NASCAR Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney Carrying Baton For Ford

With his big win at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, Ryan Blaney vaults up these rankings. But what to do with Bubba Wallace? He finished second — should have been third at worst — but was 29th after a penalty for advancing his position below the double line on the final lap? We’ll treat that one like a last-lap wreck where a driver runs well and won’t hold that against him too much. Here are my NASCAR power rankings heading into this weekend’s short-track race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the first points race there in 30 years. Dropped out: Alex Bowman (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Shane van Gisbergen Byron was clearly frustrated during the race and ended up 16th after being involved in one of the late-race crashes. To finish third while being in the mix with the leaders throughout the race — except for a period of time after he brushed the wall — was a solid day for Hocevar. Whether you think he got a raw deal or not on the final lap, you can’t deny that Wallace rallied after a spin to have a shot at the end. His roller-coaster year continues. Briscoe was involved in one of the late wrecks and finished 36th. He’s having even more of a roller-coaster year than Wallace. Larson spun a couple of times and finished five laps down in 34th. It was a rough result after finishing third in the opening stage and appearing as if he would challenge for the win over the first half of the event. Reddick finished second in each of the stages and wound up eighth amid all the dicing over the final laps. The most important thing: He has clinched a spot in the Chase. Gibbs was fourth at Atlanta. He and Wallace didn’t see eye to eye with the way they raced each other at the end, but Gibbs can leave feeling good about the result. It was another second-place finish for Bell, which was his fifth of the season. He’ll take it, considering he didn’t feel he had a true race-winning car at Atlanta. Blaney now has two wins this year, the same number of wins as Ford Racing — whose 15-race winless drought was its longest in 11 years. Hamlin retains the top spot despite a 12th-place finish. The key for him was just to remain ahead of Tyler Reddick in the standings, and he did just that. He also clinched a spot in the Chase.