Following the race at Sonoma, NASCAR now has a new points leader.

Despite missing a race last month, Kyle Larson is back at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series point standings with his latest victory.

Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports led the NASCAR Cup Series point standings for the third time this year following the race at Martinsville Speedway in early April. He also held the lead following the March races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

However, after dominating the standings for six races in a row, he skipped the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway last month in order to compete in the rain-delayed Indy 500.

As a result, he lost the lead to Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing, who held it through the following weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Kyle Larson retakes the NASCAR points lead.

The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet is back on top after winning his third race of the season on Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway, where Hamlin was forced to withdraw due to an early engine failure.

Hamlin dropped to third place in the point standings, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott moving up to second. Like Larson, Hamlin has three wins to his name this year.

Larson’s lead over Elliott is 14 points. Elliott, who won at Texas Motor Speedway in April, has not led the standings this season. Teammate William Byron, the only other driver with three wins this year, sits in sixth place in the standings.

Larson has been granted a playoff waiver by NASCAR, meaning that his absence from the Coca-Cola 600 will not count against his postseason eligibility. The 2021 series champion is locked into the 16-driver field for the four-round, 10-race playoffs.

The 31-year-old Elk Grove, California native leads all drivers in stage victories with seven. With his three victories giving him five playoff points each, he owns a series-high 22 playoff points through the season’s first 16 races.

The regular season champion is awarded an additional 15 playoff points, meaning that Larson also leads the provisional playoff point standings with 37.

The 17th race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first ever race at Iowa Speedway. The Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol is set to be broadcast live on USA Network starting at 7:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 16.