NASCAR Power Rankings: Kyle Larson at No. 1 as Cup Series heads to break

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Kyle Larson leaps to the top of the power rankings thanks to his win Sunday at Indianapolis. He overcame a pit-road issue and certainly needed some fortune to play into their strategy, but he got the job done with a great car for his fourth win of the season.

The NASCAR Cup Series is off for a rare two-week break (with NBC having the Olympics, it needs its lineup of channels for that coverage). Here is my advice to these teams during the next two weeks.

1. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 5) 

Larson has four wins this year, but it could be even more than that. The team had good fortune at Indianapolis. Whatever they did prerace or any change in the routine or even what they ate for breakfast, they need to write it down and make sure they do it again over the final 14 weeks. 

2. Denny Hamlin (LW: 1)

Hamlin’s team can’t worry about the misfortune of the last month or so. He has had fast cars and just needs to continue with that. Hamlin’s been in this sport long enough to know it is what it is.

3. Tyler Reddick (LW: 4)

Reddick is getting married during the break. The only advice is to enjoy it.

4. Ryan Blaney (LW: 3)

Blaney has had similar bad luck to Hamlin at times this year, but Blaney seems to get more angry, at least in the moment. His team needs to have Bob Marley’s “Don’t Worry” on a loop to play on the team radio.

5. Chase Elliott (LW: 2)

Elliott has been one of the most consistently strong drivers as his average finish of 10.5 is tops in the series this year. But he only has won one race. He really shouldn’t sweat too much, but he does need to find a way to capitalize on his best days.

6. Christopher Bell (LW: 7)

Some weeks Bell seems unbeatable and other weeks he is a top-10 car that barely makes any noise. He needs to go run some sprint cars just to go have some fun, but his Joe Gibbs Racing team doesn’t let him.

7. William Byron (LW: 6)

Byron needs to find a golden horseshoe or really any horseshoe to turn around his luck. He’s having another little bit of a summer slump, so maybe just flipping the calendar to August will do the trick.

8. Alex Bowman (LW: 8)

Bowman can spend the next two weeks having good laughs with the monkey he threw off his back after snapping an 80-race winless streak at Chicago. 

9. Brad Keselowski (LW: NR)

Keselowski can join Bowman with the monkey he threw off his back after snapping a 110-race winless streak earlier this year. But he’d probably be better off focusing on any business aspects of RFK Racing that need his attention because in about a month or so, his focus will need to be strictly on the playoffs.

10. Todd Gilliland (LW: NR)

Gilliland should petition NASCAR to move races to the next two weeks, he is on such a run of strong finishes. A young driver who already has experienced the ups and downs of the sport, he should be relishing the upside at the moment.

Dropped out: Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 9), Ty Gibbs (LW: 10)

On the verge: Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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