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Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway saw Hendrick Motorsports finish 1-2-3 in the race that served as the 40th anniversary of the team’s first win.
William Byron took the checkered flag, but as the Cup Series heads to Fort Worth, Texas for Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, it’s one of his teammates who sits atop the power rankings.
1. Kyle Larson (Last week: 2)
Larson won the pole at Martinsville, led 86 laps, finished runner-up and reclaimed the points lead by 14 markers over Martin Truex Jr. That’s enough to return him to the front of the power rankings, and he’ll have a good chance to stay there after the next race, too. In the last NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, he led 99 laps and seemed en route to a dominant win before crashing late.
2. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 4)
Hamlin didn’t sweep the early season short-track swing, but he led 66 laps and was a contender late Sunday before he fell to 11th on the final restart. He has had success at Texas in the past, sweeping both races there in 2010 and also winning in the spring of 2019, but it’s been an up-and-down track for him throughout his career.
3. William Byron (Last week: 6)
Byron’s season of feast or famine continues. He followed up an uneventful run at Richmond with his third win of the season in only eight races. On a day when passing proved difficult, he maneuvered through the field after starting 18th. It was one of the most impressive drives of his career. Now he’ll head to Texas, where he won last fall.
4. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 1)
Truex took a bit of a tumble in the rankings after a disappointing 18th-place finish, as he was unable to rebound from his “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve” Richmond heartbreaker. Still, this was the first time he has been a non-factor in weeks, and one can expect him to get right back to running up front.
5. Chase Elliott (Last week: 8)
Sunday was perhaps the closest to a win since 2022 for Elliott, who fought for the lead on the final restart and finished third. He is slowly regaining his pre-injury form, and if he can carry that momentum over to Texas — a track where he’s led fewer than 100 laps in his career and never finished better than fourth — it may be time to officially declare him back.
6. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 7)
Reddick earned a quiet seventh-place effort in Martinsville despite being outshone by his teammate, Bubba Wallace, throughout the afternoon. Now that this stretch of short tracks is out of the way, expect him to be a primary factor in Texas — he won there in 2022, and he was best in the “not Kyle Larson” class at Las Vegas, the only other intermediate for the Cup Series this season.
7. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 12)
Blaney finished a solid fifth at Martinsville and had one of the fastest cars by the end of the race. His finish moves him back up a few slots, and he’ll have a chance to move up even more at Texas, where he has come close to winning several times.
8. Joey Logano (Last week: 10)
That’s now back-to-back good weeks for Logano, who finished sixth in Martinsville after leading 84 laps on pit strategy. He has entered the playoff picture with a move up to 14th in points. Logano still has a lot to prove on the intermediates, though, so Texas will be a good test for him and his No. 22 bunch.
9. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 5)
Gibbs had a strangely invisible race in Martinsville, where one could’ve reasonably expected him to fight for the win given his previous short-track speed in 2024. Instead, he was a middling 19th. For a second-year driver who is only 21, it’s understandable for him to have an off week every so often.
10. Christopher Bell (Last week: 3)
Martinsville was disastrous for Bell, who was outside the top 20 even before having to pit under green for a flat tire and falling multiple laps down. He finished 35th. For all the speed he’s shown at times this season, the execution has often been lacking, and that’s why he’s down to 11th in points, lowest of the Joe Gibbs Racing squad.
11. Bubba Wallace (Last week: 15)
Wallace finished the highest of the non-Hendrick cars Sunday with an impressive fourth, which was about where he ran all race. He has regained his momentum from the start of the season after a few down weeks, and given his performance at Texas last fall in which he led 111 laps and finished third, he should be strong there again.
12. Ross Chastain (Last week: 11)
As has been the case for much of this season, Chastain didn’t make a whole lot of noise and yet earned a decent finish on Sunday. He was 14th at Martinsville, continuing his streak of no results outside the top 15 since Daytona. Given that intermediates are generally his strong suit, he could be one to watch in Texas.
13. Alex Bowman (Last week: 13)
Bowman lagged slightly behind the rest of his Hendrick teammates at Martinsville, but his eighth-place finish is nothing to be ashamed of. Such is often the story for the No. 48 driver, who is solidly 10th in points and comfortably in the playoffs eight races in. That’s not bad for being his team’s fourth fiddle.
14. Chase Briscoe (Last week: not ranked)
Martinsville was another solid outing for Briscoe, who climbed back to within one point of the final playoff spot with a 10th-place finish. Briscoe and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, however, haven’t shown intermediate speed. Briscoe earned a top-10 at Texas last fall, so perhaps he could be in line for another strong run there.
15. Chris Buescher (Last week: 9)
Buescher’s drop from ninth to 15th in these rankings isn’t so much because he ran badly, but rather because the drivers who jumped over him performed well. That said, the No. 17 driver — as well as his teammate and co-owner, Brad Keselowski —- were mostly invisible at Martinsville even though Buescher grinded out a 15th-place finish.
16. Kyle Busch (Last week: NR)
Busch found his way back into the rankings after dropping out following Richmond. His 16th-place finish must be considered a huge positive given Richard Childress Racing’s lack of short-track speed. He remains a point ahead of Briscoe in the final playoff spot, and will look to distance himself in that fight at Texas.
Dropped out: Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry
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