NASCAR Power Rankings: Can Anyone Catch Denny Hamlin?

The big crashes Sunday at Michigan played a little havoc with the power rankings, trying to take into consideration those running well who got caught up in an incident no fault of their own. There’s one thing for sure — if anyone thought putting Denny Hamlin at No. 1 was questionable, they’re likely not questioning it after his back-to-back victories at Nashville and Michigan. Here are my power rankings heading into this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway. Dropped out: Chase Briscoe (LW: 5) On the verge: Briscoe, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace 10. Daniel Suarez (Last Week: NR)Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet Suarez is back in the rankings after a sixth-place finish at Michigan. That gives him three finishes of sixth or better (including a victory) in his last five races. He is ninth in the overall standings. 9. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 6)Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Elliott swerved into Christopher Bell, causing a hard wreck for both of them, and he ended up 32nd. That was after he finished fourth in the opening stage and won the second stage. He is fourth in the overall standings. 8. Carson Hocevar (Last Week: 9)Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Hocevar finished fifth at Michigan but not without drama. Still, he kept his head in the game and earned a solid result, earning 45 points, the second most of any driver in the event. It was his first top-five since his Talladega win. 7. Erik Jones (Last Week: 10)Legacy Motor Club No. 43 Toyota Jones had his best finish of the season as he placed second at Michigan, which followed finishes of 12th, 19th, 13th and 11th. That might not seem like much, but he only had three top-20 finishes in the first 10 races this year. 6. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 7)Team Penske No. 12 Ford Blaney once again grinded out a solid finish despite not appearing to have the speed at Michigan. He started 19th and finished eighth, his fourth top-10 finish in his last five races. Blaney is third in the series standings. 5. Ty Gibbs (Last Week: 4)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota Gibbs got caught up in the big wreck in the second stage after finishing second in the opening stage at Michigan. He finished 25th but is still fifth in the overall standings. 4. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 3)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Bell probably was as startled as anybody when Chase Elliott swerved into him (unintentionally) at Michigan. The hard crash resulted in Bell finishing 31st after being sixth in the second stage. He’s 10th in the overall standings. 3. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 8)Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet Larson finished fourth at Michigan. He was never really in contention as he was seventh in the opening stage and fourth in the second stage, but he appeared more consistent than in many other races this year. It was his second top-five in his last three races. 2. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: 2)23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota Reddick suffered his first DNF (did not finish) of the season after getting caught up in the wreck in the second stage. He had to be thinking what could have been as he had won the opening stage. 1. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 1)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota Hamlin has won back-to-back races, has four top-three finishes in his last five starts and has eight top-five finishes in his last 12 starts. He’s also cutting into Reddick’s points lead as he sits 51 points behind Reddick for the top spot in the standings.