Denny Hamlin has three “podium” finishes in his last three starts.
OK, so none of them actually had a real podium for a top-three finish. That only occurred at Mexico City, where Hamlin didn’t race in the days following the birth of his son.
But with a third-place finish, a win and a second in his past three starts, that’s good enough to launch him at the top of this list.
Here’s how the latest rankings shake out as Cup Series drivers enter a three-week stretch of some wild-card-type tracks, with the first being Atlanta race this weekend — a high-banked 1.54-mile oval that now races like drafting tracks Daytona and Talladega.
Dropped out: 9. Ross Chastain (Last Week: 9).
On the verge: Alex Bowman, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick.
Preece finished eighth at Pocono for his fourth top-10 finish in the last six races. The RFK Racing driver continues to find his way to race among the leaders.
A brake rotor failure ruined Wallace’s day Sunday at Pocono, and a starter issue stymied him in qualifying. But the 23XI driver had speed, as shown in the previous three races, where he had an average finish of 7.3.
Briscoe’s big victory at Pocono vaulted him into the playoffs and up a couple spots in these rankings. As a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, he should expect more wins and more weeks in these rankings.
Buescher placed fourth at Pocono for his third consecutive top-10 finish. The RFK Racing driver had the speed as he qualified on the front row.
A solid fifth-place finish for Elliott was his fifth top-five finish this year. The Hendrick driver knows running in the top five often enough will lead to him competing for a win relatively soon.
Bell finished second a week earlier at Mexico City but never seemed to have the speed at Pocono. He qualified ninth and finished 17th, having been involved in a wreck in the second stage.
Blaney rebounded from qualifying 20th to finishing third at Pocono. That’s a good day for the Penske driver, making the most out of what could have been a bad day.
Byron might have had the fastest car at Pocono on Saturday until he wrecked it during qualifying. He went for the stage points (he still has a 54-point lead on Kyle Larson as far as the battle for the regular-season title) and then got mired in traffic, losing spots to avoid a wreck and finished 27th.
Larson finished a respectable seventh after starting 24th at Pocono. The Hendrick driver has seven top 10s in his last nine starts.
Hamlin takes the top spot with three awesome finishes (third, first, second) in his last three starts. The JGR driver sits third in the standings despite having missed a race.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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