NASCAR Power Rankings After Denny Hamlin’s Dramatic Victory At Nashville

For the first time in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, there is some uncertainty as to which driver should sit atop our weekly NASCAR Power Rankings after Denny Hamlin‘s impressive victory at Nashville Superspeedway.

Hamlin sat on the pole for Sunday night’s race after qualifying was rained out, but was immediately sent to the back of the pack after jumping the initial race start.

Slowly but surely, however, he began to creep his way back up through the pack, putting him in position to contend for the victory. Then, with all the cards on the table during a late-race restart with just a handful of laps to go, he went toe-to-toe with teammate Christopher Bell, eventually passing Bell and fending off fellow teammate Chase Briscoe for the victory.

2026 NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 14

Hamlin, who spent the majority of the 2025 season at No. 1, took four weeks to break into our power rankings this time around. But even since entering the rankings back at Phoenix, he’s been on a steady ascent, trying to chase down leader Tyler Reddick, who has been No. 1 in every edition thus far.

Meanwhile, his teammates Bell and Briscoe have spent the season running well but ultimately falling by the wayside for various reasons and trying to claw their way up the back end of the rankings.

Sunday night’s race saw the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas dominate, as they’ve done for much of the year on 1.5-mile tracks. That speed led to some significant shakeups in our latest rankings.

10) Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher’s consistency has been nothing short of remarkable this season, especially given the fact that Ford drivers have not had anywhere near the same type of speed as the Toyotas or even the Chevys on intermediate tracks.

However, that lack of speed proved to be Buescher’s downfall on Sunday, as he started the race in 22nd, failed to move forward and pick up points in any of the stages, and ultimately crashed out of the race on lap 286 when he suffered a brake rotor failure.

The rough night saw Buescher take a step down not only in the NASCAR point standings, but also in our power rankings.

Last Week: 7th NASCAR Point Standings: 8th (-264)

9) Carson Hocevar

Sunday’s race certainly wasn’t anything to write home about for Carson Hocevar. The Spire Motorsports star started in 17th and struggled with brake issues throughout the race, failing to finish in the top 10 in either of the first two stages.

However, despite the brake issues and issues on pit road, Hocevar remained calm and did what many others around him in the point standings couldn’t do: finish the race.

Not only that, but by the time all was said and done, Hocevar managed to bring home a top-10, finishing exactly in 10th position. The drive showed a growth in maturity from a young star who has often been criticized for his youth.

Last Week: 8th NASCAR Point Standings: 9th (-274)

8) Shane Van Gisbergen

Last season, Shane van Gisbergen found his way into our power rankings on several occasions on the back of his absolute dominance on road courses.

This time around, the story is a bit different. Sure, van Gisbergen’s victory last month at Watkins Glen certainly doesn’t help his position in both the point standings and power rankings, but van Gisbergen has been shockingly good on ovals in recent weeks, and that’s what sees him land at No. 8 on our list this week.

Following his victory at Watkins Glen, Van Gisbergen took home an 11th-place finish at the famed Coke 600, and then backed that up with a career-best oval finish of fifth in Nashville after spending most of the night running inside the top 10.

Last Week: UR NASCAR Point Standings: 12th (-309)

7) Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson drops a spot in this week’s power rankings. But it’s less about what Larson or his team did wrong and more about the circumstances around him.

In fact, Larson was the best Chevy driver in the race for much of Sunday evening. He ran up front throughout the contest and even led three times for 56 laps.

However, a late tire issue caused Larson to spin out coming to the white flag, and he ultimately finished in 23rd, one lap down. Had Larson not had the issue, he may well have moved up in the rankings. Instead, he takes a small step down.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Point Standings: 6th (-248)

6) Christopher Bell

The other reason that Larson drops down a spot is because of the impressive performance by Christopher Bell, who has yet to win in 2026, but it’s beginning to feel as if it’s just a matter of time.

There’s a strong argument to be made that Bell had the best car on Sunday night in Nashville, but he was ultimately just narrowly beaten by the win by his teammate, Hamlin.

Still, Bell led four times for 29 laps, and had it not been for a late-race caution with 12 laps remaining, it looked as if he was going to drive away for a comfortable victory.

Bell has now finished second in each of the last two races, and nobody would be surprised if he finally claims the checkered flag next week at Michigan.

Last Week: 10th NASCAR Point Standings: 7th (-258)

5) Ty Gibbs

Sunday night’s race at Nashville Superspeedway was a puzzling one for Ty Gibbs. He ultimately finished in 13th, which certainly isn’t awful.

But on a night where it seemed like the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were the fastest in the field, ultimately finishing 1-2-3, Gibbs was really nowhere to be found.

He started the race in sixth following the qualifying rainout and immediately began to drop back, failing to score points in either stage. Given the rest of his season, Gibbs sort of gets a mulligan here, but it was definitely perplexing to see.

Last Week: 4th NASCAR Point Standings: 5th (-208)

4) Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott fans often cringe at the idea of giving any credit to crew chief Alan Gustafson for their driver’s success. But Gustafson was instrumental in Elliott’s strong run on Sunday night.

After crashing out of last week’s Coke 600, Elliott began Sunday’s race in Nashville in 29th and struggled to make up track position early in the race. However, Gustafson then used the strategy of running long to get Elliott off sequence, and when a timely caution came, it put him up toward the front of the pack.

Elliott then stayed there for most of the night, finishing fourth in the opening stage and eventually bringing home a seventh-place finish.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Point Standings: 4th (-197)

3) Ryan Blaney

Unlike Elliott, Ryan Blaney started inside the top 10 on Sunday night and was running solidly when crew chief Jonathan Hassler opted to run long in the opening stage. However, just like Elliott, Blaney reaped the reward of the timely caution and ultimately used it to his benefit, finishing third in the opening stage.

A slightly strange four-tire call late in stage two probably cost him points at the end of that stage as well, and put him in a strange fuel window for the final stage as well.

However, the late caution played into Blaney’s hands. He was able to pit, put on fresh tires, and drove back up to seventh, more or less maximizing the speed (or lack thereof) that Ford showed all night.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Point Standings: 3rd (-174)

2) Denny Hamlin

Caution: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

For the first time this season, someone genuinely made a run at Tyler Reddick’s top spot in our power rankings, and that someone just so happens to be Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin spent most of the 2025 season atop the power rankings. But now he’s the hunter, rather than the hunted.

An inexplicable jumped start put Hamlin behind the eight ball on Sunday night, but he calmly and coolly worked his way back to the front, and when given a second chance at victory due to the late caution, he made no mistake, passing Bell for the lead on the last lap and taking home his second victory of the season.

Hamlin is slowly inching closer to Reddick for the points lead, as well as the top spot in our rankings.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Point Standings: 2nd (-97)

1) Tyler Reddick

The problem with Hamlin’s pursuit of Reddick is that even when Reddick isn’t winning races, he’s still running extremely strongly.

Reddick started Sunday’s race on the outside of the front row and inherited the lead when Hamlin was penalized for jumping the start. He led twice for 42 laps, bringing home a fifth-place finish in the opening stage and ultimately finishing the race in sixth.

Sure, it wasn’t Reddick’s best performance of the season. But it was still remarkably strong, and it meant that even with the win, Hamlin didn’t take too big a chunk out of Reddick’s lead in the standings.

Last Week: 1st NASCAR Point Standings: 1st