NASCAR power rankings this week: The best drivers heading to Kansas
NASCAR races at Kansas Speedway this weekend for the Buschy McBusch Race 400. The 11th race of the Cup Series season is 3 p.m. Sunday on FS1.
Below are The Observer’s NASCAR power rankings for the week of April 26. This list will be updated each week.
Honorable mention:
Brad Keselowski (previously unranked) is taking an honorable mention spot from Penske teammate Ryan Blaney this week following Keselowski’s overtime win at Talladega. Keselowski led just the final lap of the race but secured his first win of the season (sixth career win at Talladega) and fourth top-five finish this year. Blaney finished ninth.
Joey Logano (-1) was involved in a massive wreck at the end of the first stage at Talladega, which sent Logano’s No. 22 Ford flipping through the air. Logano was unharmed, but his car was unable to complete the race. He finished in third two weeks ago at Richmond, but most recently placed second-to-last at the superspeedway. Logano also gave strong commentary on racing safety during an interview on FOX after the wreck, saying he was “one hit away from the same situation Ryan Newman just went through.”
Top 3:
3. William Byron (+1) is putting together one of the most consistent performances this year. Byron has one win (Homestead), three top-fives and eight top-10s after a second-place finish at Talladega. Byron led 12 laps of last Sunday’s race throughout the first two stages. His average finish this season (10.3) is tied with Kevin Harvick for second-best in the series behind Denny Hamlin.
2. Martin Truex Jr. (no change) finished 31st at Talladega, but is still second in points standings and has two wins, the most so far this season. He also has four top-five finishes and six top-10s. Truex Jr. has also led the third-most number of laps (360 laps led) behind Kyle Larson (379), who exited last weekend’s race early after the first few laps due to an engine issue.
1. Denny Hamlin (no change) struggled recently at Talladega like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Truex Jr. Hamlin finished in 32nd after he was involved in multiple wrecks late in each of the first two stages, and he had back-to-back speeding penalties on pit road. But Hamlin is still the Cup Series point leader (446 points) and has a seventh-place average finish through the first 10 races. He won the first race at Kansas last year.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 2:39 PM with the headline "NASCAR power rankings this week: The best drivers heading to Kansas."
