Following Christopher Bell's win Sunday at Circuit of The Americas, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver now has back-to-back wins this season. He is the first driver to multiple wins and achieved both wins at completely different tracks.
Bell surged ahead of a struggling Kyle Busch and held off William Byron and Tyler Reddick to pick up his 11th career win. Chase Elliott rallied from a Lap 1 spin to finish fourth while Busch faded to fifth after leading a race-best 42 laps.
Road course ace Shane van Gisbergen, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Todd Gilliland completed the top 10.
Updated Cup Series standings after EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA
Despite Bell's two wins in the opening three races, he is not the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader. With finishes of first (Daytona 500), 27th (Atlanta) and second (COTA), Byron leads the standings with 116 points. 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is two points back in second while Reddick is third, five points behind Byron.
The two-race winner Bell sits tied for fourth with Elliott (-21) while Bubba Wallace (-22), Alex Bowman (-29), Michael McDowell (-31), Kyle Busch (-35) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-36) complete the top 10 in the current points standings.
Notable drivers outside the top 10 in points after three races include three-time champion Joey Logano (13th, -39), 2021 champion Kyle Larson (16th, -45), Denny Hamlin (17th, -49) and Brad Keselowski (26th, -73). While the veteran drivers are off to rough starts, the win-and-in with the current playoff format is all most drivers need to make the playoffs, meaning their difficult three-race opening stretch can easily be overcome with a winning performance. If the playoffs started today, Larson would hold the four-point edge over Hamlin as the 16th driver in points. Obvious, things are going to change, but that is the position drivers currently find themselves in after COTA.
Chevrolet drivers possess six of the top 10 spots in points while Toyota has three and Blaney is the lone Ford driver. With a variety of races looming over the next few months, the standings are sure to experience a major shake up as drivers and teams go to different tracks. For now, Byron holds the slim advantage with three races in the books.
One thing to keep in mind is the importance of both regular season points standings and playoff standings. While drivers with wins vault to the top of the points and guarantee themselves a playoff spot assuming there are no more than 16 winners, the overall points are equally important. The regular-season champion by season's end will earn an additional 15 playoff points, second-place will get 10 and drivers third-10th in points will receive points in descending order all the way down to one point for 10th.