What Is the NASCAR Cup Series?
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top tier of American stock car racing — the premier national championship that sits at the summit of the NASCAR ladder, above the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. It is where the sport's biggest names, deepest-funded teams, and most-watched races live.
A Cup season runs from February to November and is built around a regular season followed by a playoff, with the championship decided at the season-ending finale. Three manufacturers field cars — Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota — and the marquee organizations spend the year chasing both individual race wins and the season-long title.
For the live, always-current order of the championship, see the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series standings — updated after every race.
The 2026 Championship Picture
Through the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (July 12, the 20th points race of the season), Denny Hamlin leads the championship with 791 points, now 24 ahead of Tyler Reddick. Hamlin has overtaken the 23XI Racing driver, who paced the field earlier in the year. Reddick holds a series-high five wins to Hamlin's four, but Hamlin's consistency has carried him to the top of the board.
The top of the standings, through 20 races:
- Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), 791 points, the points leader, four wins.
- Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing), 767 points, 24 back, a series-high five wins.
- Ryan Blaney (Team Penske), 726 points, third, two wins.
- Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing), 665 points, fourth.
- Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports), 610 points, fifth, two wins and the most popular driver in the sport.
- Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports), 594 points, sixth, still carrying a lengthy Cup winless streak, the most-watched slump in the garage.
Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse's Shane van Gisbergen, and RFK's Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski round out the contenders. The full, live board is on the standings page.
Teams and Manufacturers
The Cup garage is defined by a handful of powerhouse organizations:
- Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) — the winningest team in series history; Elliott, Larson, William Byron.
- Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) — Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe.
- Team Penske (Ford) — Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric.
- 23XI Racing (Toyota) — co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan; home of Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.
- Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) — Shane van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain.
- RFK Racing (Ford), Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet), Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet), Kaulig Racing, and Legacy Motor Club fill out the field.
2026 Storylines
Hamlin takes the points lead. Tyler Reddick built a commanding early lead with a series-high five wins, but Denny Hamlin's consistency has flipped the standings: through 20 races Hamlin holds a 24-point edge over Reddick, turning an early runaway into a fight.
Remembering Kyle Busch. The 2026 season was marked by the death of two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch on May 21, 2026. The loss reverberated across every national series in the days that followed, with tributes throughout the Memorial Day race weekend at Charlotte. Richard Childress Racing renumbered his Cup entry from the No. 8 to the No. 33 in the aftermath. Busch's final victory had come just days earlier in the Truck Series at Dover.
Larson's winless streak. Kyle Larson, one of the sport's most talented drivers, has carried a long Cup winless run deep into 2026 — a storyline that follows him to every track.
Hamlin's hot streak. Denny Hamlin won three straight Cup points races at Nashville, Michigan, and Pocono — the first three-race win streak of his career — to pull within 19 points of the championship lead. His Pocono win was his fourth of the season and a record eighth at the track. Earlier in the year he also won the first-ever Dover All-Star Race from the pole.
The Hall calls. The NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2027 — Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Larry Phillips — will be inducted in Charlotte in January 2027.
Crown Jewels and Notable 2026 Races
- Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte Motor Speedway) — NASCAR's longest race at 600 miles, run Memorial Day weekend under a "250 Years of America" theme and the Mission 600 military-honor program.
- NASCAR San Diego Weekend — Anduril 250 "Race the Base" (Naval Base Coronado) — the Cup Series' first-ever race weekend at a U.S. naval installation, run June 21, 2026 and won by Corey Heim, the defending Truck Series champion, his first career Cup victory on his 12-race development slate with 23XI Racing.
The complete calendar is on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
How to Watch
Cup races are carried across NASCAR's broadcast partners, including FOX, FS1, and streaming on Amazon Prime Video (the Coca-Cola 600 aired on Prime Video). Radio coverage is on the Performance Racing Network (PRN), the Motor Racing Network (MRN), and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Check the schedule for the broadcast window of each race.
Why It Matters
The Cup Series is the summit of stock car racing — the championship every driver in the CARS Tour, the Craftsman Truck Series, and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series is climbing toward. For Grand National Today, the Cup Series is the top of the ladder we cover end to end: the same drivers, teams, and tracks that shape regional racing all point here. Every Cup weekend sets the agenda for the entire sport.