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Power Rankings after Talladega: Ryan Blaney unanimous No. 1

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NASCAR America reviews the moment of solidarity for Bubba Wallace prior to the Talladega Cup race, salutes the speed of Ryan Blaney and Team Penske, and analyzes the performance of the underdogs and the exciting finish.

After a weekend of racing at Talladega Superspeedway, NBC Sports’ NASCAR Power Rankings look like it went through the spin cycle.

While Ryan Blaney is the unanimous No. 1 following his win in Monday’s Cup race, 18 drivers received votes this week and there were four ties.

Drivers who received votes last week who didn’t this week include: Kyle Busch, Harrison Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon.

Here is this week’s power rankings:

1. Ryan Blaney (30 points): Blaney is no longer the winless outsider at Team Penske this year. He edged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the victory and his seventh top-five finish in the last eight races. Last week: Tied for first

2). Denny Hamlin (27 points): Hamlin followed up his Miami win with a fourth-place finish after he had to rebound from going a lap down early due to a cut tire. Has three top fives in the last four races. Last week: Fourth

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (14 points): Earned a stage win and scored his third top-five finish of the season. He already has three times as many top-five finishes this season as he did last year. Last week: Unranked

(tie) 4. Alex Bowman (12 points): Finished second in Stage 1, led 12 laps and placed seventh for his second top 10 in three races. Last week: Unranked

(tie) 4. Aric Almirola: (12 points): His rear bumper crossed the finish line first, but that didn’t keep him from finishing third for his second consecutive top five. He is also tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the most consecutive top 10s at Talladega with eight. Last week: Unranked

6. Kurt Busch (10 points): Wasn’t a frontrunner Monday, but the Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished ninth for his ninth top-10 finish in the last 11 races. Last week: Unranked

7. Chase Elliott (8 points): A poor finish on a superspeedway can’t take away that he’s had five top 10s, including a win, in the last seven races. Last week: Tied for first

(tie) 8. Joey Logano (7 points): Led 33 laps as part of the Team Penske convoy Monday and finished in the top 10 in the opening two stages. Has led 393 laps over the last nine races, but he has only four top 10s in that time. Last week: Unranked

(tie) 8. Brad Keselowski (7 points): Placed in the top 10 in the first two stages before finishing 19th, which snapped a top-10 streak of seven races. Last week: Third

(tie) 10. AJ Allmendinger (6 points): He finished seventh Saturday in the Xfinity race after being part of the Kaulig Racing effort on the last lap that pushed Justin Haley to his first series win. Over his last three races he’s started in the rear each time and won at Atlanta, finished fourth at Miami to claim the Dash 4 Cash bonus and earned a top 10 at Talladega. Last week: Unranked

(tie) 10. Chris Buescher (6 points): Placed sixth for his third top-10 finish of the season. Last week: Unranked

(tie) 10. Erik Jones (6 points): Earned his third top-five finish of the year, all of which have come since NASCAR’s return on May 17. Last week: Unranked

Also receiving votes: Martin Truex Jr. (5 points), Tyler Reddick (4 points), Kevin Harvick (4 points), Justin Haley (4 points), William Byron (2 points) and John Hunter Nemechek (1 point)