The longest race of the NASCAR season didn’t disappoint as the Coca-Cola 600 delivered plenty of drama including a surprising turn at the very end. Jimmie Johnson seemed poised to cruise for the victory before he ran out of gas on the final lap and opened the door for Austin Dillon to earn his first career Cup win in the No. 3 car. Meanwhile, another strong performance from Martin Truex Jr. led to a shakeup at the top of our NASCAR power rankings.
It’s not usually the case that the standings correlate to the odds, and we see that again here. Truex Jr. is the points leader but it’s in fact – you guessed it – Jimmie Johnson that is the favorite to win it all according to the odds makers.
Here is a look at the NASCAR top five power rankings for this week.
1. Martin Truex Jr.
Last Week: 2
NASCAR Cup Championship Odds: +700
Truex Jr. secured his fourth top-five finish and eighth top-10 finish in 12 starts this season when he finished third in the Coca-Cola 600. The driver of the No. 78 Toyota has been as consistent as they come this season and he now leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings after moving past Kyle Larson with this week’s result. Truex Jr. led 233 laps at Charlotte International Speedway and then passed Kyle Busch on the final lap to finish third. Factor in that he has finished out of the top-16 only once this season and it’s clear Truex deserves the top spot this week.
2. Kyle Larson
Last Week: 1
NASCAR Cup Championship Odds: +800
Larson had a rare off week after a crash in the Coca-Cola 600 forced him all the way back to a 33rd-place finish. Larson has been a model of consistency all season but that one slip was enough to open the door for Truex to overtake him in both the standings and in our power rankings. Larson has one fewer Cup win and one fewer top-10 finish than Truex this season. It will be interesting to see how the driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet responds this week at the Monster Mile.
3. Brad Keselowski
Last Week: 3
NASCAR Cup Championship Odds: +750
Keselowski is another driver that was on a solid run before tripping up at Charlotte last week. Keselowski had posted four straight top-10 finishes including the NASCAR All-Star race before he crashed and finished a disappointing 39th in the Coca-Cola 600. Keselowski is third in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings behind only Truex and Larson and he should be able to bounce back in this week’s AAA 400 Drive For Autism.
4. Jimmie Johnson
Last Week: 4
NASCAR Cup Championship Odds: +600
Johnson was cruising until he ran out of gas with a couple of laps to go and he would up finishing in 17th. It was a tough break for a driver that looked dominant for the entire race but it won’t hurt Johnson’s stock too much overall in the NASCAR power rankings. Johnson is still one of only three drivers that has multiple Cup wins this season and is primed to bounce back at his favorite track next week. Johnson is a 10-time winner at Dover so look for him to bounce back with a strong performance in the AAA 400 Drive For Autism. He’s the favorite to win it all even though he’s fourth in the standings.
5. Kevin Harvick
Last Week: –
NASCAR Cup Championship Odds: +700
Harvick continued his climb up the standings with his third straight top-10 result when he placed eighth in the Coca-Cola 600 this past weekend. It was Harvick’s seventh top-10 finish in 12 starts this season. He is still looking for his first win but Harvick’s consistency has him in the top-10 in the point standings. Harvick will eventually need to win a race if he is going to make a serious move in the standings but so far consistency has been enough to put him in the picture heading in to the race at the Monster Mile this weekend.
Updated NASCAR Standings
Martin Truex Jr. #78 – Toyota 491
Kyle Larson #42 – Chevrolet 486
Brad Keselowski #2 – Ford 409
Kevin Harvick #4 – Ford 388
Kyle Busch #18 – Toyota 386
Jamie McMurray #1 – Chevrolet 385
Chase Elliott #24 – Chevrolet 362
Jimmie Johnson #48 – Chevrolet 359
Clint Bowyer #14 – Ford 343
Joey Logano #22 – Ford 336
Denny Hamlin #11 – Toyota 332
Ryan Blaney #21 – Ford 308
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 – Ford 298
Kurt Busch #41 – Ford 290
Matt Kenseth #20 – Toyota 288
Trevor Bayne #6 – Ford 271
Ryan Newman #31 – Chevrolet 266
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