In the latest NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings, Kyle Larson has emerged as the new number one driver. This week, he won at Sonoma for his third victory of the season and second win in his last five Cup starts. Larson’s strategic questioning of his team during the race led to his eventual victory, where spotter Tyler Monn simply advised him to “just be you”.
Denny Hamlin, who was previously ranked number one, experienced engine trouble early in the race which led to a last-place finish for the second year in a row at Sonoma. This outcome ended his streak of five consecutive top-five finishes.
Chase Elliott finished fourth at Sonoma, marking his sixth top-five finish in the last 10 races and moving him from ninth to second in the points standings.
Brad Keselowski’s 13th place finish at Sonoma broke his streak of three consecutive top-three results, but he still has five top-fives in the last eight races and has risen from 18th to seventh in the points.
Tyler Reddick won a stage and finished eighth at Sonoma, continuing his streak of top-10 finishes in the last three races and accumulating a series-high 10 top-10 finishes this season.
Christopher Bell finished ninth at Sonoma, marking his fourth top-10 finish in the last five races. William Byron, however, finished 30th at Sonoma due to a leaking tire and being involved in an incident. This marked the fourth time in the last six races that he failed to finish in the top 10.
Ross Chastain finished fifth, earning his second top-10 finish in the last three races. Alex Bowman finished 15th at Sonoma, marking his second consecutive race outside the top 10 after a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes. Martin Truex Jr., who was previously ranked number two, dropped out of
