Austin Cindric took a major step toward a Chase berth with a top-five run in the Cook Out 400NASCAR Richmond race on Aug. 15.
Cindric earned a third-place finish at Richmond. Combined with 14 stage points, the Team Penske driver moved to 15th in points, 57 points ahead of the Chase cutline.
Joey Logano earned the win at Richmond, moving to eighth in points and staking claim as a 2026 championship contender.
Shane van Gisbergen is 16th in points, 50 points ahead of Ryan Preece at the Chase cutline.
Here's the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings:
RACE RECAP: NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond: Live updates, highlights, leaderboard for the Cook Out 400
NASCAR points standings, Cup Series points update after Richmond race
Unofficial after Cook Out 400, 24 of 26 regular-season races complete; top 16 drivers make the Chase following the Daytona summer race
- Denny Hamlin 969 points, +452 to 17th place (locked into Chase)
- Ryan Blaney +337 (locked into Chase)
- Ty Gibbs +325 (locked into Chase)
- Tyler Reddick +314 (locked into Chase)
- Chase Briscoe +198
- Chase Elliott +178
- Christopher Bell +178
- Kyle Larson +143
- Joey Logano +142
- Chris Buescher +136
- Carson Hocevar +128
- William Byron +113
- Daniel Suarez +101
- Bubba Wallace +70
- Austin Cindric +57
- Shane van Gisbergen +50
- Ryan Preece -50 behind 16th
- Ross Chastain -63
- Brad Keselowski -78
- Erik Jones -81
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR points standings: Cup Series points update after Richmond race, Chase picture