Ryan Blaney leads all drivers in stage points at COTA
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Ryan Blaney led all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in stage points during Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Blaney earned 16 stage points Sunday – nine for a second-place finish in stage one and seven for a fourth-place finish in stage two. He finished sixth and led one lap after winning the pole.
Teammate Joey Logano earned the second-most stage points – 15 – despite multiple spins dropping him to a 31st-place finish Sunday.
Logano earned seven points for a fourth-place finish in the first stage and eight points for a third-place finish in the second stage. Between the stages, he also led two laps.
Logano bested stage one winner Daniel Suarez and stage two winner Denny Hamlin in points Sunday. Suarez and Hamlin each earned 10 stage points.
Suarez did not earn any points in stage two after he spun at the start of the stage. He finished 24th overall, with 15 laps led.
Hamlin finished 17th in stage one and did not earn any points. He finished 18th overall with three laps led.
Other stage points earners during Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas:
Kyle Busch (9), Alex Bowman (8); Kyle Larson, Harrison Burton, Aric Almirola (6), Austin Dillon and Justin Haley (5), Chase Elliott (4); Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain (3), Bubba Wallace (1).
William Byron failed to earn stage points Sunday. Byron lead the series in stage points and earned points in four straight races, including Phoenix and Atlanta where he won stage one in each race.
Overall, 28 of the 39 points-earning drivers have earned at least one stage point in each of the first six races.
STAGE POINTS THROUGH COTA
William Byron – 55
Ryan Blaney – 50
Joey Logano – 49
Kyle Larson – 47
Chase Elliott – 46
Tyler Reddick – 35
Chase Briscoe – 33
Alex Bowman – 33
Martin Truex Jr. – 29
Denny Hamlin – 29
Erik Jones – 27
Ross Chastain – 26
Daniel Suarez – 23
Brad Keselowski – 22
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 21
Kevin Harvick – 17
Kyle Busch – 17
Aric Almirola – 16
Austin Cindric – 14
Bubba Wallace – 13
Austin Dillon – 13
Kurt Busch – 9
Todd Gilliland – 9
Christopher Bell – 7
Harrison Burton – 6
Cole Custer – 5
Justin Haley – 5
Chris Buescher – 4
The stage point totals in this report do not include points earned during the Daytona qualifying races.
STAGE WINS
Eight total drivers have won a stage in 2022.
Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr. lead the field with two stage wins apiece, while Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain have won one stage each.
PLAYOFF POINTS
Nine drivers have picked up at least one playoff point this season. William Byron leads the way with 7 points, followed by Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain with 6 points. Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are next with 5 points apiece.
Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick have each earned two points. Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez have each earned one point.
STAGE POINTS EXPLAINED
NASCAR awards the Top-10 finishers of Stages 1 and 2 in points-awarding races, with the exception of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May (three stages award points there).
A stage winner earns 10 points, which is added to the points they earn for their finishing position. Second place in a stage earns nine points, third place earns eight and so forth.
OUTLOOK
The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled for Sunday, April 3, at Richmond Raceway.
Alex Bowman is the defending winner. He earned 11 stage points last April. Denny Hamlin swept both stages but finished second overall to Bowman.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com