Chasing The Chase: Looking at Chase Prospects After DAYTONA 500

It’s a brand-new, but also, at the same time, kind of old, era in NASCAR.

THE CHASE is returning to the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, and for the first time in more than a decade, drivers will be focused on racing for points, rather than winning at all costs – an unfortunate biproduct of the win-and-you’re-in aspect of the previous championship format.

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Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Chumba Casino Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, kicked off the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign with a victory in the prestigious DAYTONA 500, a win that was widely harrolded by the sports world, as team co-owner, basketball legend Michael Jordan, got to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy.

Although at times the racing at Daytona International Speedway can be unpredictable, winning the DAYTONA 500 is typically a pretty good sign, as far as making the post-season is concerned. Trevor Bayne (2011) was the last driver who won ‘The Great American Race’ to not advance to the post-season, although the format in the years since is not identical to what the series will use in 2026.

Only Michael McDowell (2021) and Austin Dillon (2018) managed to fall out of the top-16 in NASCAR Cup Series point standings after winning the DAYTONA 500 by the end of the 26-race regular season, during NASCAR’s now extinct elimination-style format.

From 2004 to 2010, while using a championship framework that closely resembles that of the current-year NASCAR Cup Series — with the exception of the number of qualified drivers — there were only four instances in which a driver who won the DAYTONA 500 didn’t make the post-season. However, Jeff Gordon (2005), Ryan Newman (2008), Matt Kenseth (2009), and Jamie McMurray (2010) all would have made the post-season if the field size were 16 drivers.

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Reddick, by virtue of taking the victory in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway (which after an off-season change gives him 55 points) holds an advantage in the standings over America 250 Florida Duel winners Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, who sit 12 and 15 points behind him, respectively.

The Corning, California-native has a 32-point advantage over 16th-place heading into the second race of the campaign at EchoPark Speedway, but with an early wreck or an in-race issue for the 23XI Racing driver at the second superspeedway event of the year, that gap could easily be erased.

With solid finishes in the DAYTONA 500, the following drivers are currently in THE CHASE after the first of 26 regular-season events in 2026:

Kyle Busch, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, played a fantastic example of the points racing mentality that drivers will need in 2026. Busch, with two laps remaining in the event, chose to back out of the draft, anticipating a wreck. What ended up happening? A wreck, and as a result, Busch made it through and finished 15th, instead of the 24th he was running when he chose to bail from the lead draft. That made him up nine points.