NASCAR Power Rankings: Ross Chastain stays on top

Chase Elliott surged late in the evening to win Sunday’s rain-splattered NASCAR Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway, moving up to second in the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings, but Ross Chastain retained the No. 1 spot.

Chastain raced near the front most of the night in Nashville and finished fifth. He leads the series in top-five finishes this season at eight.

Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, both showing strength at Nashville, move into the rankings this week.

The Cup Series moves on to Road America on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network)

1. Ross Chastain (Last week: No. 1) — Chastain made noise at the front of the pack again, challenging the race’s fast Toyotas much of the night before finishing fifth.

2. Chase Elliott (Last week: No. 5) — Elliott jumps three positions this week based on a stellar final-stage run and victory at Nashville. He led the final 39 laps and held off challengers who had newer tires after a late-race round of pit stops.

3. Ryan Blaney (Last week: No. 4) — Blaney had a quiet sort of race at Nashville, leading only a single lap, but he finished third and now has three straight top-10 runs. He spun with less than 100 laps left but benefitted from staying out during the final round of pit stops. Across the season, he has been in the top five for 1,856 laps, the leader in that category.

4. Joey Logano (Last week: No. 3) — Although Logano wasn’t a force at Nashville, he ran a steady race, avoided trouble and came home ninth, giving him five top 10s in the past 12 races.

5. Kyle Busch (Last week: No. 2) — Busch led 54 laps at Nashville but fell victim to late-race pit strategy. Pitting for tires in a last-gasp shot at catching leader Chase Elliott, Busch instead fell to 21st.

6. Kyle Larson (Last