NASCAR Power Rankings: Many Drivers On the Move After Martinsville
Denny Hamlin snapped his 31-race winless drought in epic fashion in Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway as he led a race-high 274 laps in the 400-lap contest. Hamlin's 55th win was impressive, and it was enough to vault him four spots forward in the Racing America On SI Power Rankings to the top spot.
While Hamlin made massive gains with his incredible run, he wasn't the driver who had the largest climb in this week's rankings. Ty Gibbs, who had his best run of the season, jumped up six spots after this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Gibbs had a good day, but a bad weekend for Austin Cindric and Justin Haley had both drivers humming Tom Petty's Free Fallin', as they sunk eight spots in the rankings.
Find out where your favorite driver ranks in the NASCAR Power Rankings, which are assembled weekly by Toby Christie, Joseph Srigley, and Zach Evans.
1. Denny Hamlin | Last Week: 5th (+4)
It’s the No. 11 against the world – or at least that’s what Denny Hamlin says. Hamlin won that battle on Sunday, dominating the Cook Out 400 and taking home the victory in dominant fashion. With Goodyear trending towards softer tires on short tracks, expect Hamlin to be a factor all season on the shorter tracks. -Joseph Srigley
2. Kyle Larson | Last Week: 2nd (--)
With a fifth-place run at Martinsville on Sunday, Kyle Larson now has four consecutive top-10 finishes, one of which is a win, and three being top-fives. He's on a roll right now, and he could very well take over the top spot in the rankings next week if he plays his cards right at Darlington. -Toby Christie
3. Christopher Bell | Last Week: 4th (+1)
After a rough couple of weeks, Christopher Bell has returned to form, finishing runner-up to Denny Hamlin after winning the pole. Truly speaking, the No. 20 still looks like the team to beat in 2025. -ZE
4. William Byron | Last Week: 1st (-3)
William Byron came into Sunday's race having won two of the last three Spring Martinsville races. Needless to say, that didn't shine through in the Cook Out 400 as he was a non-factor for the majority of the race and limped home to a 22nd-place finish. Still, Byron holds the series points lead. -TC
5. Chase Elliott | Last Week: 6th (+1)
After an 18th-place outing at Homestead, Elliott charged back this weekend to tie his best finish of the 2025 season with a fourth-place effort at Martinsville. Elliott led 42 laps early, and looked to be a threat for the win, but he -- and everyone else -- had nothing for Denny Hamlin. -TC
6. Bubba Wallace | Last Week: 11th (+5)
Once again, Bubba Wallace finished third, building momentum for the No. 23 team. Only Denny Hamlin earned more points on Sunday, thanks to a third-place finish in stage two to accompany the podium result. -ZE
7. Tyler Reddick | Last Week: 7th (--)
Reddick raised the ire of fellow Toyota driver Ty Gibbs after contact in turn two and went on to finish 14th. Reddick also finished 10th in stage two, so it was a decent points day for the No. 45 team in spite of the Martinsville moment. -ZE
8. Ryan Blaney | Last Week: 9th (+1)
Ryan Blaney snapped a streak of three straight DNFs with an 11th-place finish at Martinsville. It’s a far cry from back-to-back top 10s to start the season, but also a great way to get back on the horse after the frustrations during the rest of March. -ZE
9. Ryan Preece | Last Week: 14th (+5)
Ryan Preece has transformed into one of the most consistent competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series garage seven races into the season. After a seventh-place finish on Sunday, Preece now has three consecutive top-10 finishes for the first time in his career, and he has finished inside the top-15 four straight weeks. Impressive. -TC
10. Alex Bowman | Last Week: 3rd (-7)
The momentum was soaring for Alex Bowman heading into Martinsville as a four-race top-10 finishing streak was culminated with a second-place finish at Homestead. Unfortunately, after starting third on Sunday, Bowman suffered a loose wheel on a pit stop, lost a lap, and was never really good the rest of the way as he finished 27th. -TC
11. Joey Logano | Last Week: 12th (+1)
Behold! A Joey Logano top-10 finish! Logano rebounded from a late-race spin to finish eighth on Sunday, surprisingly the first top-10 finish for last year’s champion. That also moved him into the top 10 in points, ahead of teammate Ryan Blaney for ninth. -ZE
12. Chris Buescher | Last Week: 8th (-4)
Chris Buescher looked like a pinball out there at Martinsville Speedway as the RFK Racing driver was involved in several on-track skirmishes. He'll be looking forward to Darlington Raceway, where he nearly won a season ago. -TC
13. Ross Chastain | Last Week: 13th (--)
The best of the Trackhouse Racing bunch, Ross Chastain actually had a great afternoon at Martinsville Speedway, finishing in sixth – and he did it without riding the outside wall at full-throttle. Chastain, however, did anger a couple of people in the process, but that’s just short track racing, right Joey Logano? -JS
14. Chase Briscoe | Last Week: 16th (+2)
The groove is movin’ for Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing, scoring another top-10 result at Martinsville Speedway – a racetrack that has always been kind to the Mitchell, Indiana native. More of this will definitely leave the No. 19 as a contender for victories this season. -JS
15. Michael McDowell | Last Week: 18th (+3)
Michael McDowell picked up a 12th-place Martinsville. His search for that elusive first top-10 finish of the season continues, but his methodical consistency and the team’s perseverance have kept them in the playoff conversation through the first seven races of the season. -ZE
16. Josh Berry | Last Week: 10th (-6)
Berry led 40 laps early in the race, the most for Wood Brothers Racing at Martinsville since David Pearson led 180 laps in a win on April 29, 1973. However, he experienced electrical issues and finished 32nd, robbing him of a chance at victory at a track where Berry has won in both the Xfinity Series and in Late Model competition. -ZE
17. Kyle Busch | Last Week: 17th (--)
Not horrible, not great, but Kyle Busch recorded a 17th-place finish at Martinsville. Now, he'll look to snap his longstanding winless streak at Darlington Raceway, where he finished second to Chase Briscoe in the final race before the Playoffs a season ago. -TC
18. AJ Allmendinger | Last Week: 19th (+1)
Allmendinger finished third in the first stage, using strategy to get some valuable stage points, before finishing 23rd. Before that, Allmendinger had back-to-back top-10 finishes at Las Vegas and Homestead. Even the 23rd-place result allowed him to pick up three positions in the championship standings, improving to 17th. -ZE
19. Zane Smith | Last Week: 23rd (+4)
It was another solid weekend for Zane Smith. A top-20 finish is exactly what the No. 38 Ford Mustang team is looking to stack, in hopes that momentum can bring them closer to competing for a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. -JS
20. Daniel Suarez | Last Week: 20th (--)
The speed that Daniel Suarez and Trackhouse Racing have had in recent weeks didn’t show up this weekend at Martinsville. The No. 99 finished a mediocre 21st in Sunday’s Cook Out 400, but allows the Monterrey, Mexico-native to move on to Darlington in hopes of collecting a solid run. -JS
21. John Hunter Nemechek | Last Week: 21st (--)
Nemechek never really looked to be in a position to pull off another late-race charge for a solid finish this weekend at Martinsville. In the end, he came home 25th, which equals his worst finish of the opening seven races. Nemechek will look to get back on track at Darlington. -TC
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Last Week: 24th (+2)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s performances in 2025 haven't been sexy by any means, but they've been extremely effective. Stenhouse notched a 20th-place finish at Martinsville, which marks his fifth top-20 run of what's been a quiet, yet solid start to the season. -TC
23. Austin Cindric | Last Week: 15th (-8)
Electrical gremlins relegated Cindric to a last-place finish at Martinsville. Before that, his involvement in spinning Riley Herbst also added some drama to a disappointing day. -ZE
24. Todd Gilliland | Last Week: 28th (4)
After a tough couple of weekends, Todd Gilliland and Front Row Motorsports have rebounded with a top-10 finish at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 34 Ford Mustang has been good at the half-mile paperclip in recent years and brought that speed back this Spring. Now, that’s some positive momentum for Gilliland. -JS
25. Austin Dillon | Last Week: 27th (+2)
Could this be the beginning of some much-needed momentum for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team? With an 18th-place run at Martinsville, Dillon now has back-to-back top-20 finishes for the first time this year. -TC
26. Ty Gibbs | Last Week: 32nd (+6)
After a miserable opening six races, Ty Gibbs finally snapped back into form Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was in contention for a top-10 finish until being spun by Tyler Reddick late in the race. Still, he rallied to come back to finish 13th. -TC
27. Ty Dillon | Last Week: 31st (+4)
Ty Dillon nearly improved on his best finish of the season, coming home 15th at Martinsville. It was his first top-15 finish outside of Daytona or Talladega since a 14th-place finish at Michigan in 2022. The results may not always be there, but Ty Dillon’s pace and performance this season has been eye-opening. -ZE
28. Carson Hocevar | Last Week: 29th (+1)
Hocevar claimed his first top-20 finish since Circuit of The Americas with a 19th-place effort on Sunday. Hocevar falls to 28th in points following Martinsville, just ahead of Spire Motorsports teammate Justin Haley. -ZE
29. Erik Jones | Last Week: 25th (-4)
A 24th-place finish wasn't great by any means for Jones and his No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team, but it was certainly better than what they ended up with at Martinsville. After failing post-race inspection, Jones was disqualified and credited with a 38th-place finish. -TC
30. Justin Haley | Last Week: 22nd (-8)
Justin Haley finished 28th on Sunday, two laps down. Haley pitted under the green flag just before the lap 276 caution for Shane Van Gisbergen, and couldn’t get back on the lead lap after that. -ZE
31. Brad Keselowski | Last Week: 30th (-1)
Seven races down, and still no top-10 finishes for Brad Keselowski, the driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford. The cautions didn't fall the way he needed them to, and in the end the former NASCAR Cup Series champion was left holding his second-straight 26th-place finish. -TC
32. Noah Gragson | Last Week: 26th (-6)
It’s been a tough start to the season for Noah Gragson and Front Row Motorsports in 2025, and that continued Sunday at Martinsville, after the No. 4 got involved in a couple of incidents and finished an unfortunate 30th. -JS
33. Riley Herbst | Last Week: 33rd (--)
A three-wide battle with Austin Cindric and A.J. Allmendinger ended with Herbst spinning in turn one. He’d go on to finish 31st, a disappointing result but still placing him ahead of Rookie of the Year combatant Shane Van Gisbergen. -ZE
34. Cole Custer | Last Week: 35th (+1)
Sunday at Martinsville was a step in the right direction for Cole Custer and Haas Factory Team, although the final results won’t show that. Custer showed some good speed in his No. 41 Ford Mustang and was even in the top-10 at points during the race, but problems in the second-half of the event crushed those hopes of a great finish. -JS
35. Shane van Gisbergen | Last Week: 34th (-1)
Entering the weekend, there was some optimism for Shane Van Gisbergen, who had arguably his best oval result at Martinsville Speedway last Fall. However, that optimism didn’t end up paying off, as the No. 88 massively struggled on speed all weekend, and finished several laps off the pace in 34th. Van Gisbergen is desperate for another road course event, even though one won’t come until Summer. -JS
36. Cody Ware | Last Week: 36th (--)
Cody Ware put in a gutty performance in Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. He refused to park his car despite a fire underneath the car, which was baking his feet for the majority of the second half of the race. Ware soldiered on to finish 30th, and at points, he was faster than some really good cars. -TC
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.
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