NASCAR Power Rankings: New No. 1 Tops List After Nashville

There is a new No. 1 on this list. Denny Hamlin earned his second victory of the season by capturing the win Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. And while that is no match for Tyler Reddick’s five wins this year, the fact that he is riding the momentum of three top-three finishes in the last four races puts him atop the power rankings. Here are my power rankings as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway this weekend: Dropped out: Daniel Suárez (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Chris Buescher, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suárez, Shane van Gisbergen 10. Erik Jones (Last Week: Not Ranked)Legacy Motor Club No. 43 Toyota Jones finished 11th at Nashville, but he’s on this list because of his consistency. He has three finishes of 12th or 13th in the last four races. Much of the competition has had a much more up-and-down last month. 9. Carson Hocevar (Last Week: 9)Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Hocevar placed 10th at Nashville for his fifth top-10 finish in his last eight starts. He needed that top 10 after finishes of 28th and 23rd the previous two weeks. He’s ninth in the series standings. 8. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 4)Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet A flat tire in the final laps ruined a possible solid day for Larson at Nashville. He has just one top-20 finish in his last five starts but he’s showing top-10 speed nearly every week and sits sixth in the standings. 7. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 5)Team Penske No. 12 Ford Blaney was eighth at Nashville for his third top 10 in his last four races. He isn’t running as close to the front as earlier this year, but he’s still earning respectable results and is third in the series standings. 6. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 6)Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Elliott was among those (along with Blaney, Shane van Gisbergen and Reddick) involved in an accident just before the finish, but he still wound up seventh. It was his eighth top 10 this year in 14 starts. Elliott sits fourth in the standings. 5. Chase Briscoe (Last Week: 8)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Briscoe was dicing for the win with teammates Christopher Bell and Hamlin at Nashville and wound up third. It was not the finish he wanted but still one he needed in a season where he has six finishes outside the top 20. 4. Ty Gibbs (Last Week: 3)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota Gibbs finished 13th at Nashville after finishes of third and sixth in his previous two races. He is fifth in the series standings. 3. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 7)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Bell felt he let a win get away from him at Nashville, but at least he finished second. Bell has back-to-back second-place finishes after having no finish better than 17th in the previous five events. 2. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: 1)23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota Reddick was sixth at Nashville. In his last four races, he has finishes of fourth, fifth, fourth and sixth. He continues to have a comfortable lead in the series standings. 1. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 2)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota Hamlin has a win, two seconds, a third and a fourth in his last 10 starts. In other words, he’s had a shot to win half of the last 10 events. That is the consistency that allows Hamlin to ooze confidence.