Who is the new NASCAR Cup Series points leader after Alex Bowman and William Byron penalties?

NASCAR Cup Series standings have undergone another shuffle after Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and William Byron received penalties for violations found in post-race inspections after the Richmond race.

Both the #24 and #48 teams lost 60 driver and owner points, as well as five playoff points. The penalties have dropped the two drivers down the standings, allowing Ross Chastain to take the lead in the points table.

Alex Bowman dropped from first to seventh in the NASCAR standings, 56 points adrift of Chastain. William Byron, who was previously fourth, is now 14th in the standings with a 91-point deficit to the leader.

NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain now leads the drivers' standings, with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell in second, 30 points behind Chastain. Veteran driver Kevin Harvick occupies the third position. Kyle Larson and Joey Logano round out the top five.

Only Larson and Logano have won a race among the top five in the standings. Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney occupy the lower half of the top ten in the points table.

Here is the entire points table (* indicates race winner):

Position	Driver	Points
1	#1 Ross Chastain	259
2	#20 Christopher Bell	229
3	#4 Kevin Harvick	227
4	#5 Kyle Larson*	222
5	#22 Joey Logano*	222
6	#8 Kyle Busch*	215
7	#48 Alex Bowman	203
8	#19 Martin Truex Jr.	198
9	#6 Brad Keselowski	196
10	#12 Ryan Blaney	188
11	#11 Denny Hamlin	188
12	#45 Tyler Reddick*	187
13	#2 Austin Cindric	175
14	#24 William Byron*	168
15	#17 Chris Buescher	164
16	#47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*	161
17	#99 Daniel Suarez	158
18	#34 Michael McDowell	156
19	#7 Corey LaJoie	155
20	#54 Ty Gibbs	147
21	#14 Chase Briscoe	122
22	#23 Bubba Wallace	118
23	#15 Todd Gilliland	117
24	#16 AJ Allmendinger	113
25	#43 Erik Jones	105
26	#4 Austin Dillon	105
27	#10 Aric Almirola	94
28	#41 Ryan Preece	88
29	#42 Noah Gragson	87
30	#21 Harrison Burton	84
31	#51 Cody Ware	65
32	#9 Chase Elliott	49
33	#77 Ty Dillon	37
35	#31 Justin Haley	26

The #24 driver has two race wins this season, whereas Bowman has not yet won a race.

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Why did NASCAR penalize Alex Bowman and William Byron?

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman and William Byron have each been handed L1-level penalties by NASCAR. Both teams were found to have made illegal modifications to the greenhouse of cars for the race in Richmond.

The modifications were first discovered during a post-race inspection, after which the cars were sent to NASCAR's R&D center in North Carolina for further evaluation. Upon finding the modifications, the governing body announced the penalties for both teams.

While two drivers from the team received penalties, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry led the team to a 1-2 finish in the Toyota Owners 400. Race winner Larson and runner-up Berry cleared the post-race inspection.

Along with the points penalty, the interim crew chiefs Greg (#48) and Brian Campe (#24) have both been suspended for two races. They have also received a $75,000 fine each.

This is the second time Hendrick Motorsports has received a penalty this season. HMS has now received $550,000 in fines this season within one month.

Hendrick Motorsports released a statement in response to the penalties that read:

"We are reviewing the penalties issued today by NASCAR and will determine next steps following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway."

It has been a tumultuous start to the season for HMS, even though they have dominated on the track with three race wins in the first seven races of the season.