Top-10 lap leaders halfway through the season
Through the first half of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, we’ve seen 13 different points-awarding race winners in 18 races and 14 drivers lead at least 100 laps.
The Top-10 drivers who have led the most laps this season have all been out front for at least 200 circuits. Only two drivers in the Top-10 in that category have not found Victory Lane in a points race this year.
William Byron (570 laps led)
Byron has found Victory Lane twice this season (Atlanta and Martinsville) and has picked up three stage wins. However, Byron hasn’t led a lap since the Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway four races ago.
Byron has led laps in 11 races this season.
Chase Elliott (549)
Tied with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron in wins, Elliott has also earned two stage wins and has led laps in 10 races this season.
Ross Chastain (426)
Chastain hasn’t led laps since the Coke 600 four races ago, but his two wins (Austin and Talladega), along with three stage victories, has the Trackhouse Racing driver with the third-most laps led.
Chastain has led laps in eight races this season.
Kyle Busch (399)
Busch has led laps in 12 races this season, including just one lap in his Bristol Dirt Race victory in April.
In addition, Busch has won one stage.
Ryan Blaney (390)
Ryan Blaney has led the most laps among drivers who have yet to win a points-awarding race in 2022. Blaney has earned five stage victories and has started on the pole position three times this year.
Blaney has led at least one lap in 15 races this season.
Denny Hamlin (288)
Hamlin has picked up two wins (Richmond and Charlotte) and two stage victories. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has led at least one lap in 10 races this season.
Kyle Larson (273)
The defending series champion has led laps in 12 races this season. Larson has won one race (Fontana) and has won two stages.
Tyler Reddick (265)
Picking up his first Cup Series victory at Road America, Reddick has led laps in eight races this season and has picked up two stage victories.
Martin Truex Jr. (254)
The 2017 champion is the other driver on this list to not yet score a win in 2022.
Truex has won a stage five times this season, like Blaney, and has led laps in eight events this season thus far.
Chase Briscoe (220)
The second-year driver for Stewart-Haas Racing has led laps in eight races this year and earned his first career Cup Series win at Phoenix in March. Briscoe has won two stages.
Daniel Suarez (203)
Suarez is also another first-time Cup Series winner in 2022, picking up the victory at Sonoma in June.
The Trackhouse Racing driver has led laps in six races this year and additionally has picked up two stage wins.
