The top spot in this week’s NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings remains the same, but the rest of the top 10 has seen a lot of shuffling.
Kyle Larson remains No. 1, but teammate Chase Elliott looks likely to take his spot. Ryan Blaney moved back into the top 10 this week after his win at Iowa.
The series gets underway at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Sunday’s race will be broadcast in the US at 3:30pm ET.
Eighty-five friends and family members gathered at Iowa Speedway to watch Ryan Blaney, with many joining him in victory lane.
This week’s NBC Sports NASCAR power rankings
1. Kyle Larson (last week: No. 1) — Since Dover, Larson has had two wins, one runner-up, four top 10 finishes, and missed two races due to accidents. At Iowa, he led 80 laps, placed second in the opening stage and won the second stage.
2. Chase Elliott (3) — A third-place finish and a struggling Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson moved him into the points. Elliott has recorded seven top-five finishes this season, matching Larson’s total. Elliott has never finished worse than 19th this season. His average finishing position this season is the best in the series at 9.1.
Elliott: Iowa is ‘better race’ than expected
Chase Elliott felt his Cup Series debut at Iowa Speedway was a “much better race” than he expected, and he shared what his No. 9 team has been able to accomplish, having now finished every race inside the top 20.
3. Brad Keselowski (4) — His 10th-place finish was his fourth top-10 finish in the last five races and he has earned stage points in each of the last five races.
4. Denny Hamlin (2) — He finished 24th in Iowa after being lapped twice, and after five consecutive top-five finishes, he has finished 38th and 24th in his last two races.
5. Christopher Bell (6) — The fourth-place result marks his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, a series best for him, and means he has finished in the top 10 in five of the past six races.
6. William Byron (7) — He placed second to Ryan Blaney at Iowa and Byron has 10 top-10 finishes in 17 starts this season.
Byron discusses challenges ahead of Cup’s first trip to Iowa
William Byron finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway and feels it’s a good start to a tough race and a consistent performance.
7. Tyler Reddick (5) — He finished one lap down in 22nd place on Sunday, ending his streak of three consecutive top 10 finishes.
8. Alex Bowman (9) — He finished eighth in Iowa, marking his 10th top-10 finish of the season and six top-10 finishes in the past eight races.
9. Ross Chastain (8) — He placed 11th in Iowa, marking the fifth consecutive year he has placed 12th or better, with an average ranking of 12.5, good for second in the series, tied with William Byron.
10. Ryan Blaney (NR) — The win at Iowa gave him consecutive top 10 finishes. He led 201 laps at Iowa and is tied for fourth in the series this season with 345 laps led.
Blaney wins Cup Series opener in Iowa
Defending series champion Ryan Blaney praised his race team’s efforts after winning the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway in front of a sold-out crowd.
Dropped out: Ty Gibbs (10)
