The NASCAR Cup series is headed to “Wine Country” and Sonoma Raceway this weekend. If you are looking for an insane amount of passing, well I hate to break it to you this isn’t the race for you. It’s going to be a lot like last week at WWT Raceway. So, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. Where is your driver on this week’s NASCAR Power Rankings?
NASCAR Power Rankings 15th-11th
- 15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is done for the day after this one. https://t.co/zS0GIfQPqN pic.twitter.com/Q4gpAqMHzd
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2023
The Daytona 500 winner hasn’t been on the list since before the Atlanta race. His results last weekend at WWT do not match how he drove during that race. The 47 car was in the top ten all day before being caught up in someone else’s mess. Ricky was also riding a streak of seven straight top-fifteen finishes. He could be getting hot at the right time, but I’m still weary right now. At the very least he deserves to at least be on the NASCAR Power Rankings list this week! Keep it up, Ricky!
- 14. Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace in the wall. Caution is out with just five laps to go at WWT Raceway! pic.twitter.com/Ij8r63aHLW
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2023
Bubba dropped a spot, but not due to his own fault. He fell victim to a brake failure which killed his day much like a few other competitors. He worked his way into the top ten at one point so I expect some bouncebacks coming in Bubba’s future.
- 13. Joey Logano
A third-place finish was much needed for Logano. He’s been involved in a lot of other’s accidents and needed something positive. Let’s see if his stop on the struggle bus was WWT and he starts the climb back up the NASCAR Power Rankings.
- 12 & 11. RFK Racing
So, these two have been right around each other since I started this and that isn’t changing this week. Brad had some bad luck and battled an engine issue all race last week so he did give his eleventh position up but at least it was to a car he owns. However, Chris was able to grab a top-fifteen finish again. They are on the rise but it’s definitely a slower rise right now.
10th to 6th
- 10. Ross Chastain
It’s not been a good couple of weeks for Ross and his team. I was expecting a rebound this weekend but again Ross was unable to grab even a top-twenty finish. He’s on a downward slide, but where will it end?
- 9. Denny Hamlin
Another strong showing for Denny and the eleven team. Not surprised to see Denny in the top ten it’s kind of something I’m used to, let’s see how he is doing as the season is wrapping up later this year.
- 8. Kevin Harvick
You’ve got to love seeing this as a Harvick fan. I mean most of the time when a driver announces retirement his last season can be well, lackluster results-wise. Not Kevin, he’s just quietly grabbing some top-five and ten finishes buying his time for when that W comes.
- 7. Kyle Busch
I was a bit worried about “Rowdy” for a few weeks but once again he shows you why you can’t ever count him out. He came out and even after multiple restarts to finish the race was able to lead over one hundred twenty laps, and grabbed his third win of the season.
- 6. Ryan Blaney
I’m kind of a Blaney fanboy as of late I guess you could say. Ryan won stage two at WWT and was upfront the whole race competing for the win. Now let’s see how he does on some road courses though with four of the next ten races being road races.
The Top 5 of the NASCAR Power Rankings
- 5. Christopher Bell
His team has not been doing him any favors these last couple of weeks. He suffered from a poor pit stop during stage two but battled back to an eleventh-place finish. Bell is a decent road racer, let’s see if this team can get out of their own way and let the driver at the very least contend for more wins.
- 4. Tyler Reddick
A violent brake-rotor explosion for Tyler Reddick. He’s done for the day. pic.twitter.com/JT81Mu5w0i
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 4, 2023
Both of the 23XI Racing cars suffered brake failures. Unfortunately for Tyler, his happen way sooner than Bubba’s so of course his finishing position suffered more. It’s hard to penalize someone for a mechanical failure but it happens sometimes. Tyler is one to watch on the NASCAR Power Rankings list heading into Sonoma for sure.
- 3. Martin Truex Jr.
Another one to watch heading into Sonoma. Martin is a past winner and has been on the upward trend. If it wouldn’t have been for a late accident at Darlington he easily could be riding a top-five streak. Let’s see if Martin can grab another win in wine country.
Half of Hendrick Motorsports
- 2. Kyle Larson
- 1. William Byron
I won’t go into much detail here, but come on Kyle Larson was at risk of going a lap down at the end of stage one. He finished fourth and was in contention for the win had the other Kyle not had a better car. William led some laps and was around the top ten most of the race. Early on he was the best-running HMS car so no change here. We’ll see how Sonoma treats the duo this weekend.
Until Next Time!
If you’re looking for some contenders for the race on Sunday then look no further. Kyle Larson is a past winner here much like Martin Truex, Harvick, and Kyle Busch. So, you shouldn’t ever count those guys out. If you want a few other choices keep an eye on look no further than Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Daniel Suarez. I think Daniel is more of a sleeper myself but he did get his first win here last year and is coming off a good race at WWT. The other two are arguably the two best road racers in the series. So, yeah it seems easy but anything can and will happen during the race on Sunday so nothing is guaranteed.
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