Series entered the midpoint of 26 regular season games, with the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Racing.
Currently, the drivers who have won at least once this season have held 16 playoffs, seven: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry.
This is good and bad news for the team entering Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 Cup.
23xi racing - Good news: Tyler Reddick made the top ten in all five of his Coca-Cola 600 seasons, including last year's fourth place. Bad news: Bubba Wallace has ranked 33rd in each of the past two games, downgrading him from seventh to tenth in the standings. …Reddick is in the top 10 of his last six cup points matches. …Riley Herbst is ranked 27th or worse in six of his last nine points.
Kurt Busch won 34 Cups and 2004 Cup Championship
Front Row Motorsports - Good News: Todd Gilliland is ranked 16th or higher in five of the last six games. …Zane Smith has 6 top 20 in the past seven-point game. …Noah Gragson won the All-Star fan vote for the third consecutive year. Bad news: Gragson hasn't finished the game in his three Coca-Cola 600 starts.
Haas Factory Team - Good News: Cole Custer has two top 20 in the last three games. ...These two top 20 scores are after he starts to 20 or higher. Bad news: Custer has started 30 or worse five times this year.
Hendrick Motorsports - Good News: Kyle Larson's three wins, eight top five, nine top 10 and 817 laps lead this season is the most in the Cup career of the top 12 points this season... Larson won six in the final eight stages of the season. …Larson tried to be the second driver of the past 20 years, racing the same day in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. …William Byron finished fourth or higher in three of the last four Cokes. …Chase Elliott leads the last six Coca-Cola 600s. …Alex Bowman has five top 10 out of his last seven Coke 600. …Henderick Motorsport riders accounted for 41.6% of the races this season, with the team's highest lap since 1996 receiving 12 games (44.1%). Bad news: Since its debut in the 2014 playoff format, it has continued to win the championship in 12 games. He led the scoring in 2017 (eliminated in 12 rounds) and in 2024 (eliminated in 8 rounds).
Hyak Motorsports - Good News: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Bad news: His sixth place in Texas is his only top 10 in his last 13 races on the 1.5-mile track.
Joe Gibbs Racing - Good News: Christopher Bell finished first or second in five of the 12-point game this season, winning three times and getting the second and two times. …Bell, the defending Coca-Cola 600 champion, entered the weekend after he won the All-Star Game at North Wilkesboro Motor Speedway. …Chase Briscoe has completed his best fourth and fourth different period of the season this year. …Ty Gibbs will start his 100th Pro Cup this weekend. … Gibbs won the pole position and finished sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. Bad news: JGR leads the 21 laps this year on just 1.5 miles of track, with the team having the least four games in the 1.5 miles since 1994. …Brisco ranked 20th or worse in three of his four Coca-Cola 600 starts.
Christopher Bell has won five points and All-Star Games since last year's Coca-Cola 600.
Caurig Racing - Good News: AJ Allmendinger finished four top 10s on the 1.5-mile track in his last six races. Bad news: Allmendinger has ranked 36th and 38th in the season rankings in the last two games. …Ty Dillon was the only top ten cup race on the 1.5-mile track in February 2020.
Traditional Auto Club - Good News: John Hunter Nemechek has ended four top ten this year with his highest match in a season. …Nemechek has finished eighth (Texas) and tenth (Kansas) in the final two points. …Jimmie Johnson will start his 700th Pro Cup this weekend, becoming the 21st driver to reach that point in season history. …Johnson finished third in the Daytona 500, his only start before the weekend. Bad news: Erik Jones has won a stage point since the Daytona 500.
Richard Childers Racing - Good News: Kyle Busch finished seven top 10 in his last eight games, in the Coca-Cola 600. …2017 Coke 600 champion Austin Dillon has twice finished the top 10 in the last four Coke 600s. Bad news: RCR has only ranked in the top five this season. …Dillon scored three straight top 10 wins in Kansas 22nd. …Busch has surpassed the top 15 in six of his last eight points.
Rick Ware Racing - Good News: Cody Ware won the best career of the 1.5-mile track (18th place) in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600. Bad news: After 12 games, Ware ranked last among 36 full-time drivers.
RFK Racing - Good News: RFK Racing announced Monday that it will fine Chris Buescher and his team, including being docked for 60 points and 10 playoff points due to violations found after Kansas. …Ryan Preece will start his 200th Pro Cup this weekend. …Preece has four top ten this season. The most are five in his Cup career. Bad news: Buescher has surpassed the top 10 in four of his last six points. …Brad Keselowski failed to finish the last three games. …He has the highest five DNFs this year.
Roush Fenway Keselowski racer ranked second, then the remaining 17 laps were sent to the rear.
Spire Motorsports - Good News: Michael McDowell's team entered the Coca-Cola 600 after winning the pit challenge in North Wilkesboro last weekend. …Carson Hocevar has earned points in five of the last eight stages. Bad news: Justin Haley finished the top ten in his last 17 races with a 1.5-mile track (this year 10th in Miami). …McDowell finished the top ten on the 1.5-mile track in his last 22 races.
Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Gragson competed in the All-Star Game.
Team Penske - Good news: Ryan Blaney has won 1.5 miles of track in each of the last two games, ranking third in Texas and Kansas. …Joey Logano’s win this season was on the 1.5-mile track in Texas. Bad news: Austin Cindric never ranked 20th among the three Coca-Cola 600 starts. …Blaney’s average of 19.7 in Charlotte is his worst on the 1.5-mile track. …Logano is in the top 10 of seven of seven of the last eight cokes, including the most recent five.
Joey Logano talked about how Bell competed for him: “When I went back to watch it again, I thought, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
Track and Field Racing - Good News: Connor Zilisch, 18, started his second Pro Cup this weekend. …Daniel Suarez will start his 300th Pro Cup this weekend. …Ross Chastain has an average of 10.0 in the last six games. Bad news: Chaston has averaged 27.7 in the last six games. …Shane van Gisbergen scored 28 times last year in his only Coke 600 start. …Suarez has surpassed the top 20 in two quarters of four of the last five cokes.
Wood Brothers Racing - Good News: Josh Berry finished tenth in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. …Berry has won a win on the 1.5-mile track this season (Las Vegas) and two top 10 (Las Vegas and Kansas). Bad news: Since the Las Vegas victory, Berry has finished the top ten in seven games.