NEWTON, Iowa - William Byron's clutch, fuel-saving performance at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, resulting in his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, did more than just add five pivotal playoff points to his ledger.
It also gave him the regular season points lead back.
After Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott snatched the top spot away for each of the past two weeks, Byron put himself back atop the heap, now 18 markers clear of Elliott in second. A third teammate, Kyle Larson, is in third, 45 tallies behind.
The good news for Larson, he is the projected second seed in the playoff standings with three victories. The organization's fourth driver, Alex Bowman, remains in solid shape, 63 points above the elimination line thanks to a fifth top-10 showing in the last six races.
Here's a look at the standings with three races remaining until the playoffs begin:
NASCAR points standings today
| Driver | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Denny Hamlin | 719 (ADV) | 4 |
| 2. Kyle Larson | 725 (ADV) | 3 |
| 3. Christopher Bell | 684 (ADV) | 3 |
| 4. Shane van Gisbergen | 398 (ADV) | 3 |
| 5. William Byron | 770 (ADV) | 2 |
| 6. Chase Elliott | 752 (ADV) | 1 |
| 7. Ryan Blaney | 665 (ADV) | 1 |
| 8. Chase Briscoe | 640 (ADV) | 1 |
| 9. Bubba Wallace | 581 (ADV) | 1 |
| 10. Joey Logano | 560 (ADV) | 1 |
| 11. Ross Chastain | 544 (ADV) | 1 |
| 12. Austin Cindric | 481 (ADV) | 1 |
| 13. Josh Berry | 443 (ADV) | 1 |
| 14. Tyler Reddick | 673 (+122) | 0 |
| 15. Alex Bowman | 614 (+63) | 0 |
| 16. Chris Buescher | 574 (+23) | 0 |
| -------------- | --- | --- |
| 17. Ryan Preece | 551 (-23) | 0 |
| 18. Kyle Busch | 501 (-73) | 0 |
| 19. Ty Gibbs | 487 (-87) | 0 |
| 20. AJ Allmendinger | 456 (-118) | 0 |