Ten different drivers have won the 16 races this season, with four of them winning multiple times. Martin Truex Jr is the latest to add his name to that list after his dominant victory today at Sonoma. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 51 of the 110 laps and cruised to a three-second win over runner-up Kyle Busch. It is the second win of the season for Truex, who moved from fifth to fourth in the playoff standings.

William Byron continues to lead the way by virtue of his three wins with Busch right behind him with his three. Byron's teammate Kyle Larson remains third in the standings after today's top-ten result. Ross Chastain moved ahead of Kevin Harvick by one point while Chris Buescher swapped places with his teammate and owner, Brad Keselowski. Alex Bowman was able to slide into the final playoff position (16th) taking it away from Daniel Suarez. That puts three of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the playoffs, with one glaring omission.

Chase Elliott returned to the seat of his No. 9 Chevrolet today after serving a one-race suspension last weekend at Gateway. Elliott has ten races remaining in the regular season to notch a win, which is what it will take for the 2020 Cup champion to make the postseason. It will be one of the biggest storylines to follow over the next couple of months.

Hamlin was not able to finish the race at Charlotte two weeks ago, when he was taken out by Elliott. He had another DNF today when he took himself out by smacking the concrete wall with 19 laps remaining. It was a brutal blow for the pole sitter, but Hamlin remains in 7th place in the playoff standings with his lone victory.

2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings
Pos Driver Team Race Wins
1William ByronHendrick Motorsports3
2Kyle BuschRichard Childress Racing3
3Kyle LarsonHendrick Motorsports2
4Martin Truex JrJoe Gibbs Racing2
5Ryan BlaneyTeam Penske1
6Christopher BellJoe Gibbs Racing1
7Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing1
8Joey LoganoTeam Penske1
9Tyler Reddick23XI Racing1
10Ricky Stenhouse JrJTG Daugherty Racing1
11Ross ChastainTrackHouse Racing0
12Kevin HarvickStewart Haas Racing0
13Chris BuescherRFK Racing0
14Brad KeselowskiRFK Racing0
15Bubba Wallace23XI Racing0
16Alex BowmanHendrick Motorsports0