NASCAR Power Rankings: Martin Truex Jr. ascends to No. 1

Martin Truex Jr. won at Sonoma, took the points lead, got to meet Shaquille O’Neal and climbs to No. 1 in the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.

Not a bad way to go into the final off weekend of the season.  The series returns to action June 25 at Nashville Superspeedway on NBC.

(Previous ranking in parenthesis)

1. Martin Truex Jr. (4) — His victory at Sonoma is his second of the season. In the last six points races, Truex has two wins, four top fives and five top 10s. He has led 343 laps during that stretch. His average running position at Sonoma was 2.4.

2. Kyle Busch (2) — Runner-up finish at Sonoma was his fourth consecutive top 10. In his last seven races, he has two wins, three top fives and five top 10s.

3. William Byron (1) — Rough weekend at Sonoma that left him scratching his head. His 14th-place finish snapped a streak of six consecutive top 10s. His seven stage wins remain the most in Cup this season. His 165 stage points also ranks first this season by a wide margin.

4. Kyle Larson (3) — His eighth-place finish could have been so much more, but the timing of cautions thwarted this team. He does have back-to-back top 10s for only the second time this season. In 16 races, he has two wins, six top fives, seven top 10s and six finishes of 29th or worse.

5. Joey Logano (7) — Sonoma gave him back-to-back third-place finishes. It’s the first time he’s had consecutive top 10s since the first two races of the season.

6. Denny Hamlin (5) — Won the pole and led 33 laps at Sonoma before an accident left him with a 36th-place. In the last five races, he has a win, a runner-up finish and two finishes of 35th or worse.

7. Ryan Blaney (6) — Finished 31st at Sonoma for only his second result outside the top 10 in the last