Kyle Busch moved closer to the top spot after his win Sunday at WWT Raceway, but William Byron keeps hold of No. 1 after another top-10 run.
The series heads to Sonoma Raceway this weekend, the second race of the season on a road course.
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS
(Previous ranking in parenthesis)
1. William Byron (1) — He goes into Sonoma with six consecutive top-10 finishes after his eighth-place result at WWT Raceway. Byron has led a series-high 717 laps this season.
2. Kyle Busch (4) — Recorded his third win of the season Sunday. He is tied with Byron for most wins this year. Busch scored 59 of a maximum 60 points and won his first stage of the year Sunday. He has 16 playoff points. Only Byron has more with 17 this season.
3. Kyle Larson (3) — His fourth-place finish continued his up-and-down season. In the last nine races, Larson has two wins, four top fives, a 20th-place result and four finishes of 30th or worse. He has led 588 laps this season, which ranks second this year to Byron.
4. Martin Truex Jr. (2) — His fifth-place finish is his sixth top 10 in the last eight races. He ranks third in laps led this year with 383.
5. Denny Hamlin (7) — Runner-up result at WWT Raceway is his fourth top 10 in the last seven races.
6. Ryan Blaney (10) — Followed Coca-Cola 600 win with a sixth-place run at WWT Raceway. He had an average running position of 2.6 on Sunday, second only to winner Kyle Busch’s average running position of 1.9.
7. Joey Logano (9) — Third-place finish is his second top 10 in the last four races.
8. Kevin Harvick (NR) — His 10th-place finish is his fourth consecutive finish of 11th or better.
9. Ross Chastain (6) — Lost the points lead after placing 22nd, his third consecutive finish outside the top 20.
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (NR) — Headed for his eighth top 15 in a row until he was collected in a crash after the contact between Austin Cindric and Austin Dillon late in Sunday’s race.
Dropped out: Chase Elliott (5th), Tyler Reddick (8th)
