July NASCAR Cup Power Rankings: Top spot goes to Denny Hamlin
He repeated at No. 1 after a month that saw him win once and finish in the top five in three of the four races in July.
July Power Rankings
1. Denny Hamlin (Last month: No. 1)
Hamlin earns the top spot after winning a race (Dover), finishing third (Indianapolis) and placing fourth (Chicago Street Race) in July. He scored the most points in the series in July with 155. Hamlin scored a series-high 45 stage points in the month. He also posted the fastest lap of the race at Dover — which came on the last lap as he led while on older tires — and Indianapolis.
2. Chase Briscoe (NR)
Briscoe had a pair of runner-up finishes (Sonoma and Dover), won the pole at Indianapolis and started second at Dover and Sonoma. He scored 147 points in the month, second only to Hamlin. Briscoe also had a stage win and scored 44 stage points, second only to Hamlin. Briscoe scored points in seven of the month's eight stages.
3. Shane van Gisbergen (NR)
He won the Chicago Street Race and at Sonoma, collecting 99 of the 124 points he scored in the month in those two races. He placed 30th at Dover and was 19th at Indianapolis after qualifying 11th — his best qualifying performance on an oval. His oval performances kept him from ranking higher.
4. Chase Elliott (No. 2)
Elliott took the points lead this month from Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. Elliott has been consistent all season and that showed in July. His 132 points ranked fourth in the series. He placed third at Sonoma and sixth at Dover. Elliott had a stage win in July (Dover) and led 238 laps (all at Dover).
5. Bubba Wallace (NR)
The Brickyard 400 winner held off Kyle Larson on two overtime restarts to earn his first victory of the season and the first for 23XI Racing this year. Wallace was tied for sixth in points scored in July and ended the month with back-to-back top-10 results — seventh at Dover and first at Indy. Wallace scored points in six of eight stages in the month. His Indy win took him off the playoff cutline.
Those outside the top five
Alex Bowman — He scored 136 points, which ranked fourth among all drivers in July. Bowman had three top 10s in the four races, placing third at Dover, eighth in the Chicago Street Race and ninth at Indianapolis — his best finish there.
Kyle Larson — He scored 122 points for the month. Larson ranked fifth for the month in stage points scored with 28. He had back-to-back top-five finishes to end the month, placing fourth at Dover and second at Indianapolis.
Points scored in July
155 — Denny Hamlin (1 win)
147 — Chase Briscoe
136 — Alex Bowman
132 — Chase Elliott
124 — Shane van Gisbergen (2 wins)
122 — Kyle Larson
122 — Kyle Busch
122 — Bubba Wallace (1 win)
122 — Tyler Reddick
122 — Ty Gibbs
113 — Christopher Bell
112 — Ryan Blaney
112 — Ryan Preece
102 — Chris Buescher
92 — Brad Keselowski
91 — William Byron
87 — Joey Logano
84 — Justin Haley
79 — John Hunter Nemechek
79 — Michael McDowell
72 — Ty Dillon
66 — AJ Allmendinger
60 — Austin Cindric
60 — Ross Chastain
59 — Todd Gilliland
57 — Zane Smith
56 — Riley Herbst
52 — Daniel Suarez
51 — Josh Berry
44 — Carson Hocevar
43 — Cole Custer
42 — Austin Dillon
39 — Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
33 — Erik Jones
18 — Noah Gragson
16 — Cody Ware
Stage points scored in July
45 — Denny Hamlin
44 — Chase Briscoe (1 stage win)
34 — William Byron
32 — Bubba Wallace
28 — Kyle Larson
27 — Ryan Blaney (2 stage wins)
27 — Alex Bowman
25 — Kyle Busch
23 — Tyler Reddick
22 — Chase Elliott (1 stage win)
20 — Christopher Bell (1 stage win)
19 — Shane van Gisbergen (1 stage win)
15 — Ross Chastain (1 stage win)
13 — Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11 — Chris Buescher
10 — Michael McDowell (1 stage win)
9 — Ty Dillon
9 — Ty Gibbs
8 — Carson Hocevar
7 — John Hunter Nemechek
6 — Brad Keselowski
6 — Ryan Preece
5 — Joey Logano
3 — Zane Smith
2 — Austin Dillon
2 — Erik Jones
1 — Noah Gragson
1 — AJ Allmendinger
Laps Led in July
238 — Chase Elliott
123 — Shane van Gisbergen
68 — Denny Hamlin
68 — Christopher Bell
62 — Chase Briscoe
40 — Austin Cindric
34 — Michael McDowell
33 — Bubba Wallace
22 — Kyle Larson
17 — Ryan Blaney
15 — Justin Haley
12 — Ryan Preece
6 — Daniel Suarez
4 — Ross Chastain
3 — Noah Gragson
3 — Alex Bowman
2 — AJ Allmendinger
1 — John Hunter Nemechek
1 — Ty Gibbs
Watch highlights from the NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Watch highlights from the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 on the streets of Chicago.
Watch highlights from the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
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