2026 NASCAR Chase

The top 16 drivers battle across 10 races with reseeded points. No eliminations, no rounds. Cumulative points crown the champion.

Chase Drivers

2,100

Top Seed Points

Points Per Win

How The Chase Works

After 26 regular-season races, the top 16 drivers in points qualify for The Chase. Their points are reset based on seeding; the regular-season leader starts with a 25-point cushion. All 16 drivers then compete across 10 Chase races, with the driver who accumulates the most points crowned champion. There are no elimination rounds or single-race championship finales.

No Eliminations Points Reset 55 pts/win (up from 40)

Chase Points Reset

When The Chase begins, all 16 drivers receive reseeded points based on their regular-season finishing position.

Seed	Starting Points	Gap to #1	Note
1	2,100	—	25-point cushion
2	2,075	-25
3	2,065	-35
4	2,060	-40
5	2,055	-45
6	2,050	-50
7	2,045	-55
8	2,040	-60
9	2,035	-65
10	2,030	-70
11	2,025	-75
12	2,020	-80
13	2,015	-85
14	2,010	-90
15	2,005	-95
16	2,000	-100

2026 Chase Race Schedule

Race	Date	Race Name	Track
27	Aug 23	Dollar Tree 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
28	Aug 29	Coke Zero Sugar 400	Daytona International Speedway
29	Sep 6	Cook Out Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
30	Sep 13	Enjoy Illinois 300	World Wide Technology Raceway
31	Sep 19	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway
32	Sep 27	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway
33	Oct 4	South Point 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway
34	Oct 11	Bank of America 400	Charlotte Motor Speedway
35	Oct 18	Freeway Insurance 500	Phoenix Raceway
36	Oct 25	Yellawood 500	Talladega Superspeedway
37	Nov 1	Xfinity 500	Martinsville Speedway
38	Nov 8	NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Season Finale	Homestead-Miami Speedway

Season finale

2026 Chase Cutline

Full standings →

Pos	Driver	Team	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Behind
1	Denny Hamlin IN	Joe Gibbs Racing	969	4	14	16	—
2	Ryan Blaney IN	Team Penske	854	2	5	16	-115
3	Ty Gibbs IN	Joe Gibbs Racing	842	2	10	15	-127
4	Tyler Reddick IN	23XI Racing	831	5	10	14	-138
5	Chase Briscoe IN	Joe Gibbs Racing	715	1	10	13	-254
6	Chase Elliott IN	Hendrick Motorsports	695	2	6	9	-274
7	Christopher Bell IN	Joe Gibbs Racing	695	0	10	12	-274
8	Kyle Larson IN	Hendrick Motorsports	660	0	8	12	-309
9	Joey Logano IN	Team Penske	659	2	5	9	-310
10	Chris Buescher IN	RFK Racing	653	0	2	10	-316
11	Carson Hocevar IN	Spire Motorsports	645	1	5	9	-324
12	William Byron IN	Hendrick Motorsports	630	0	4	11	-339
13	Daniel Suarez IN	Spire Motorsports	618	1	2	6	-351
14	Bubba Wallace IN	23XI Racing	587	0	3	10	-382
15	Austin Cindric IN	Team Penske	574	0	2	5	-395
16	Shane van Gisbergen IN	Trackhouse Racing	567	2	5	7	-402
17	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing	517	0	0	5	-452
18	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	504	0	1	5	-465
19	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	489	0	2	6	-480
20	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	486	0	2	5	-483

Chase eligible (top 16)

Cutline

NR-Rating Championship Probabilities

These projections are generated by the NR-Rating model using Monte Carlo simulations of the remaining season. Each simulation accounts for driver Elo ratings, track-specific performance, and historical variance to estimate championship and Chase qualification odds.

#	Driver	Champ %	Chase Qual %	Exp. Wins	Exp. Points
1	Denny Hamlin	19.2%	100.0%	0.9	1,420
2	Ryan Blaney	14.0%	100.0%	0.9	1,297
3	Tyler Reddick	11.1%	100.0%	0.9	1,279
4	Chase Briscoe	8.7%	99.3%	0.9	1,169
5	Christopher Bell	8.4%	99.1%	0.9	1,148
6	Chase Elliott	7.8%	98.8%	0.9	1,141
7	Kyle Larson	7.5%	97.5%	0.9	1,108
8	Chris Buescher	6.5%	97.3%	0.9	1,101
9	Joey Logano	6.0%	97.1%	0.9	1,099
10	William Byron	4.6%	95.5%	0.8	1,069
11	Ryan Preece	2.9%	84.9%	0.8	980
12	Ross Chastain	1.7%	75.2%	0.8	933
13	Brad Keselowski	0.9%	63.8%	0.7	898
14	Alex Bowman	0.4%	41.0%	0.5	727
15	Bubba Wallace	0.1%	66.7%	0.3	934
16	Ty Gibbs	0.1%	99.5%	0.3	1,171
17	Michael McDowell	0.0%	32.3%	0.4	806
18	Anthony Alfredo	0.0%	0.8%	0.0	102
19	Justin Allgaier	0.0%	16.1%	0.2	284
20	A.J. Allmendinger	0.0%	2.6%	0.0	604
21	Josh Berry	0.0%	5.3%	0.1	534
22	Josh Bilicki	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	1
23	Austin Cindric	0.0%	4.9%	0.0	761
24	Cole Custer	0.0%	1.7%	0.0	420
25	Austin Dillon	0.0%	5.2%	0.1	593
26	Ty Dillon	0.0%	0.1%	0.0	311
27	Chad Finchum	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	1
28	Joey Gase	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	7
29	Todd Gilliland	0.0%	7.4%	0.1	655
30	Noah Gragson	0.0%	0.2%	0.0	358
31	Corey Heim	0.0%	1.2%	0.0	116
32	Riley Herbst	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	406
33	Austin Hill	0.0%	1.0%	0.0	97
34	Timmy Hill	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	4
35	Carson Hocevar	0.0%	9.7%	0.0	821
36	Jimmie Johnson	0.0%	1.5%	0.0	139
37	Erik Jones	0.0%	5.5%	0.1	696
38	Katherine Legge	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	10
39	Kevin Magnussen	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	17
40	B.J. McLeod	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	8
41	Zane Smith	0.0%	2.6%	0.0	577
42	Daniel Suarez	0.0%	18.6%	0.1	846
43	Cody Ware	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	192
44	J.J. Yeley	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	1
45	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0.0%	0.8%	0.0	488
46	Connor Zilisch	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	282
47	Shane van Gisbergen	0.0%	24.7%	0.2	845
48	John Hunter Nemechek	0.0%	4.1%	0.0	284
49	Casey Mears	0.0%	6.0%	0.1	226
50	Jesse Love	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	1
51	Daniel Dye	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	6
52	John Nemechek	0.0%	0.0%	0.0	285

Updated August 16, 2026 at 11:09 AM via NR-Rating Monte Carlo pipeline

Chase Scenario Calculator

Assign finishing positions for remaining Chase races to explore championship what-if scenarios. Stage points not included in calculator estimates.

Race 27: New Hampshire Moto... - Aug 23

Denny Hamlin Ryan Blaney Ty Gibbs Tyler Reddick Chase Briscoe Chase Elliott Christopher Bell Kyle Larson Joey Logano Chris Buescher Carson Hocevar William Byron Daniel Suarez Bubba Wallace Austin Cindric Shane van Gisbergen

Race 28: Daytona Internatio... - Aug 29

Race 29: Darlington Raceway - Sep 6

Race 30: World Wide Technol... - Sep 13

Race 31: Bristol Motor Spee... - Sep 19

Race 32: Kansas Speedway - Sep 27

Race 33: Las Vegas Motor Sp... - Oct 4

Race 34: Charlotte Motor Sp... - Oct 11

Race 35: Phoenix Raceway - Oct 18

Race 36: Talladega Superspe... - Oct 25

Race 37: Martinsville Speed... - Nov 1

Race 38: Homestead-Miami Sp... - Nov 8

Rank	Driver	Seed Pts	Total	+/-	NR-Rating Champ %
1	Denny Hamlin	2,100	2,100	—	19.2%
2	Ryan Blaney	2,075	2,075	—	14%
3	Ty Gibbs	2,065	2,065	—	0.1%
4	Tyler Reddick	2,060	2,060	—	11.1%
5	Chase Briscoe	2,055	2,055	—	8.7%
6	Chase Elliott	2,050	2,050	—	7.8%
7	Christopher Bell	2,045	2,045	—	8.4%
8	Kyle Larson	2,040	2,040	—	7.5%
9	Joey Logano	2,035	2,035	—	6%
10	Chris Buescher	2,030	2,030	—	6.5%
11	Carson Hocevar	2,025	2,025	—	—
12	William Byron	2,020	2,020	—	4.6%
13	Daniel Suarez	2,015	2,015	—	—
14	Bubba Wallace	2,010	2,010	—	0.1%
15	Austin Cindric	2,005	2,005	—	—
16	Shane van Gisbergen	2,000	2,000	—	—

NR-Rating odds reflect full-season Monte Carlo simulation (pre-scenario baseline) and do not update with manual scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the 2026 NASCAR Chase work?

The top 16 drivers in the regular-season standings qualify for The Chase, which spans the final 10 races. Points are reset with the top seed starting at 2,100 points and the 16th seed at 2,000 points. There are no elimination rounds; the driver with the most cumulative points after all 10 Chase races wins the championship.

How is the 2026 format different from the old playoffs?

The old playoff format (2014-2025) used four elimination rounds where the bottom 4 drivers were cut after every 3 races, culminating in a winner-take-all Championship 4 finale. The 2026 Chase has no eliminations, no rounds, and no single-race championship. It's a full 10-race points battle, rewarding consistency across the entire Chase.

How many drivers make The Chase?

16 drivers qualify for The Chase based on their position in the regular-season points standings after 26 races. Unlike the previous format, a race win no longer automatically clinches a Chase spot; only points standings determine qualification.

How does the Chase points reset work?

The top seed receives 2,100 points, the second seed 2,075, and the third seed 2,065. Seeds 4 through 16 are separated by 5 points each (2,060 down to 2,000). The regular-season points leader gets a 25-point cushion over the second seed as a reward for sustained excellence.

When does the 2026 NASCAR Chase start?

The 2026 Chase begins on Sunday, August 23, 2026 with the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The 10-race Chase runs through the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 8, 2026.

Where is the 2026 NASCAR Championship race?

The 2026 season finale is at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 8, 2026. The driver leading the Chase standings after this race is crowned champion.

How many points does a race win earn in 2026?

Race winners earn 55 points in 2026, up from 40 points in the previous format. This increase is designed to reward aggressive racing and winning over cautious point-saving strategies. Playoff points (earned from stage wins and race wins carrying over as bonus points) have been eliminated.

How do the NASCAR playoffs work in 2026?

In 2026, NASCAR replaced the elimination-style playoffs with The Chase. The top 16 drivers in regular-season points after 26 races qualify. Their points are reset (the top seed starts at 2,100 and the 16th seed at 2,000) and all 16 compete across 10 Chase races with no eliminations. The driver with the highest cumulative points after all 10 races wins the championship.

Explore More

Champions Records Dynasties Explore All