NASCAR power rankings this week: The best drivers heading to Richmond

Alex Andrejev
·2 min read

NASCAR heads to Richmond Raceway this weekend for the Toyota Owners 400. The ninth race of the Cup season is Sunday, April 18 at 3 p.m. on FOX.

Below are The Observer’s NASCAR power rankings for the week of April 12. This list will be updated each week.

Honorable mention:

Chase Elliott ran consistently at Martinsville, finishing in the top-five in the opening stages and scoring a second-place finish at the checkered flag. While the No. 9 team hasn’t earned consistent top-10 finishes yet this season, Elliott’s recent run at Martinsville gives him an honorable mention spot.

William Byron has put together a string of recent top-10 finishes. After winning at Homestead in February, the No. 24 team has not finished lower than eighth place in the last six races. Byron raced in the top-10 through both stages at Martinsville, finishing in fourth place.

Top 3:

3. Ryan Blaney had a rough finish last weekend at Martinsville when he drove out of his pit box with an air gun still attached to his car. He was penalized late in the race for running over the equipment and finished 11th, but Blaney still led 157 laps and won the first two stages. The Cup series races at another short track with the same rules package at Richmond this week, which could bode well for the No. 12 team if it can clean up mistakes. Blaney already has one win this season (Atlanta).

2. Denny Hamlin leads the series in points (379 points) with Martin Truex Jr. in second (303) after Hamlin’s third-place finish at Martinsville. Hamlin led more than half the laps last weekend and finished the first two stages in second place in his No. 11 Toyota. He finished last year’s race at Richmond in 12th but has seven top-five finishes in eight races, four of which have been in the top three.

1. Martin Truex Jr. won last weekend’s race at Martinsville, a short-track in southern Virginia, to claim his second win of the season after winning at Phoenix in March. Truex has two wins at Richmond, both of which came during 2019, when he totaled seven victories. He finished second in last year’s 300-mile race at the track in the No. 19 Toyota.