NASCAR Power Rankings: Ring The Bell For A New Leader After Loudon

Penske continues to dominate on the track, as Ryan Blaney took home the "lobstah" this past weekend in the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. And the rest of the field will likely have a lump in their throats heading to Daytona, as Ford has been really, really stout at superspeedways in the Next Gen era.

A lot of movement occurred in the Racing America On SI Power Rankings this week as some drivers continued building their strong momentum, as we approach the Chase for the Championship, while others faltered miserably at the Magic Mile.

1. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 3)

Christopher Bell is still without a win in 2026, but the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota continues to hover in the conversation for the win on a weekly basis. He was fourth this week at New Hampshire, and it seems certain a win is around the corner. Perhaps, it'll come at Daytona?

2. Ryan Blaney (6)

Sunday marked Ryan Blaney's third win of the season, and his second consecutive win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Now, he heads to Daytona International Speedway, a superspeedway, where he is regarded as one of the best drivers in modern NASCAR. Watch out for the 'stache.

3. Joey Logano (1)

An early-race incident hampered his day at New Hampshire, but Logano still fought back to run inside the top-10 late in the event. Ultimately, he settled for a 14th-place finish. While this is a down day for Logano, it shows how far he and the No. 22 team have come, as this would have been a welcomed result earlier in the season.

4. Denny Hamlin (2)

It feels odd to drop a driver two positions in the rankings after a seventh-place finish, but that's just the nature of the NASCAR Cup Series right now. Hamlin, who locked up the regular-season crown at New Hampshire, is really good right now, but he's not been performing as the top competitor in the series over the last five or so races.

5. Ty Gibbs (4)

Ty Gibbs is steady-Eddie all of a sudden, and it's making everyone quickly forget how long it took him to mold into a consistent competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now, the grandson of Joe Gibbs could be legitimately be competing for a Cup Series title in a few months.

6. Josh Berry (10)

Josh Berry is continuing to audition for his next ride, and he's doing it in style. After a miserable season, the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford has come to life lately with four consecutive top-10 finishes. His latest great run was a third-place finish at New Hampshire.

7. Ryan Preece (9)

While Ryan Preece heads into Daytona International Speedway as a longshot to advance to the Chase at 31 points behind Shane van Gisbergen, if he can keep all four wheels on the ground at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, RFK Racing typically has really, really fast Fords at this style of track.

8. Chase Briscoe (5)

Chase Briscoe had built up a lot of really positive momentum heading into New Hampshire. That all come to a halt with a subpar 26th-place finish. He'll look to get some of the momentum rolling back his way heading into the Chase this weekend at Daytona.

9. Austin Cindric (9)

Austin Cindric hasn't been ultra-impressive as of late, but he's been effective at managing his gap to the Chase cutline. A 12th-place finish at New Hampshire keeps him in a great spot heading into one of his better tracks -- Daytona.

10. Bubba Wallace (19)

Bubba Wallace came oh so close to getting his first win of the season last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, after the nearmiss, can he regain his composure, and put together more consistent finishes near the front on a weekly basis? We'll see.

Best of the Rest

11. Shane van Gisbergen (20)
12. Chris Buescher (11)
13. William Byron (7)
14. Brad Keselowski (17)
15. Daniel Suarez (14)
16. Tyler Reddick (20)
17. Noah Gragson (22)
18. Kyle Larson (31)
19. Chase Elliott (15)
20. Carson Hocevar (18)
21. Ross Chastain (13)
22. Todd Gilliland (21)
23. Alex Bowman (24)
24. Michael McDowell (23)
25. Zane Smith (27)
26. Cole Custer (25)
27. AJ Allmendinger (34)
28. Austin Hill (35)
29. Austin Dillon (16)
30. Ty Dillon (29)
31. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (30)
32. Erik Jones (26)
33. John Hunter Nemechek (28)
34. Riley Herbst (33)
35. Connor Zilisch (32)
36. Cody Ware (36)

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