By Noah Poser, Staff Writer
Another week, another change at the top.
Denny Hamlin wasn’t the dominant driver at Darlington (see William Byron) nor was he the fastest at the end of the race (see Ryan Blaney). In the end, none of that mattered however, as a late caution allowed the No. 11 pit crew to work their magic and put Hamlin in the lead for the overtime restart.
From there, Hamlin took care of the rest, driving away from the field to secure a second consecutive victory. And while it was tempting to place Byron back at No.1 in these rankings after his dominant day, it’s hard to argue against two straight wins…no matter how they come.
1. Denny Hamlin (Previous: 3)
Season Stats: 2 Wins, 4 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 308 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
Hamlin looked to be headed for just another solid top five finish, but lady luck was on his side at “The Lady in Black.” After struggling in the first stage, he finished third in the second stage. Having track position, the team decided to run long in the final stage, allowing Hamlin to work his way back into the top five in the final laps, setting himself and the team up for the money stop that paved the way to victory. Never count Hamlin out at Darlington.
2. William Byron (Previous: 4)
Season Stats: 1 Win, 4 Top 5s, 5 Top 20s, 354 Laps Led, 3 Stage Wins
While Hamlin left Darlington feeling like he stole one, Byron was left thinking about the one that got away. He swept the stages and led the first 243 laps of the race, which led to folks discussing the possibility of a perfect race. Unfortunately for Byron and his team, they didn’t quite have the right pit strategy for the final stage and while he would rebound to finish second thanks to the overtime finish, the disappointment from the team was obvious.
3. Christopher Bell (Previous: 2)
Season Stats: 3 Wins, 5 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 139 Laps Led, 1 Stage Win
A third-place finish leads to an undeserved drop in the rankings for Bell, who slips only because the guys ahead of him finished first and second respectively. His day followed a similar path to Hamlin’s, struggling in the first stage before finishing sixth in the second stage. He suddenly found himself in the mix at the end and capitalized with a second consecutive top five finish.
4. Kyle Larson (Previous: 1)
Season Stats: 1 Win, 4 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 92 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
A no good, very bad day is a good way to describe Larson’s day at Darlington. He crashed four laps into the race and spent the majority of the day watching the race on his phone in the garage as the team repaired the car. He returned to the track upwards of 160 laps down, but then helped bring out the final caution that hurt the next guy in these rankings. The car was cool, but he finished 37th.
5. Ryan Blaney (Previous: 9)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 3 Top 10s, 149 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
Even when the No. 12 team has a good day, you feel they were deserving of more. Blaney appeared to be the only driver that could drive through the field Sunday, something he proved on multiple occasions. He finished top 10 in both stages and after running long in the final stage, was poised for victory after passing Tyler Reddick with four laps to go. You know the story from there. Reddick hit the wall, Larson wrecked, Hamlin had a good stop and Blaney finished fifth.
6. Tyler Reddick (Previous: 8)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 85 Laps Led
It wasn’t going to be the winning strategy, but the call by Billy Scott to short-pit would have been good enough for second. That was until Reddick bounced off the wall late, setting up a chain reaction that led to an overtime restart, in which Reddick, who thought his car was junked, suddenly found himself on the front row with a chance to win. He wound up fourth after leading 42 laps and finishing top 10 in both stages. That’s good enough to move up a couple spots..
7. Chase Elliott (Previous: 6)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 44 Laps Led
Like Bell, Elliott probably doesn’t deserve to drop in these rankings, but guys behind him simply had better days. To his credit, he did manage an eighth-place finish after finding himself outside the top 10 in each of the first two stages and remains fourth in points. It’s his fifth top 10 finish in the last six races.
8. Alex Bowman (Previous: 5)
Season Stats: 1 Top 5, 5 Top 10s, 68 Laps Led
Bowman started 33rd and finished 35th after a broken toe link derailed his race. After four straight top ten finishes, he’s finished 27th or worse the last two races and suddenly finds himself down in 10th in points. Onto Bristol.
9. Bubba Wallace (Previous: 7)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 3 Top 10s, 98 Laps Led, 1 Stage Win
Wallace finished second in the first stage, but was nowhere to be found the rest of the race at Darlington. That is until he was involved in the incident late with Larson. It was a sour note to conclude a sour day for Wallace, who finished 21st.
10. Chris Buescher (Previous: NR)
Season Stats: 1 Top 5, 5 Top 10s
An up-and-down day at Darlington that saw him finish fourth in the first stage and outside the points in the second stage resulted in a sixth-place finish for Buescher. It stands as his fourth finish of seventh or better in the past six races but even more notable, it was Buescher’s fifth top 10 finish this season. He leads the series in that statistic, albeit with six other drivers.
11. Ross Chastain (Previous: NR)
Season Stats: 1 Top 5, 4 Top 10s, 39 Laps Led
Back-to-back top 10 finishes result in Chastain climbing back into the rankings. He finished seventh at Darlington despite running outside the top 10 most of the day. It follows a sixth-place finish the week prior at Martinsville and if he can keep stringing finishes like this together, he’ll continue to rise.
Dropped out: Joey Logano and Ryan Preece
Next up: Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Preece