NASCAR Power Rankings After Ryan Blaney’s Repeat Victory At New Hampshire

With just one race remaining before the Chase for the champion, Ryan Blaney laid down a marker to his NASCAR Cup Series competition on Sunday in New Hampshire.

Blaney led a race-high 115 laps and overcame a poor pit stop late in the contest to win in Loudon for the second straight season. In the process, Blaney all but locked down the second seed entering the Chase and showed that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with by opposing drivers.

Meanwhile, the picture around the cut line became more intriguing heading into next weekend’s regular-season finale in Daytona.

2026 NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 25

Blaney’s win comes as little surprise. After all, he dominated at the same track a year ago, and Team Penske has shown that it’s the predominant power in the NASCAR Cup Series these days at shorter, flatter tracks.

What was surprising, however, was the lack of challenge both from his teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, as well as the Joe Gibbs Racing quartet of Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs.

Throughout the day, Blaney’s only real challenger was Wood Brothers driver Josh Berry, who finished third on Sunday after finishing second at Loudon a year ago.

Meanwhile, the latest power rankings see only minor changes after several drivers in the back end of the rankings struggled throughout the race.

10) Carson Hocevar

Hocevar clings to the 10th and final spot in the rankings more due to what those behind him failed to do than anything else.

After a remarkable start to the season that saw him win at Talladega and later rise to as high as fifth in the point standings, the Spire Motorsports star has stumbled of late. That continued on Sunday, as Hocevar spun out before the race even started, wrecked himself off the front bumper of Connor Zilisch, and then ran mid-pack most of the day before finishing in 19th.

Hocevar did manage a third-place finish in the opening stage to salvage his day points-wise, but he badly needs to find momentum again before the Chase begins.

Last Week: 10th NASCAR Point Standings: 11th (-329)

9) Chase Elliott

Elliott went into Loudon hoping to build off the back of a top-five finish at Richmond a week ago. Instead, it was the exact opposite.

The Hendrick Motorsports star was off the pace from the time practice began on Saturday and never found it. He qualified all the way back in 29th and, despite an early strategy call to move into the top 10, couldn’t keep his track position.

Elliott failed to pick up points in either of the first two stages and eventually struggled to a 25th-place finish, raising some serious red flags heading into the Chase.

Last Week: 8th NASCAR Point Standings: 8th (-294)

8) Joey Logano

Logano had been the hottest driver in the entire series over the last six weeks, and given the success both he and Team Penske have had at Loudon in the past, many assumed that would continue this weekend.

But a poor qualifying effort put him behind the eight-ball and eventually ended up with him getting caught up in the early wreck involving Hocevar and Zilisch.

Ultimately, Logano spent most of his day running a lap down before taking advantage of a late strategy call by crew chief Paul Wolfe to finish 14th. He moves up a spot in the power rankings this week, but only due to Elliott’s struggles.

Last Week: 9th NASCAR Point Standings: 9th (-319)

7) Kyle Larson

After a seemingly endless run of mishaps and misfortune, Kyle Larson steadied himself a week ago at Richmond with a strong run. He then hopped on a plane and immediately flew to Iowa to win the Knoxville Nationals on dirt.

That weekend may have been just the kick in the butt Larson needed to turn his season around. On Sunday, he drove all the way to the front to win the opening stage in mixed weather conditions before coming home in fifth in the second stage and at the end of the race.

Ultimately, Larson scored the third-most points on the day behind Blaney and Berry and seemingly solidified his spot as a top-eight seed entering the Chase.

Last Week: 9th NASCAR Point Standings: 7th (-293)

6) Chase Briscoe

Chase Briscoe and teammate Christopher Bell have firmly solidified themselves in the fifth and sixth spots in both the point standings and our power rankings.

However, it seems as if the two alternate spots each week of late.

Briscoe had a strange race on Sunday, starting back in 17th and racing his way into the top 10 at the end of the opening stage. He then restarted alongside Blaney and was racing for the lead with just over 50 laps to go, but eventually fell all the way back to 26th, one lap down when the checkered flag fell.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Point Standings: 6th (-274)

5) Christopher Bell

On the other side of the coin, Bell was as steady as they come at one of his best tracks on the schedule.

After starting in sixth, he drove up to second by the end of the opening stage and finished in the top 10 in the second stage as well. He then spent the remainder of the race either in or around the top five before bringing home a fourth-place finish.

While Bell may be disappointed not to have come home with a victory at a track he’s won at multiple times before, he continues to show he’ll be a serious threat to the top contenders come time for the Chase.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Point Standings: 5th (-263)

4) Tyler Reddick

After one of the greatest starts to a Cup Series season that you’ll ever see, seemingly anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Tyler Reddick over the course of the summer.

But as we near the fall, and more importantly, the Chase, Reddick and his team seem to be finding their footing.

Reddick qualified on the pole for Sunday’s race in New Hampshire, and despite an early spin in wet conditions that sent him to the rear of the field, he rebounded to finish eighth, which locked down his spot at a top-four seed entering the Chase.

Last Week: 4th NASCAR Point Standings: 4th (-141)

3) Ty Gibbs

After a controversial race at Loudon a year ago that involved a crash with teammate Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs was largely anonymous on Sunday, but in a positive way.

Gibbs qualified in seventh position and, for the most part, didn’t really lose or gain ground for much of the day. He finished seventh at the end of stage one and eighth in stage two before improving to sixth at the end of the day.

Ultimately, it was a much-needed solid day for Gibbs that put him in a strong position to claim the third seed in the Chase.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Point Standings: 3rd (-121)

2) Ryan Blaney

It’s not easy to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.

It’s even more difficult to do so when you enter a race as the guy everybody’s trying to beat, and even more difficult than that when a bad pit stop drops you from the lead to 14th at a track that’s difficult to pass on.

However, passing was anything but difficult for Blaney on Sunday, as he roared from his eighth-place starting spot to sixth at the end of the opening stage, then won stage two in dominating fashion, and recovered from his pit crew issues to lead the final 64 and pick up the victory.

The win more or less locks Blaney into the second spot entering the Chase, barring disaster at Daytona next weekend, and proved that he might be the only thing standing between Joe Gibbs Racing and a Cup Series championship.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Point Standings: 2nd (-77)

1) Denny Hamlin

At this point, if you’re a Denny Hamlin fan, you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Hamlin, who has won everything except a Cup Series championship, has been utterly dominant over the last couple of months, in part due to his remarkable consistency.

Even after getting caught up in Reddick’s early spin on Sunday, Hamlin rebounded to drive all the way up into the top 10 by the end of the second stage and then finished seventh when the checkered flag flew.

It marks his fifth straight top-10 finish, with the streak only being marred by a 12th-place finish at Atlanta on July 12. Hamlin’s incredible consistency is what makes him the heavy favorite entering the Chase, and he continues to prove it every week out.

Last Week: 1st; NASCAR Point Standings: 1st.