Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Sonoma: Truex makes it a legit Big 3

Martin Truex Jr. served notice that he’s set to seriously defend his title against the two top drivers in 2018 so far, making the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings that much more interesting as a result.

Don’t look now, but Martin Truex Jr. is actually ahead of the torrid pace he set last year en route to winning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. After 16 2017 races, he had just two wins — he ended up with eight — but his victory in the 2018 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday already gives him three this season.

You’d probably already know that if it weren’t for two other drivers casting a big shadow over the Cup Series standings. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch combined to win nine of the 15 races prior to Sonoma, so they deserved the attention they were getting. Alas, people were already talking about a “Big 3” when it came to contenders for this year’s title, and Truex’s third victory makes that even more true than it was before.

The other race winners shouldn’t be forgotten either, as Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer (who has two wins) are all comfortably locked into the playoffs as well. But they, as well as the drivers who are going to make the postseason on points, have a long way to go before they convince anyone that the Big 3 needs to be expanded to four or more. They have 10 races left to do just that.

2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Sonoma

(regular season race 16 of 26)

1. Kyle Busch, 696 points, four wins and 25 playoff points
2. Kevin Harvick, -72, five wins and 26 playoff points
3. Joey Logano, -112, one win and seven playoff points
4. Brad Keselowski, -142, four playoff points
5. Martin Truex Jr., -150, three wins and 18 playoff points
6. Clint Bowyer, -152, two wins and 10 playoff points
7. Kurt Busch, -172, two playoff points
8. Denny Hamlin, -192, two playoff points
9. Kyle Larson, -224
10. Aric Almirola, -225
11. Ryan Blaney, -230, four playoff points
12. Jimmie Johnson, -277
13. Chase Elliott, -285
14. Erik Jones, -320
15. Alex Bowman, -333 (currently in playoff cutoff position)
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., -350
17. Paul Menard, -358
18. Austin Dillon, -383, one win and five playoff points
19. Daniel Suarez, -406
20. William Byron, -407
21. Jamie McMurray, -412
22. Ryan Newman, -420
23. AJ Allmendinger, -436
24. Bubba Wallace, -441
25. Chris Buescher, -450
26. David Ragan, -456
27. Michael McDowell, -472
28. Kasey Kahne, -477
29. Ty Dillon, -498
30. Matt DiBenedetto, -520
31. Trevor Bayne, -541
32. Gray Gaulding, -589
33. Cole Whitt, -609
34. Landon Cassill, -621
35. D.J. Kennngton, -638
36. Matt Kenseth, -647
37. Corey LaJoie, -647
38. Jeffrey Earnhardt, -661
39. Reed Sorensen, -665
40. Brendan Gaughan, -672