SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings

Pete Pistone will unveil Power Rankings each week of the NASCAR season. Check out this week’s edition of NASCAR Power Rankings below, and listen to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) on the SiriusXM app now.

Here’s how Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway affected this week’s edition of the Power Rankings:

1. Denny Hamlin – He did everything but win Sunday at Richmond. Led 207 laps — the most of all drivers — but failed to take the victory. Hamlin has won only two of the five times he led at least 200 laps at Richmond. His second-place finish was his eighth top-five through nine races in 2021, making Hamlin the fifth driver all-time with eight top-fives through nine races. But he’s the only one who didn’t have a win during that stretch.

Driver Rating: 119.9
Point Standings: 1st
Previous Ranking: 2nd

2. Martin Truex Jr. – He has finished top-10 in six of the last seven races of 2021 and scored his fifth straight top-six finish at Richmond despite a lap 294 speeding penalty.

Driver Rating: 109.1
Point Standings: 2nd
Previous Ranking: 1st

3. Joey Logano – Had one of the fastest cars at Richmond on Sunday but came up short of Victory Lane. Logano has finished top-four in six of the last eight Richmond races.

Driver Rating: 106.4
Point Standings: 3rd
Previous Ranking: 3rd

4. Alex Bowman – Led only ten laps but that was enough to notch Bowman’s third career Cup Series victory. He rebounded from a tire violation to bring the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet home to a win for the first time since 2017.

Driver Rating: 83.5
Point Standings: 13th
Previous Ranking: 4th

5. William Byron – Another week, another top-10 performance for Byron. The Hendrick Motorsports driver scored his seventh straight top-10 finish, the best streak of his career. It was his first top-10 finish at Richmond.

Driver Rating: 99.0
Point Standings: 4th
Previous Ranking: 5th

6. Ryan Blaney – Not a great day for Blaney but definitely not terrible considering his recent outings at Richmond. He brought his Team Penske Ford home to an 11^th-place finish on Sunday.

Driver Rating: 90.3
Point Standings: 5th
Previous Ranking: 4th

7. Kyle Larson – Very much a non-factor at Richmond. Larson finished 23^rd in both the opening two stages before eventually crossing the finish line with an 18^th-place effort at the checkered flag.

Driver Rating: 101.5
Point Standings: 6th
Previous Ranking: 6th

8. Christopher Bell –  The solid start to his sophomore Cup Series season rolled on at Richmond. Bell scored his fifth top-10 finish of 2021 and his first career top-10 finish at Richmond.

Driver Rating: 90.5
Point Standings: 10th
Previous Ranking: NR

9. Kyle Busch – An up and down day for Busch, who was penalized for a commitment line violation coming to pit road late in the race. He still rallied for a top-10 finish taking the checkered flag in eighth place.

Driver Rating: 91.7
Point Standings: 11th
Previous Ranking: 10^th

10. Chase Elliott – The defending champion still looking for his first trip to Victory Lane in 2021. Elliott was far from being an impact player at Richmond and left Virginia with a very average 12^th-place finish.

Driver Rating: 94.3
Point Standings: 7th
Previous Ranking: 7th

Dropped Out: Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski