Denny Hamlin survived a wild finish Sunday at Talladega to claim his seventh Cup win of the year. It helped send him back to the top of this week’s NASCAR power rankings.
He once again took the spot from Kevin Harvick ahead of this Sunday’s race on the Charlotte Roval (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
More: Playoff standings after Talladega
Here is this week’s NASCAR Power Rankings:
1. Denny Hamlin (Last week No. 4): Earned his seventh win of the season, topping his six wins from 2019.
2. Kevin Harvick (Last week No. 1): Was involved in an incident in overtime and finished 20th. It was his first finish outside the top 10 since the Daytona road course.
3. Erik Jones (Last week unranked): Finished second for his best result of the year. Has three top fives and and an eighth-place finish in the last five races.
4. Chase Elliott (Last week No. 8): Finished fifth (after NASCAR rescinded a penalty for illegally passing below the yellow line) for his fifth top five in the last nine races. Earned him 44 points instead of 27. He is 44 points above the cutline.
5. Alex Bowman (Last week No. 3): Was involved in a mid-race wreck and finished 14th for his second finish outside the top 10 in the last seven races.
6. Justin Haley (Last week unranked): Won the Xfinity race to claim his third consecutive victory on a superspeedway, matching efforts by Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Haley followed it up with an 11th-place finish in Sunday’s Cup race.
7. Tyler Reddick (Last week unranked): Received damage in Lap 1 incident with Christopher Bell and finished seventh.
8. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week No. 2): Was involved in the final overtime wreck and finished 23rd. In the last five races he’s alternated between top fives and top-25 finishes.
9. (tie) Raphael Lessard (Last week unranked): Earned his first career Truck Series win Saturday, making him the first driver not named Kyle Busch to win for Kyle Busch Motorsports this season.
9. (tie) Joey Logano (Last week No. 8): Finished 26th after a wreck. Led a race-high 45 laps at Talladega. Hasn’t placed inside the top 10 in the last three races.
Also receiving votes: Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, William Byron and Ryan Sieg