We've reached the point in the 2022 season where there's now a legitimate argument to be made for multiple drivers as the best in NASCAR right now. If you think in terms of race wins, it's William Byron's pair of victories following Martinsville. If you're looking at flashiness and pizazz, it's Ross Chastain. But if you value consistency, it's probably Ryan Blaney.
Blaney has been fast all season, as demonstrated by his winning a series-leading three poles. He's led 339 laps, and has strung together three top-10 finishes in a row to go with three top five finishes and five overall top 10s. And he's just three points back of Chase Elliott for the Cup Series points lead, making him a legitimate early contender for the regular season championship even as he continues to look for his first win of the season.
It would have been difficult for anyone else to knock Ross Chastain off his perch at the top of the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings -- after all, he's had five top fives and a win in his last six races -- but a better overall last two weeks by Blaney puts him in the top spot in this week's post-Martinsville edition of the Power Rankings.
While Blaney and Chastain swap places, William Byron has jumped three spots in the rankings to move up to third, making him one of this week's biggest movers along with Austin Dillon (+6), Kurt Busch (+5), and Cole Custer (+3). Most other drivers have had relatively stable gains or losses, with a few sad exceptions.
Denny Hamlin is the biggest loser (-9) after following up his Richmond win with a horrible showing at Martinsville. Daniel Suarez also lost over half a dozen spots, losing seven spots overall.
Here's a look at our updated rankings in their entirety:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | Over the past two weeks, Ryan Blaney has led a total of 133 laps to Ross Chastain's none and now sits second in points. A fourth place finish at Richmond put him over the top. | ||
| 2 | Ross Chastain | While it wasn't as spectacular a performance as some he'd had in March, Ross Chastain drove from 27th starting spot all the way to fifth at the finish in Martinsville. Chastain has cooled off a bit, but not by much. | ||
| 3 | William Byron | William Byron is now staking his claim to being the hottest driver in NASCAR. He's now the only repeat winner in 2022 and has finished third or better three times in the last four races, leading 445 laps in that span to give him the series lead in laps led. | ||
| 4 | Chase Elliott | Passing was so difficult at Martinsville that had Chase Elliott not lost the lead on pit road, he may never have lost it period. Elliott led the opening 185 circuits, the most to start a Cup Series race since Matt Kenseth at Richmond in 2017. | ||
| 5 | Chase Briscoe | Chase Briscoe's ninth place finish at Richmond marked the first time he's finished in the top 10 since winning at Phoenix. He's now matched his total of top 10 finishes from his rookie year (3) in just eight races so far. | ||
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Despite earning 15 stage points, Martin Truex's recent string of top 10 finishes was snapped when he had a right front tire go down just after his green flag pitstop. It ruined his chances of a good finish, as he came home two laps down in 22nd. | ||
| 7 | Alex Bowman | Since his win at Las Vegas, Alex Bowman has been arguably the most consistent of the Hendrick cars. Bowman has not finished outside the top 15 the past six races, a streak which continued with a 12th at Martinsville. | ||
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick was among the drivers who came to pit road before overtime looking to try and gain spots on new tires. It didn't work as intended, leaving Harvick to settle for 14th. | ||
| 9 | Austin Dillon | In the shadow of teammate Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon has had a very nice 2022 so far. With a third-place finish at Martinsville, Dillon now has double the top fives and half the top 10s as he did in all of 2021. | ||
| 10 | Tyler Reddick | -- | An 18th place finish wasn't indicative of the night Tyler Reddick had in Martinsville, as he ran in the top 10 and looked headed for at least another top 15 finish before fading in the closing laps. | |
| 11 | Christopher Bell | The upward trajectory of Christopher Bell's season continued Saturday night, as he ran in the top 5 early on and seemed headed for another good finish until a pit road penalty foiled his efforts. Bell was able to salvage a 20th place finish. | ||
| 12 | Joey Logano | If he could have gotten to William Byron on the final lap, Joey Logano likely would have used the chrome horn to try and get his first win of 2022. Eventually, something is going to break and Logano is going to end a winless streak that now dates back to Bristol last year. | ||
| 13 | Kyle Busch | Of all the cars that came to pit road before overtime, Kyle Busch was able to optimize his strategy the best of anyone. Busch used his fresh tires to finish seventh. | ||
| 14 | Kurt Busch | Kurt Busch led the way in a 23XI Racing rebound after both cars had a rough outing at Richmond. Busch ran in the top 10 throughout the night, finishing sixth. | ||
| 15 | Aric Almriola | Aric Almirola finally got back on track after a post-Atlanta slump, starting on the outside pole and showing he had a fast car all night before finishing eighth -- His first top 10 since he posted three-straight to start the season. | ||
| 16 | Daniel Suarez | Daniel Suarez showed he was willing and able to be aggressive, roughing up Chase Elliott a couple of times, but it was otherwise a brutal night for him. Suarez struggled with his car's handling all night and finished four laps down in 29th. | ||
| 17 | Kyle Larson | Kyle Larson's chances of a top 10 ended with a speeding penalty during green flag pit stops, putting him a lap down in 19th at race's end. That's better than where Larson had been finishing, but still not what anyone expected from the defending Cup champ. | ||
| 18 | Brad Keselowski | -- | Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing brought fast pieces to Martinsville, as evidenced by them putting both their cars in the top 10 in qualifying. Keselowski would eventually slip back into the top 20, finishing 17th. | |
| 19 | Erik Jones | Erik Jones had the best recovery of the night in Martinsville, getting back on the lead lap after struggling early and ending up 13th -- his fourth top 15 of the season. | ||
| 20 | Chris Buescher | With a fourth place qualifying effort, Chris Buescher matched his best starting spot of the 2022 season. He ended up finishing 15th, matching his finishing result from Richmond. | ||
| 21 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric barely missed out on a top 10 at Martinsville, but his 11th place finish is his best result on an oval since winning the Daytona 500 back in February. Another good day to write home about for Cup's leading rookie. | ||
| 22 | Denny Hamlin | Good for Denny Hamlin he won Richmond, because Martinsville was more of the same of what his 2022 season has been. Hamlin had a miserable race from start to finish and ended up three laps down in 28th. | ||
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | Bubba Wallace had a fast car in practice, and he just missed out on a top 15 finish after having to withstand an onslaught of cars on fresh tires in overtime. It might have been better had it not been for another mistake by his pit crew, who earned him a penalty by going over the wall too soon. | ||
| 24 | Cole Custer | After another fast qualifying run, Cole Custer ran in the top 5 throughout the first half of Saturday night's race before a pit road penalty set him back in traffic. If Custer could just avoid trouble when he has a fast car, we'd see more of the form that earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2020. | ||
| 25 | Ty Dillon | Ty Dillon's string of consistency has dipped from consistent finishes inside the top 20 to consistent finishes just outside of it. Dillon finished 23rd at Martinsville a week after finishing 24th at Richmond. | ||
| 26 | Justin Haley | -- | After a string of top 20 finishes, Justin Haley has posted his worst finish of the 2022 season two weeks in a row. After a 29th place run at Richmond, Haley missed the mark at Martinsville and finished 31st. | |
| 27 | Todd Gilliland | Todd Gilliland gets a bump this week for his fast qualifying run, as he looked like a threat for the pole before settling for 10th. That speed didn't translate to the race, but a lot of fans were probably glad that a crash by Gilliland with less than 10 to go created some intrigue in an uneventful race. | ||
| 28 | Harrison Burton | A 26th place finish wasn't what Harrison Burton was hoping for in his native Southern Virginia. Martinsville is an important track to both the Burton family and the Wood Brothers, and Harrison himself won there in Xfinity in 2020. | ||
| 29 | Michael McDowell | Michael McDowell's 25th place finish doesn't look like much on the surface, and it really isn't anything at all upon further examination. It is, however, McDowell's fourth-best finish of 2022. | ||
| 30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | With Corey LaJoie finishing outside the top 30 yet again, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gets back in the power rankings this week despite a 27th place outing at Martinsville. He could vault up the board by this time next week, as Stenhouse is a dirt racer by trade and was second at Bristol last year. |
