NASCAR Chase standings updated after Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington

The 2026 Cook Out Southern 500 is complete, and it was Christopher Bell who took the checkered flag at Darlington. The action started at the green flag, and there was big movement in the Chase standings as a result.

In a race that saw a red flag rain delay, points leader Denny Hamlin suffer damage from Michael McDowell, and William Byron suffer an engine failure, the shakeup was on. Oh yeah, and Christopher Bell snapped a winless streak that included 7 runner-up finishes on his way to a big win to open the Chase.

The Cook Out Southern 500 was the 27th race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season and the first race of the Chase. Below are the updated Chase points standings following Darlington.

1. Denny Hamlin 2,135 points 2. Christopher Bell -12 points 3. Ryan Blaney -16 points 4. Tyler Reddick -24 points

5. Chase Briscoe -37 points 6. Ty Gibbs -39 points 7. Kyle Larson -49 points 8. Chase Ellliott -72 points

9. Joey Logano -72 points 10. Bubba Wallace -81 points 11. Chris Buescher -88 points 12. Carson Hocevar -89 points

13. Daniel Suarez -94 points 14. Austin Cindric -102 points 15. Ryan Preece -104 points 16. William Byron -114 points

On Sunday, September 13th, NASCAR makes its return to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) in Madison, Illinois, for the Enjoy Illinois 300. This will be the sixth race on USA Sports, which will carry NASCAR coverage through the end of the season.

The race begins at 5:00 p.m. ET. It will be televised on USA Network.

This will be the second race in the 2026 Chase. With Darlington in the rearview, the 16-team field turns its attention to Gateway.

In last year’s Enjoy Illinois 300, Denny Hamlin was the pole winner, led the most laps, had the fastest lap of the race, and took the checkered flag. The win punched Hamlin’s ticket to the Round of 12 in the old NASCAR Playoff format.

It was career win No. 59 for Hamlin. He now has 64 career wins in the Cup Series.