Through the first four races of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series, Bubba Wallace has secured the highest number of stage points, establishing an early advantage in the season standings. Wallace added six stage points at Phoenix Raceway, bringing his total to 40 points so far this year.
Following closely are Ryan Blaney with 35 stage points and Tyler Reddick with 31. These totals reflect the early competitiveness among top drivers in the season.
Top Competitors in Stage Points This Season
Austin Cindric and Chris Buescher complete the top five with 29 and 23 stage points, respectively. Altogether, 30 drivers have scored stage points during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, highlighting a broad spread of competition across the field.
The standings through Phoenix Raceway are as follows:
Bubba Wallace – 40
Ryan Blaney – 35
Tyler Reddick – 31
Austin Cindric – 29
Chris Buescher – 23
Joey Logano – 21
William Byron – 20
Christopher Bell – 19
Daniel Suarez – 19
Carson Hocevar – 18
Ty Gibbs – 18
Denny Hamlin – 16
A.J. Allmendinger – 15
Chase Elliott – 15
Michael McDowell – 12
Kyle Busch – 11
Ross Chastain – 11
Shane Van Gisbergen – 11
Kyle Larson – 10
Zane Smith – 10
Chase Briscoe – 8
John Hunter Nemechek – 8
Todd Gilliland – 8
Ryan Preece – 7
Alex Bowman – 6
Riley Herbst – 6
Cole Custer – 3
Brad Keselowski – 2
Connor Zilisch – 2
Noah Gragson – 1
Understanding NASCAR Stage Points System
Stage points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in each stage of a points race, except for certain events such as the Clash, Duels, and All-Star Race. Most races have two stages, while the Coca-Cola 600 features three.
The first-place finisher in each stage earns 10 points, with points decreasing by one for each position down to 1 point for the 10th place. These stage points are combined with the points awarded based on the driver’s overall finishing position in the race—40 points for a win, 34 for second, and descending to 1 point for positions 36 through 40.
The totals reported do not include points earned during the Daytona qualifier races for this season.
