Denny Hamlin is back on top after he finished fourth at Richmond. It was his fourth consecutive top five and his fifth in the last six races. Christopher Bell finished seventh to end his string of second-place finishes and as a result, he dropped a couple of spots.
Here are my power rankings entering this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Dropped out: Bubba Wallace (Last Week: 6), Chris Buescher (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace Berry is 30th in the standings but his eighth-place finish at Richmond was his third consecutive top 10 as he is finding his groove. Now he needs to find a ride for 2027.
Over the last five races, Larson has finished 33rd or worse in four of those competitions. He rebounded with a sixth-place finish at Richmond. And then he flew to Iowa to win the Knoxville Nationals later in the night.
Reddick placed 11th at Richmond. It certainly was not a great performance, but for a team that just needs some decent finishes, he got exactly that on Saturday night. Byron was ninth at Richmond as Hendrick placed three drivers in the top 10.
Are they turning things around? We should still consider this a wait-and-see situation. Blaney won the pole and led 88 laps but ended up 13th at Richmond.
It was a rare day for Blaney where he had speed but not the results. A week after his win at Iowa, Gibbs wasn’t able to rebound from another speeding penalty. He finished 15th at Richmond.
A second win in his last four races has vaulted Logano to ninth in the overall standings and into a potential championship contender. Bell had four second-place finishes in the previous five races but placed seventh at Richmond. He’s still poised to earn his first win of the year.
Briscoe finished second at Richmond for his fifth top-five in the last seven races. Hamlin finished fourth at Richmond — good enough to regain the top spot. And he made some good social media content there, too.
