LOUDON, N.H. — William Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch rank first, second and third in NASCAR Cup Series points with seven races remaining in the regular season. With four, two and three race wins, respectively, all three drivers are sitting pretty with their projected playoff standings.
Yet none are comfortable.
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The Cup Series regular-season champion will be celebrated for the seventh consecutive year in 2023. He will receive a massive trophy and bragging rights, but all contenders agree the title is a crucial target for a different reason.
“It’s a big deal for all of us; 15 points is a lot of bonus points, so that’s really what we’re all after,” said Truex ahead of Monday’s Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Noon ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Added Busch: “I was looking at [points] about race two or three. I think you always try to keep a pulse on it.”
Byron echoed the sentiment: “Obviously it’s a big deal. We just have to control it with the way we perform. Certainly those bonus points are really important.”
The driver who wins the regular-season title will earn 15 bonus points — the equivalent of three race wins — toward his playoff total. That provides a hefty advantage when the Round of 16 begins Sept. 3 at Darlington Raceway, and the boost can extend throughout the playoffs if the driver continues to advance.
Truex, for example, used the 2017 regular-season title to propel himself to his first Cup Series championship. There was no point during that year’s 10-race playoff stretch when Truex did not lead the standings. Of course, his four playoff race wins to match his four regular-season victories helped the cause.
Busch also understands the value of bonus points having won the 2019 Cup Series championship in the wake of his regular-season title.
Including Kyle Larson in 2021, three of the six drivers who were celebrated as regular-season champs and awarded the bonus points went on to win the overall title. Those who did not were Busch (2018), Kevin Harvick (2020) and Chase Elliott (2022).
The value of the regular-season championship is clear even if the current top three contenders differ on how to earn it.
Busch said his Richard Childress Racing team needs to focus over the next several races on stage points.
“I was doing a points study earlier this week, and we’re 120 stage points [behind] William Byron,” he said. “And if I had half of that, I’d be leading the points by 20. That’s what it’s going to come down to.
“We know our weaknesses. We’re still trying to figure out how to improve [and] make it so we don’t have weaknesses.”
Truex noted steadiness as his key to remaining part of the regular-season title chase. He said he and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team need to “be smart” about their strategy while simultaneously “grinding it out” against tough competition.
“You have to run up front consistently to be in that conversation,” Truex said. “You’re not going to take big risks to try to throw Hail Marys or anything like that.”
Byron’s approach with his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team doesn’t change in the face of the potential incentives that come with a regular-season championship. They already have their figurative gas pedal touching the floor.
“We don’t really try any harder; we’re trying as hard as we can every week,” Byron said. “[Truex] has been strong, so we just need to keep up our effort and performance.”
All Cup Series title contenders are aware Monday’s Crayon 301 at New Hampshire might re-shuffle the standings. Christopher Bell, who rests just one point behind Busch for third in the standings, earned the Busch Light Pole Award. He also punched his playoff ticket last season with a victory at New Hampshire.
Truex will start alongside his JGR teammate on the front row Sunday. Byron battled steering issues in practice but managed to qualify seventh. Busch crashed during the final round of qualifying.
Multiple unknowns are in play. While Busch downplayed the impact, nobody knows for sure how a new tire setup will modify both the racing and the strategy in the Crayon 301. Bell said the car felt completely different Saturday than it did on the same tire setup during a test in the spring.
And, naturally, for the summer, rain is a possibility for a race in which wet-weather equipment will be available.
The formula points to potential chaos in the standings.
As if these drivers aiming for a regular-season championship weren’t uncomfortable enough.