William Byron dominated the Penzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5 to be the third different driver to win a race in the young 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.  With just three races of the 36 race season completed, it is still way to early for any predictions about how many different winners will be a part of the playoffs this season – there were 19 different winners last year – or who holds the edge on winning the championship.

After three races, “Melon Man” Ross Chastain leads the point standings 129 points and 2,018 in the playoff standings.

On Friday, Chase Elliott was injured in a snowboarding accident that required surgery and putting Elliott on the sidelines for an undetermined amount of time.  Hendrick Motorsports has officially filed for a waiver with NASCAR allow Elliott to participate in the playoffs should he either win a race or earn enough points to make it in the playoffs once he returns.  NASCAR has not responded as of yet.

Cup Series point standings:
Ross Chastain – 129
Alex Bowman – 126
Kevin Harvick – 108
Daniel Suarez – 104
Martin Truex Jr – 102
Denny Hamlin – 99
Christopher Bell – 94
Kyle Busch – 92
Joey Logano – 92
Chris Buescher – 90
Brad Keselowski – 87
Ricky Stenhouse Jr – 86
William Byron – 85
Kyle Larson – 85
Ryan Blaney – 81
Bubba Wallace – 69
Austin Cindric – 69
Corey LaJoie – 68
AJ Allmendinger – 54
Ty Gibbs – 53
Aric Almirola – 52
Michael McDowell – 52
Justin Haley – 50
Chase Elliott – 49
Harrison Burton – 46
Austin Dillon – 42
Todd Gilliland – 41
Erik Jones – 37
Cody Ware – 35
Noah Gragson – 35
Ryan Preece – 29
Chase Briscoe – 28
Travis Pastrana – 26
Tyler Reddick – 26
BJ McLeod – 25
JJ Yeley – 18
Ty Dillon – 18
Jimmie Johnson – 10

Cup Series Playoff Standings:
Ross Chastain – 2,018
Alex Bowman – 2,010
Kyle Busch – 2,008
Kevin Harvick – 2,008
William Byron – 2,007
Daniel Suarez – 2,007
Martin Truex Jr – 2,006
Ricky Stenhouse – 2,005
Denny Hamlin – 2,005
Christopher Bell – 2,004
Joey Logano – 2,002
Chris Buescher – 2,001
Brad Keselowski – 2,001
Kyle Larson – 2,000
Bubba Wallace – 2,000
Ryan Blaney – 2,000


In the Xfinity Series Austin Hill leads in the point standings with 156 points after winning the opening race of the season in Daytona and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Xfinity Series point standings:
Austin Hill – 156
Justin Allgaier – 135
John Hunter Nemechek – 132
Chandler Smith – 122
Riley Herbst – 112
Sam Mayer – 95
Cole Custer – 88
Josh Berry – 85
Joe Graf Jr – 78
Parker Kligerman – 77
Sammy Smith – 73
Jeb Burton – 71
Ryan Sieg – 65
Daniel Hemric – 65
Brett Moffitt – 63
Sheldon Creed – 61
Brandon Jones – 59
Kyle Sieg – 55
Parker Retzlaff – 51
Jeremy Clements – 51
Anthony Alfredo – 51
Josh Williams – 50
Kaz Grala – 43
Myatt Snider – 33
Alex Labbe – 28
Joey Gase – 28
Jeffrey Earnhardt – 28
Stefan Parsons – 24
Gray Gaulding – 23
Parker Chase – 21
Kyle Weatherman – 21
Brennan Poole – 20
David Starr – 17
Bayley Currey – 17
Ryan Ellis – 15
Jade Buford – 12
Blaine Perkins – 9
Jesse Iwuji – 7
CJ McLaughlin – 7
Josh Bilicki – 6
Patrick Emerling – 3
Garrett Smithley – 1


With a shorter schedule, the Craftsman Truck Series has only run two races in 2023.  Driving the first of his five Truck Series races, Kyle Busch notched Truck Series win number 62 on Friday night.  While Busch gets credit for the win, he does not earn any points since he is committed to the Cup Series.  The 2022 champion and Daytona winner Zane Smith leads the  points in the Truck Series with 85 points.

Craftsman Truck Series point standings:
Zane Smith – 85
Ty Majeski – 83
Christian Eckes – 81
Matt Crafton – 81
Ben Rhodes – 77
Grant Enfinger – 77
Carson Hocevar – 73
Matt DiBenedetto – 66
Tanner Gray – 65
Chase Purdy – 65
Corey Heim – 62
Tyler Ankrum – 62
Colby Howard – 52
Timmy Hill – 36
Stewart Friesen – 32
Nicholas Sanchez – 31
Jake Garcia – 27
Rajah Caruth – 26
Daniel Dye – 25
Kris Wright – 24
Mason Massey – 23
Jason White – 22
Dean Thompson – 22
Josh Reaume – 20
Derek Kraus – 19
Lawless Alan – 17
Jason M. White – 16
Max Gutierrez – 16
Spencer Boyd – 14
Jack Wood – 14
Hailie Deegan – 14
Chris Hacker – 12
Kaden Honeycutt – 12
Matt Mills – 11
Bret Holmes – 9
Codie Rohrbaugh – 4
Clay Greenfield – 3