SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings

Find out how Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover Int’l Speedway impacted this week’s SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Power Rankings.

by:
Pete Pistone
May 18, 2021

(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Pete Pistone will unveil Power Rankings each week of the NASCAR season. Check out this week’s edition of NASCAR Power Rankings below, and listen to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) on the SiriusXM app now.

Here’s how Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover Int’l Speedway impacted this week’s Power Rankings:

  1. Martin Truex Jr.  – A sour follow-up to his dominating win a week earlier at Darlington. Truex Jr. started from the pole but had trouble early and was never able to rebound from the bad start to end up the day 19th in Dover.

Driver Rating: 105.7
Point Standings: 3rd
Previous Ranking: 1st

2.   Denny Hamlin – He keeps adding to his sizeable lead atop of the NASCAR Cup Series point standings but Hamlin remains winless in 2021. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver scored his 10th top-10 finish of 2021.

Driver Rating: 115.3
Point Standings: 1st
Previous Ranking: 2nd

  1. Alex Bowman– A late pit stop propelled Bowman into the lead late on Sunday and he never relinquished the top spot driving to his fourth career win and the second of the 2021 season. Bowman led 98 laps on Sunday, which was more than his combined total from all races this year coming into Dover.

Driver Rating: 93.9
Point Standings: 13th
Previous Ranking: NR

  1. William Byron– The young driver continues to impress and has now finished top-10 in the last 11 races, the fourth longest streak every by a Hendrick Motorsports driver. Byron is the youngest driver to have an 11 race top-10 streak and his 11 top-10s are the most by a driver in 2021.

Driver Rating: 101.4
Point Standings: 2nd
Previous Ranking: 3rd

  1.   Kyle Larson – He posted his 25th career runner-up finish with only seven wins. Larson led 263 laps (his third most in a race) but has failed to win in all six races he led at least 155 laps (fourth top-two finish of 2021).

Driver Rating: 101.6
Point Standings: 5th
Previous Ranking: 6th

  1. Kevin Harvick – Although he was still not in contention to win for the first time this year, Harvick maintained his consistency. Knocked down his seventh straight top-10 finish at Dover.

Driver Rating: 94.4
Point Standings: 8th
Previous Ranking: 7th

  1. Kyle Busch  – Engine issues plagued Busch for the early going and he fell out of any contention for a good finish let alone a win before things really got going Sunday in Dover.

Driver Rating: 91.9
Point Standings: 10th
Previous Ranking: 5th

  1. Ryan Blaney  – His car received some damage early and hard work ensued with the Team Penske crew doing all they could to keep Blaney going. Overall not a bad effort with a 12th place finish considering the circumstances.

Driver Rating: 92.8
Point Standings: 6th
Previous Ranking: 8th

  1. Joey Logano – The Team Penske driver ended a three race streak without a top-10 and Logano scored his fifth top-five finish at Dover.

Driver Rating: 100.7
Point Standings: 4th
Previous Ranking: 10th

  1. Brad Keselowski – A second week without crew chief Jeremy Bullins who was out for COVID-19 protocols saw Keselowski struggle again. He took the checkered flag with a disappointing 16th-place effort on Sunday.

Driver Rating: 93.0
Point Standings: 9th
Previous Ranking: 7th
Dropped Out: Christopher Bell



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