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Shane Van Gisbergen continued his incredible run of dominance on road courses at Sonoma, picking up his third win of the NASCAR Cup Series season. In doing so, Van Gisbergen vaulted himself up the playoff standings as well as up the latest edition of our power rankings.
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Shane Van Gisbergen walked into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Sonoma as one of the biggest favorites in the sport’s history. He then went on to deliver his third win of the season in dominant fashion.
The victory shakes up not only the NASCAR playoff standings but also the latest edition of our power rankings. How far will Van Gisbergen climb? We address that and more in our new countdown.
10) Tyler Reddick 
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Reddick drops a spot in this week’s power rankings, but it’s not because of anything he did particularly wrong. The 23XI star qualified in the top 10 and finished sixth on Sunday.
However, his decision to flip both stages resulted in zero stage points, which could come back to bite him if he doesn’t pick up a win as the regular season winds down.
Last Week: 9th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 13th
9) Ross Chastain 
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Like Reddick before him, Chastain is more a victim of circumstance than anything else when it comes to this week’s power rankings.
Yes, he finished in 24th after qualifying in the top five. But Chastain stayed out to end the first stage of the race and won the stage, picking up a vitally important playoff point, just his sixth of the season as the postseason nears.
Last Week: 8th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 10th
8) Ryan Blaney 
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Blaney’s 36th-place finish in Sonoma isn’t anywhere near indicative of the way he ran. But that’s how the chips fall sometimes.
The 2023 series champion scored points in both of the first two stages before a wreck with Chris Buescher ruined his day. Blaney could have stayed out and won the second stage as Chastain did in the first. But ultimately, he and crew chief Jonathan Hassler opted against that decision.
You wonder now if there’s any regret over that decision with the regular season winding down and playoff points at a premium.
Last Week: 5th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 6th
7) Chase Briscoe 
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Briscoe continues to prove that he’s one of the best road course racers in the series today, finishing second behind Van Gisbergen after a strong run all day.
The longer the season goes on, the more Briscoe and crew chief James Small appear to be getting on the same page, which could be dangerous for the rest of the field come playoff time.
Last Week: 7th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 9th
6) William Byron 
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After a string of brutal results, regular season points leader William Byron badly needed a strong run at Sonoma. Thankfully for the Hendrick Motorsports star, that’s what he got.
Byron qualified in third and ran up front all day, scoring points in both stages before bringing home a 9th-place finish. Is it the same level of speed he showed to start the season? No. But it’s a step in the right direction for him and the No. 24 team.
Last Week: 6th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 5th
5) Chase Elliott 
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Chase Elliott just continues to reel off strong results through NASCAR’s summer swing. While he didn’t have quite the early speed as his teammate Byron, Elliott hung around the top 10 all day, and a late call to pit for tires helped him to a 3rd place finish.
Elliott picked up his fourth top-five finish in the last five Cup Series races and he remains in second place in the regular season standings, just 14 points behind Byron.
Last Week: 4th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 12th
4) Shane Van Gisbergen 
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Shane Van Gisbergen makes the biggest jump of any driver all season in the top-10 of our power rankings, and it’s hard to argue with the decision.
With all eyes on him, Van Gisbegen delivered a masterclass at Sonoma, sitting on the pole and leading a race-record 95 laps en route to victory. He also won the second stage of the race despite short-pitting.
Van Gisbergen is now tied with Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell for the season lead in wins with three, and he has the third-most playoff points in the series.
Oh, and he’ll be the heavy favorite when the series heads to Watkins Glen next month.
Last Week: 10th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 3rd
3) Kyle Larson 
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For the second straight week, things didn’t go Larson’s way on a road course where many expected him to contend for a win.
The five-time Sonoma pole sitter qualified a solid, but unspectacular, 13th and failed to score points in stage one. He then attempted to stay out and win stage two, but Van Gisbergen ran him down and passed him after pitting with just a few laps remaining.
Larson then got caught up in a crash late in the race and brought home a disappointing 35th-place finish in his home state.
Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Playoff Standings: 2nd
2) Christopher Bell 
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Bell moves up to No. 2 this week, more as a beneficiary of Larson’s rough weekend than Bell’s incredible showing. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver qualified 20th and ran in the teens for most of the race.
But like Elliott, a late strategy call helped him carve through the field for a strong finish, ultimately grabbing the final spot in the top five.
Bell would’ve hoped for a bit more this weekend, especially with his teammate Briscoe looking so strong. But a top five is tough to complain about too much.
Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Playoff Standings: 4th
1) Denny Hamlin 
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Hamlin, like Bell, is as much a beneficiary of Larson’s struggles this week as anything else. The power rankings leader struggled throughout the weekend, qualifying in 16th and running there or thereabouts for much of the race.
Hamlin didn’t score any stage points this weekend and brought home a disappointing 20th-place finish. He also lost ground to Byron in the regular-season points battle.
For now, Hamlin maintains his No. 1 spot in the power rankings. But that place is looking far more tenuous than it did a week ago.
Last Week: 1st NASCAR Playoff Standings: 2nd