NASCAR Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney boosted by Pocono win

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Denny Hamlin remains in the top spot as he finally snapped a streak of five races where he didn’t finish in the top 10 despite performances where he was very good or great at moments but did not get the corresponding result.

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400, the first time Cup drivers will have raced on the famed 2.5-mile oval since 2019. For the past three years, the IMS race was held on the road course.

So we’ll do a little history lesson and give a summary of these drivers’ experiences on the oval. Whether it means much — this will be the first race of the Next Gen car on the oval — remains to be seen.

Actually before starting, here’s something to know — none of these drivers have won a Cup race on the IMS oval. There will be only three drivers in the field who have: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

1. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 1)

Hamlin has four top-5s in his last seven Cup starts on the IMS oval. He’s been third on three occasions — in 2008, 2014 and 2018. Hamlin has led 131 laps on the oval but obviously not the one he’s wanted.

2. Chase Elliott (LW: 2)

Elliott has just one top-10 in six Cup starts on the IMS oval with a ninth in 2019. He has been to Brickyard 400 victory lane before — one of the few memories of him being at races with his dad is when Bill Elliott won in 2002 when Chase was six years old.

3. Ryan Blaney (LW: 6)

Blaney has crashed out of three of his six Cup starts on the IMS oval. He has shown speed — he started in the top-10 in his last four races there — but has just one top-10, a seventh in 2019.

FINAL LAPS: Ryan Blaney takes the checkered flag to capture The Great American Getaway 400

4. Tyler Reddick (LW: 4)

Reddick has just one Cup start on the Indy oval. He was eighth as a rookie driving for Richard Childress Racing in 2020.

5. Kyle Larson (LW: 3)

Larson’s first three Cup starts on the IMS oval resulted in solid finishes — seventh, ninth and fifth. Then his next three included two crashes and a best finish of 14th. All of those starts came when he drove for Chip Ganassi Racing.

6. William Byron (LW: 7)

Byron has three Cup starts on the oval, and he has had one good day and a couple of mediocre days. He was fourth in 2019, while 19th in 2018 and 27th in 2020.

7. Christopher Bell (LW: 5)

Bell’s only IMS oval start in Cup came while driving for Leavine Family Racing in 2020. He started 35th and finished 12th.

8. Alex Bowman (LW: 8)

Bowman has not had happy days in a Cup car on the IMS oval. He has failed to finish two of his five starts there. He doesn’t have a top-20 finish at the track and has never led a lap.

9. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 10)

Truex has 16 Cup starts on the IMS oval but just two top-10 finishes — a fourth in 2015 and an eighth in 2016. He has not finished in his last four Cup starts at the track.

10. Ty Gibbs (LW: 9)

Gibbs, in just his second full Cup season, has never raced on the IMS oval.

Dropped out: None

On the verge: Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Todd Gilliland, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.