Kyle Busch, William Byron, Martin Truex surge as NASCAR Cup draws closer to playoffs

After 16 races plus the NASCAR All-Star Race and the preseason Busch Clash, Cup Series drivers finally get some time to rest.

The series has the weekend off, giving teams an opportunity to take stock before the regular season resumes on June 25 with 10 races remaining before the playoffs.

For some struggling drivers, the break will come at a welcome moment, affording teams time to reassess and recalibrate. For others, it (temporarily) halts the momentum built up in the first half of the season.

“I don’t know if I want an off week. Let’s go, right? We’re rolling right now,” Kyle Busch said after finishing second at Sonoma Raceway last weekend.

Here’s a look at where things stand at the break, with NBC and USA taking over the broadcasts from Fox beginning next weekend:

CUP SERIES SCHEDULE: How to watch NASCAR races in 2023

Different but same

A lot of things changed for Busch between 2022 and 2023, but one thing has remained constant: The two-time Cup series champion still knows how to find victory lane. After spending the previous 15 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch departed for Richard Childress Racing and picked up right where he left off. His team and crew chief may be different, his number may have changed – from 18 to 8 – and his car no longer features M&Ms (or Skittles or Snickers), yet Busch continues to win. His three victories and nine top-10 finishes are tied for the most among all drivers through the first 16 races.

Hendrick's top dog

In a bit of a surprise, it's not 2021 champion Kyle Larson or 2020 champion Chase Elliott that leads powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports in 2023, but the team's youngest driver: William Byron. The 25-year-old is tied for the series lead in wins (three) and top-10s (nine), and he stands alone with seven top-fives. Byron ranks second in points, and like Busch, is locked into the playoffs. Larson has notched two victories and probably should have had more if not for some unfortunate bad luck – an untimely caution flag when leading in one case and wrong-place-wrong-time crashes in other instances.

Tried and true-x

Martin Truex Jr. was at a crossroads, contemplating retirement following a winless 2022 season – the first since 2014 in which he failed to reach victory lane. Good thing for the 2017 series champion and his team, Joe Gibbs Racing, that he put those thoughts to rest because this season has been a return to form. Truex scored his second victory of the season last weekend at Sonoma Raceway and surged into the points lead, making it clear that last year was an anomaly. Two of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell – each have a victory as well, putting three JGR drivers solidly into playoff contention.

Farewell No. 4

Unlike Truex, Kevin Harvick did opt for retirement, with the 2014 series champion announcing that 2023 will be his last as a full-time Cup driver before he moves into the Fox broadcast booth as an analyst in 2024. The 47-year-old has yet take the checkered flag this season in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, but Harvick still ranks in the top five in points. And Harvick will hit some very favorable tracks in the near future, including two where he is the defending race winner – Michigan International Speedway, where has triumphed six times, and Richmond Raceway, where he has four wins. The future NASCAR Hall of Famer has also won four times at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which is also on the summer schedule.

Grabbing the spotlight

Ross Chastain has been the center of attention – for better or for worse – since last season when he broke through with new team Trackhouse Racing for two victories en route to finishing as the surprise runner-up for the 2022 championship. Along the way, Chastain has won over a multitude of fans but has also angered a number of his fellow drivers with his aggressive driving, most notably Hamlin. His go-for-broke attitude and, some would say, reckless driving style continued in the first half of 2023. He's had multiple on-track incidents with Larson, including last month at Darlington Raceway, as well as Noah Gragson at Kansas Speedway – which resulted in a post-race fight – and Brennan Poole at Dover Motor Speedway. But Chastain has also proved that 2022 was no fluke. While the 30-year-old has yet to reach victory lane this season, he held the points lead earlier this spring and still sits in the top five with seven top-10 finishes and five top-fives.

Playoff picture

Sixteen drivers will make the 10-race playoffs, and a win can lock a driver in – presuming there aren't more than 16 winners in the first 26 races. There have been 10 different winners through the first 16 races, and while it's possible that seven new winners will emerge in the next 10 races, it's a good bet that any driver that currently has a win will be racing for a championship. A win is not the only way reach the playoffs, however. If there are fewer than 16 winners, then the top winless drivers in the standings would also secure postseason berths.

Get to the point(s)

Well, alrighty then. Here are the top 16 drivers in the standings through the first 16 races (with wins in parentheses):

1. Martin Truex Jr. (2), 525; 2. William Byron (3), 512; 3. Ryan Blaney (1), 501; 4. Ross Chastain (0), 501; 5. Kevin Harvick (0), 500; 6. Kyle Busch (3), 496; 7. Christopher Bell (1), 493; 8. Denny Hamlin (1), 462; 9. Joey Logano (1), 444; 10. Kyle Larson (2), 440; 11. Chris Buescher (0), 430; 12. Brad Keselowski (0), 424; 13. Tyler Reddick (1), 420; 14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1), 400; 15. Bubba Wallace (0) 354; 16. Alex Bowman (0), 331.

Wait, where is Elliott?

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Chase Elliott is nowhere to be found in the top 16.

NASCAR's most popular driver has had an eventful year. Before the March 5 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Elliott fractured his tibia in a snowboarding accident in Colorado and missed six races after having surgery. Two months after he returned, NASCAR suspended Elliott on May 30 for one race when series officials ruled that he acted intentionally when he made contact with Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600. Those seven missed races have left the Hendrick Motorsports driver floundering in 27th place in the standings, though NASCAR has granted Elliott a playoff waiver should he make the 16-driver field. But because Elliott is so far back in points, he will need to win one of the remaining 10 races to clinch a playoff berth. That victory could come next weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, where Elliott is the defending race winner.