The NASCAR Cup Series season is halfway over following Christopher Bell’s wet-weather win in Sunday’s USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Bell joins Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and William Byron with three wins apiece this season, and the championship feels like it is anyone’s to win.
Here’s who has the most momentum as the second half begins with Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.
1. Kyle Larson (Last week: 1)
Had Sunday’s race been called early for rain, as it appeared it would, Larson would have lost the top spot given that he wasn’t much of a factor at the time. However, Larson came alive late and finished fourth while Ryan Blaney was taken out in a late accident, so he holds on to the top spot for another week. Larson also moved back into a tie with teammate Chase Elliott for the regular-season points lead.
2. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 2)
Blaney’s hopes Sunday were dashed when he got spun by Michael McDowell on a late restart, causing him to finish 25th after running in the top five most of the afternoon. Blaney’s poor luck in 2024 returned after his win in Iowa last week, but he is still performing as well as anyone lately and doesn’t deserve to drop in the power rankings.
3. Christopher Bell (Last week: 6)
Bell’s third win of 2024 moves him up to the power rankings podium, and he’s knocking on the door of the top spot after his blistering past five races. He has finished no worse than ninth since Charlotte, with two wins in that span, and he might have had a third at Gateway if not for his engine losing a cylinder late in the race. He has emerged as a legitimate title contender.
4. Chase Elliott (Last week: 3)
Elliott started on the pole in Loudon after qualifying was rained out, and he led the race’s first 41 laps and remained in the top five for most of the going afterward until he was spun by Joey Logano just before the rain hit. He bounced back to finish 18th, but he fell into a tie with Larson for the points lead after having sole possession of it last week. Nashville could bring him a good opportunity to reclaim that status, as he won there in 2022.
5. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 5)
Reddick appeared to be headed for his second win before the rain started with him in the lead. It was not to be, but he still hung around near the front in the wet conditions and finished a solid sixth, regaining his consistent top-10 form after a disappointing run in Iowa. He’ll look to carry that momentum into Nashville, where he was among the fastest cars a year ago before a loose wheel ruined his race.
6. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 9)
Truex had one of the best cars in the dry portion of Sunday’s race and was knocking on the door of the lead before a bad pit stop and then a spin knocked him out of the running. Yet, he was still able to drive through most of the field in the rain and finished ninth, showing the type of gritty perseverance that has defined his career. He finished runner-up in Nashville a year ago and will look to end up one spot better this time as he seeks his first win in his farewell campaign.
7. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 7)
Like Truex, Hamlin seemed to be a contender for the win Sunday before the rain hit, but he was less of a threat later in the race. Unlike his teammate, though, he couldn’t salvage a good finish as he fell to 24th on the late restarts, marking his second straight result in that position. He’ll look to get right in Nashville, where he has been strong in both races with the NextGen car.
8. William Byron (Last week: 4)
Loudon has historically been among Byron’s weakest tracks, and that was no different Sunday. He had about a 15th-place car in the dry conditions and then dropped even farther back in the wet conditions, finishing a disappointing 26th in perhaps his worst race of the year. That’ll be one to put in the rearview mirror.
9. Ross Chastain (Last week: 10)
Chastain finished 10th in New Hampshire despite a late-race spin. He has been consistent all season and is now riding a streak of six straight results of 12th or better. Although he hasn’t contended for many wins, that may change in Nashville, where he won a season ago.
10. Chris Buescher (Last week: 12)
Buescher was one of the big beneficiaries of the rain Sunday, as he wasn’t much of a threat in the first two stages but climbed into the top five on the wet tires and finished fifth. He significantly helped himself in points, improving to 50 markers ahead of Bubba Wallace, who dropped out of a playoff position.
11. Josh Berry (Last week: 13)
Berry tied his career-best finish of third Sunday, and it was no fluke. He had one of the stronger cars all race and kept up with the drastically changing track conditions, earning his fourth top-10 in the past six races. He has performed better as the season has gone along and is 19th in points after being as low as 28th eight races ago.
12. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 8)
Keselowski had one of his worst runs of the season, and it wasn’t just because of the rain. He and his RFK Racing team missed the setup on this one despite Loudon historically being one of his best tracks. Keselowski’s 28th-place finish is his first result outside the top 15 since Dover seven races ago. Throw him into the category of looking to get back on track this week.
13. Joey Logano (Last week: 11)
Logano had a top-five car throughout the first two stages, but he suffered significant damage to his car during the incident with Elliott and finished three laps down in 32nd. Still, the stage points — along with Bubba Wallace finishing even
worse than Logano — allowed him to climb into the final playoff spot, 13 points ahead of Wallace.
14. Chase Briscoe (Last week: not ranked)
Briscoe, the subject of headlines earlier in the week regarding his status for next season, earned himself a needed runner-up finish as he was one of the fastest cars in the rain. Interestingly, the only driver he finished behind was Bell, who accidentally leaked his pending announcement as the new pilot of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 car in 2025. Briscoe still sits 25 points out of the playoffs.
15. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 16)
Gibbs had one of the quieter afternoons of just about everyone on the track Sunday, which may not have been a bad thing considering the number of drivers who were involved in accidents. He ran in the teens all race and finished there, too, in 16th. With Logano and Wallace finding trouble, he’s 82 markers to the good in the playoff race.
16. Todd Gilliland (Last week: NR)
This spot almost went to Michael McDowell, who was running third in the closing laps before he spun himself and Blaney and cost himself a top-10 finish. So instead, it’s time to give a shout-out to his Front Row Motorsports teammate Gilliland, who ran near the front all race in dry and wet conditions. His 12th-place result gave him a seven-race streak of no finishes worse than 17th. He is one of the pleasant surprises of 2024 and sits 20th in points.
Dropped out: Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch