How great is Chase Elliott‘s season? On Sunday at Pocono he didn’t lead a lap and still won the race.
Of course, the circumstances were a bit weird. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch crossed the finish line ahead of Elliott, but Elliott was declared the winner after Hamlin and Busch were disqualified.
As far as the rankings go, it didn’t really matter if Elliott finished first or third. It was another excellent week for the Georgia driver, who now has five straight top-two finishes, including three wins across that stretch.
Elliott remains atop the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings for another week.
The Cup Series moves on to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings
1. Chase Elliott (Last week: No. 1) — The summer stretch is being very kind to the former series champion. Five straight top-two finishes is a remarkable statistic in a season filled with crashes.
2. Kyle Larson (Last week: No. 3) — Larson moves up a spot this week after a fifth-place run and 18 laps led at Pocono. He has three top fives in the past five races.
3. Ross Chastain (Last week: No. 2) — Is the Ross Chastain-Denny Hamlin drama at an end now that Hamlin exacted a bit of revenge by limiting Chastain’s racing space late in the Pocono race? Maybe. Chastain’s crash dropped him to a 32nd-place finish, and he lost a spot in the rankings.
4. Christopher Bell (Last week: No. 5) — Bell has a win and a fourth in the past two races and drove a Joe Gibbs Racing car that was legal Sunday. Continuing to illustrate improved consistency,, he jumps from fifth to fourth this week.
5. Kevin Harvick (Last week: No. 6) — Harvick’s long winless streak continues, but he had a car strong enough to challenge for a top three Sunday at Pocono. He lost that chance when he became a victim of the Chastain-Hamlin drama late in the race.
6. Ryan Blaney (Last week: No. 4) — Blaney had a rough day at Pocono, finishing 31st after a late-race crash. His season is trending downward (three finishes of 11th or worse in the past four races).
7. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: No. 8) — A seventh-place finish at Pocono keeps Truex in the playoff discussion.
8. Joey Logano (Last week: No. 7) — Logano was practically invisible at Pocono, finishing 20th and showing little power in either of the first two stages (finishing 15th and 20th).
9. Tyler Reddick (Last week: not ranked) — Reddick returns to the rankings with a strong second-place run at Pocono despite racing under the shadow of his recent announcement that he’ll leave Richard Childress Racing for 23XI Racing in 2024.
10. Daniel Suarez (Last week: not ranked) — A third place at Pocono gave Suarez his ninth top-10 finish of the season and his fifth in the past six races.
Dropped out: Kyle Busch (No. 9 last week; Did that tape help?); Denny Hamlin (No. 10 last week; see Kyle Busch).
