William Byron leads competition in stage points

AVONDALE, Ariz. — William Byron is leading the NASCAR Cup Series competition in stage points following Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Byron picked up the Stage 1 victory in the Phoenix race, acquiring a total of 17 points between the first two stages. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has earned 43 points across the first four races of 2022.

Byron’s teammate Kyle Larson has the second-most points with 39 total.

Joey Logano (34 points), Chase Elliott (33) and Tyler Reddick (32) round out the Top-5 drivers with stage points.

In total, at least 25 drivers have earned one stage point in each of the first three races.

The stage point totals in this report do not include points earned during the Daytona qualifying races.

STAGE POINTS THROUGH PHOENIX

William Byron – 43
Kyle Larson – 39
Joey Logano – 34
Chase Elliott – 33
Tyler Reddick – 32
Martin Truex Jr. – 25
Ryan Blaney – 24
Chase Briscoe – 22
Ross Chastain – 22
Alex Bowman – 21
Erik Jones – 21
Kevin Harvick – 17
Brad Keselowski – 16
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 14
Austin Cindric – 11
Denny Hamlin – 10
Todd Gilliland – 9
Bubba Wallace – 9
Kyle Busch – 8
Austin Dillon – 8
Christopher Bell – 6
Cole Custer – 5
Chris Buescher – 4
Kurt Busch – 4
Aric Almirola – 3

STAGE WINS
Six total drivers have won a stage in 2022.

Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr. lead the field with two stage wins apiece, while Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron and Ross Chastain have won one stage each.

PLAYOFF POINTS

Nine drivers have picked up at least one playoff point this season. Alex Bowman leads the way with 6 points, followed by Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe with 5 points apiece.

Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick have each earned two points. Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Ross Chastain have earned 1 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.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info