Larson joins 500 career stage points club
Kyle Larson became the third driver in the history of the Monster Energy Cup Series Sunday to earn 500 stage points since the introduction of stage racing in 2017.
Larson netted 17 points between his top-five stage finishes in the Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, bringing his career total to 507.
The only other drivers who have scored more stage points are Martin Truex Jr. (572) and Kyle Busch (557). Both drivers hit the 500-point stage mark earlier this year.
Kevin Harvick (497) is the next driver on the all-time stage points list who could mathematically hit the mark by earning three or more points next Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
PLAYOFF POINTS EARNED
Thirteen drivers have acquired playoff points through 17 races.
If the postseason started today, Busch would lead all drivers with playoff points earned solely through stage wins and race wins.
Busch, the 2015 series champion, has earned 30 playoff points between his five stage wins and five race victories.
Harvick, who has won five races and nine stages, has the second most playoff points at 27.
Rounding out the top five are Martin Truex Jr. (18), Clint Bowyer (10) and Joey Logano (7).
OVERALL
In total, 30 drivers have earned stage points, with 12 of them winning stages in 2018.
With the exception of the Coca-Cola 600 in May (four stages), every points awarding race in 2018 is broken up into three stages.
Each of the first two stages awards points to the top-10 finishing drivers. A first-place finish earns 10 points, second-place gets nine points, and so forth.
STAGE POINTS/STAGE WINS/PLAYOFF POINTS AFTER CHICAGOLAND
| RANK | DRIVER | POINTS | WINS | PLAYOFF |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 197 | 5 | 30 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 186 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | 177 | 9 | 27 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 136 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | 133 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Kyle Larson | 130 | 1 | |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 128 | 3 | 18 |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 124 | 10 | |
| 9 | Joey Logano | 123 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Denny Hamlin | 96 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 77 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | 68 | ||
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | 68 | ||
| 14 | Erik Jones | 39 | ||
| 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 38 | ||
| 16 | Paul Menard | 35 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | A.J. Allmendinger | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Ryan Newman | 22 | ||
| 19 | William Byron | 20 | ||
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 20 | ||
| 21 | Alex Bowman | 18 | ||
| 22 | Daniel Suarez | 16 | ||
| 23 | Jamie McMurray | 13 | ||
| 24 | Austin Dillon | 7 | 5 | |
| 25 | Kasey Kahne | 7 | ||
| 26 | Ty Dillon | 5 | ||
| 27 | David Ragan | 5 | ||
| 28 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 5 | ||
| 29 | Trevor Bayne | 4 | ||
| 30 | Chris Buescher | 4 |
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.