Chase Elliott moved up to fifth place in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings following the Chicagoland race weekend, according to Hendrick Motorsports’ official standings update published July 5. Teammate William Byron also made a move, climbing into the top 12 — a stretch of momentum that gives the powerhouse organization two drivers firmly inside the playoff picture heading into the heart of the regular season.
The non-obvious detail worth pausing on: both Elliott and Byron gained ground at a street circuit — Chicagoland’s downtown road course configuration — a track type that historically favored road-course specialists over traditional oval experts. That both Hendrick cars ran well there underscores how broad the team’s setup capability has become in 2026.
How Elliott got to fifth in the NASCAR points standings
Elliott’s climb to fifth is his highest position of the 2026 season so far. The No. 9 Chevrolet has been building consistency over the past several weeks, collecting solid stage points even in races where the win didn’t come. In NASCAR’s current points format, that kind of grinding accumulation matters: drivers earn points for laps led, stage wins, and finishing position, so a driver who runs in the top ten repeatedly can leapfrog someone who swings for wins but crashes out.
Fifth place also puts Elliott comfortably inside the automatic playoff cutline with enough buffer that a bad weekend won’t knock him out of the postseason conversation. He has not yet locked in a win for the 2026 playoffs, so continuing to bank points is the safe — and smart — strategy for the No. 9 team right now.
Byron breaks into the top 12 after a rocky stretch
William Byron’s return to the top 12 is arguably the bigger story from a team-wide perspective. The No. 24 car spent several weeks hovering just outside that threshold, which in a season where the playoff field is 16 drivers deep still represents meaningful security. Cracking the top 12 gives Byron’s crew chief room to take calculated risks on pit strategy rather than playing it safe purely to protect points.
Byron has historically been a strong road-course performer — he’s put together competitive runs at Sonoma and the Charlotte ROVAL in recent seasons — so a rebound at Chicagoland fits his profile. The question now is whether he can hold the position through the midsummer oval stretch before the playoff cut-off races arrive in the fall.
Kyle Larson’s spot in the running order
The Hendrick update also referenced Kyle Larson’s position in the standings. Larson has remained a consistent threat near the top of the points all season, and his presence gives Hendrick Motorsports three drivers capable of making deep playoff runs. For a team that fields four Cup entries, having that kind of depth is a logistical and strategic asset — multiple cars on different strategies can gather information and, in some cases, help each other in green-flag pit sequences.
Alex Bowman, Hendrick’s fourth driver, is also working to stay within striking distance of the cutline as the regular season winds toward its final stretch.
What the standings mean for the playoff race
The NASCAR Cup Series regular season ends in mid-September, after which the field locks into 16 playoff drivers. Right now, any driver inside the top 16 in points who hasn’t won a race is still fighting to either steal a victory — which auto-qualifies them — or hold their points position against winless drivers who are doing the same thing.
Elliott’s fifth-place standing and Byron’s top-12 slot put Hendrick Motorsports in an enviable position: two cars with enough cushion to race aggressively rather than defensively. That freedom tends to produce better results, which could mean more points, more stage wins, and potentially a race victory that locks one or both into the playoffs before the cutoff even arrives.
For broader context on how financial volatility and sporting momentum intersect this summer, a historic market warning signal has investors watching risk assets closely — a backdrop that also affects NASCAR’s major sponsorship deals. And if you’re tracking other live-event stories from the July 4th weekend, the Brooklyn Bridge caught fire during NYC’s fireworks show, making for a dramatic holiday news cycle.
The next Cup Series race gives both Elliott and Byron a chance to either extend their leads or, if results go sideways, watch the drivers just behind them close the gap. Given the points margins at this stage of the season, one race can swing the standings by several positions — so Chicago is a strong result, but not one either Hendrick team can coast on.
