Before the race at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, NASCAR announced that points leader Chase Elliott had indeed clenched the regular season championship.  Once the field of 16 playoff drivers is set, Elliott will be awarded an additional 15 bonus points for the win.

The only four race winner this season, Elliott took the points lead after the fifth race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has remained on the top ever since.

The only category Chase Elliott does not lead this season is stage point wins, which is held by Martin Truex Jr with seven.  However, Elliott does lead the stage point standings with 220 points.  Teammate Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney are tied for second with 187 each.

Stage Point Standings:
Chase Elliott – 220
Kyle Larson – 187
Ryan Blaney – 187
Joey Logan’s – 184
Ross Chastain – 169
William Byron – 165
Martin Truex Jr – 160
Christopher Bell – 139
Kyle Busch – 138
Denny Hamlin – 125
Erik Jones – 96
Chase Briscoe – 96
Tyler Reddick – 94
Daniel Suarez – 89
Kevin Harvick – 82
Alex Bowman – 80
Kurt Busch – 77
Aric Almirola – 66
Bubba Wallace – 64
Brad Keselowski – 47
Austin Cindric – 47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr – 43
Chris Buescher – 34
Cole Custer 33
Harrison Burton – 33
Ty Dillon – 33
Austin Dillon – 31
Todd Gilliland – 26
Michael McDowell – 19
Justin Haley – 19
Joey Hand – 14
Corey LaJoie – 3
Cody Ware – 2

In the overall Cup Series standings, Chase Elliott has a lead of over 100 points with 922; his closest competitor is Kyle Larson with 788.

 Chase Elliott also leads in the playoff standings with 2,040.

The Cup Series Playoff Standings:
Chase Elliott – 2,040
Kyle Larson – 2,023
Ross Chastain – 2,021
Joey Logano – 2,021
William Byron – 2,014
Kevin Harvick – 2,013
Denny Hamlin – 2,013
Ryan Blaney – 2,013
Tyler Reddick – 2,012
Christopher Bell – 2,011
Chase Briscoe – 2,009
Kyle Busch – 2,008
Kurt Busch – 2,007
Daniel Suarez – 2,007
Austin Cindric – 2,006
Alex Bowman – 2,006

The only race winning driver who has not secured a spot in the playoffs is Kurt Busch because he has been out of the car with a concussion and is not expected to return before the playoffs.

While AJ Allmendinger leads the point standings in the Xfinity Series with 887 points, it is Ty Gibbs who leads in the playoffs with five wins and 2,038 points.

The Xfinity Series drivers still have a few more races remaining in their regular season.