{"id":879001,"date":"2026-09-01T03:52:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T03:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879001\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T03:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T03:52:35","slug":"nascar-sweet-16-why-every-driver-in-chase-could-or-could-not-win-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879001\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Sweet 16: Why Every Driver In Chase Could \u2014 Or Could Not \u2014 Win It All"},"content":{"rendered":"

The revamped Chase has 16 drivers in a 10-race mini-season after the points reset following the regular season.<\/p>\n

There are no eliminations. It all comes down to who has the most points after these 10 races. That driver will be the champion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are just 100 points separating the top-16 drivers.<\/p>\n

The Chase tracks: Darlington, St. Louis, Bristol, Kansas, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead.<\/p>\n

Here are the 16 drivers who will compete for the 2026 championship:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Denny<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: First with 2,100 (+25 ahead of second)
2026 Wins: Las Vegas, Nashville, Michigan, Pocono<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: Hamlin has the experience of competing for a title and has won at all 10 Chase tracks at some point in his career. And if it comes down to Homestead, he has the third-best average finish there of any driver, including seven top fives in 21 starts.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He\u2019s Denny Hamlin. He\u2019s not supposed to win the title. And when he gets to Homestead, he\u2019ll be older than every champion in NASCAR history.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Second with 2,075 (-25 behind leader)
2026 Wins: Phoenix, Atlanta, New Hampshire<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: This could come down to stage points, and he and Ty Gibbs have earned the most this year. Plus, he should be good at Phoenix and Martinsville, two of the final four races.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0The Penske intermediate program is just not strong enough for Blaney to compete with the Toyotas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Third with 2,065 (-35 behind leader)
2026 Wins: Daytona, Atlanta (1), Austin, Darlington, Kansas<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He\u2019s been known to go on a roll. And both Darlington and Kansas are in The Chase and those are tracks where he’s won.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0After an incredible start to the season, he’s lost momentum. Does anyone even remember that he had more than a 100-point lead in the standings earlier this year?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ty<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Fourth with 2,060 (-40)
2026 Wins: Bristol, Iowa<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He earns lots of stage points so he should be in the hunt. And he now knows how to win Cup races.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He\u2019s just a little too young. He\u2019d be the youngest champ ever. And can he really beat Denny Hamlin \u2014 his teammate \u2014 straight up over 10 races?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chase<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Fifth with 2,055 (-55)
2026 Wins: Chicagoland<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: Briscoe and the JGR No. 19 team tend to hang within striking distance. He has won the last two Southern 500s so he very well could open the race strong.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0Inconsistency could plague this team.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Sixth with 2,050 (-5)
2026 Wins: None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He\u2019s had the most top-five finishes than in any season in his career. That should continue and will be key in this new format.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He most likely will have to win a race. There\u2019s no doubt he can. But many doubt he will.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kyle<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Seventh with 2,045 (-55)
2026 Wins: None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: Larson won the 2025 title without a win in The Chase. So why not? Granted, it\u2019s a different system, but he could rack up the points.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He just hasn\u2019t had as consistent speed as he has in the past. And he needs to have that speed to compensate for the occasional mistake that results from his aggressive driving style.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chase<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Eighth with 2,040 (-60)
2026 Wins: Martinsville, Texas<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: Never count out Elliott, who can sneakily put together solid finishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0Like Larson, he just hasn\u2019t had consistent speed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: Ninth with 2,035 (-65)
2026 Wins: North Wilkesboro, Richmond<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: It\u2019s an even year, and Logano seems to perform when he needs it the most.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0It\u2019s going to take a much better performance on the intermediates for him to have a shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 10th with 2,030 (-70)
2026 Wins: None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: The guy rarely gets rattled and rarely makes mistakes.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He and his team haven\u2019t had the speed to overcome any mistakes or misfortunes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 11th with 2,025 (-75)
2026 Wins: Charlotte<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: This is his best regular-season points position of the last four years, and he has confidence.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title: He has rattled off top 10s and won Charlotte, but he hasn\u2019t been up front enough to challenge.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Carson<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 12th with 2,020 (-80)
2026 Wins: Talladega<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He seems to have an attitude that he\u2019s going to take it from the field.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0The field is determined not to let him take it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 13th with 2,015 (-85)
2026 Wins; None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: For the most part, Byron appears unflappable. But this certainly has been a trying year.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He has led only 31 laps this season. That isn\u2019t going to get it done.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bubba<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 14th with 2,010 (-90)
2026 Wins: None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He has a Toyota in his hands and will be strong at most tracks.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He just hasn\u2019t put together consistent solid results for much of the year, and The Chase will reward consistency.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 15th with 2,005 (-95)
2026 Wins: None<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: He is relatively good at staying out of trouble and if others have misfortune, he could capitalize.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title:\u00a0He didn\u2019t clinch a spot in The Chase until Daytona, a clear sign that he doesn\u2019t have the week-in, week-out speed to win the title.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Points: 16th with 2,000 (-100)
2026 Wins: Daytona<\/p>\n

Why He Will Win Title: After Daytona, he probably feels he can do anything, and there\u2019s something to be said for that confidence.<\/p>\n

Why He Won\u2019t Win Title: He was a bubble driver because, until Daytona, Preece has been good and not great. Drivers typically don\u2019t make that big of a jump in the final 10 races.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT\"4<\/a><\/p>\n

In the 11th hour, Ryan Preece’s walk-off win at Daytona secured his spot in The Chase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The revamped Chase has 16 drivers in a 10-race mini-season after the points reset following the regular season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[2331,49,48,26749,10662,10328,37447,3932,5793,4386,634,8354,15224,82,47148],"class_list":["post-879001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-bubba-wallace","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carson-hocevar","tag-chase-briscoe","tag-christopher-bell","tag-daniel-suarez","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-joey-logano","tag-kyle-larson","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-ryan-blaney","tag-sports","tag-ty-gibbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}