The primary 4 months of the 2026 Cup Collection season have seemingly created a large hole between the true contenders for the championship within the return of The Chase format and people which are simply competing for a spot within the 16-driver discipline.
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin are blitzing the sector as we enter the summer season stretch of tracks, whereas the likes of Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs are racing persistently sufficient to be potential opponents that may knock off Reddick and Hamlin by the point September comes round for the 10-race Chase.
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Within the latter half of the present high 16 after Sunday’s occasion at Pocono Raceway, there’s a longtime purgatory of proficient drivers caught in a funk that’s plagued their respective campaigns.
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a bunch that consists of Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and three-time Cup Collection titleholder Joey Logano, this trio appeared like surefire locks to make the sector of 16. Now, all three of their spots are in limbo due to a string of dangerous luck catalyzed by their very own unforced errors, and at tracks the place that they had a bit extra management of their future versus what’s to return.
Whereas it was early within the season, each Wallace and Logano have been as soon as safely inside the highest 10 in factors, and it was futile to think about them drivers on the surface wanting in because the push to The Chase ramped up. Now in mid-June, the No. 22 Group Penske driver finds himself 18th in factors, 21 factors off teammate Austin Cindric for the ultimate provisional spot within the postseason. Wallace, now thirteenth, owns only a 43-point buffer to the cutline.
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Keselowski was ninth after Watkins Glen, and it took simply 4 races to backside out with 4 finishes of thirtieth or worse within the final 5 races as he’s now the primary driver exterior the highest 16.
If we set Keselowski, Wallace and Logano’s numbers post-Kansas, it’s been a nightmare for the trio.
Simply 4 high 10s mixed in a seven-race stretch between Talladega and Pocono. Wallace delivered the one high 5 at Michigan with a third-place run.
Common end in that stretch among the many three? 24.8. Not good.
So it’s solely becoming that their woes would lead to a direct collision course at Pocono because the trio was caught up in a down the frontstretch that ended Keselowski’s day and parachuted Wallace and Logano to finishes exterior the highest 20.
LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 14: The #6 Castrol Ford pushed by Brad Keselowski is towed after an on-track incident throughout the NASCAR Cup Collection Nice American Getaway 400 offered by VISITPA at Pocono Raceway on June 14, 2026 in Lengthy Pond, Pennsylvania. (Picture by James Gilbert/Getty Pictures)
And what lies forward are present tendencies that don’t favor all three, and a wide selection of tracks the place managing factors might be extremely tough.
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Legacy Motor Membership’s rise is clear proper now. Erik Jones vaulted to fifteenth in factors with a second straight high 10.
Shane van Gisbergen, whereas equally struggling like Keselowski, Wallace and Logano, might actually run up the rating over the subsequent two weeks at Naval Base Coronado and Sonoma Raceway. Similar goes for Michael McDowell, who might not take care of SVG for victories, however will stack the deck on factors to be inside placing vary of the Chase bubble.
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Christopher Bell and William Byron aren’t having nice seasons for his or her requirements, however their shares are rising regardless of up-and-down finishes. Chase Briscoe is just getting higher and rose to twelfth after Pocono. Spire Motorsports teammates Daniel Suárez and Carson Hocevar (eighth and ninth in factors, respectively) could also be too quick for the bubble drivers to catch as much as.
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Nonetheless, the subsequent stretch of the schedule gives an equal mixture of optimism and outcome horrors that might practically paint the image of who might be in The Chase and who might be left pondering what went unsuitable.
After back-to-back street programs in California, it’s off to Chicagoland Speedway in NASCAR’s return journey for the primary time since 2019. Then, it’s EchoPark Speedway for Sunday evening motion and pack-racing that may actually trigger a stir. Following EchoPark, the primary factors race at North Wilkesboro Speedway since 1996. The slate then culminates with the crown jewel Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which may all the time be treacherous to navigate.
Quite a lot of racing to go and nonetheless ten races to resolve the postseason fates of a lot of the discipline, however as we’ve seen how sturdy begins can shortly flip bitter in sports activities (too quickly, San Antonio Spurs followers?), it could already be desperation mode for Wallace, Keselowski and Logano to avoid wasting their seasons.
