The big weekend in Phoenix has come and gone and we already have a shakeup in the NASCAR points standings. Hendrick Motorsports is hot right now. Las Vegas and Phoenix were both weekends where the team showed that they had some of the best equipment in the Cup Series and the best drivers.
Of course, William Byron winning in back-to-back weeks has given him a boost. However, it is more than just Byron and his No. 24 Chevy. Kyle Larson has been driving really well even though he hasn’t pulled off a win yet in the early season.
However, it is neither of those drivers that top the rankings this week. Alex Bowman, who has yet to finish worse than P9 this season, tops the rankings with his consistency. He won the pole at Daytona and has just been fast all season.
This week, Bowman has topped the standings with 154 points. After narrowly missing out on a historic win at Phoenix, Kevin Harvick has moved into second in the standings with 151 points. The leader for the last two weeks, Ross Chastain has now moved down to third with 148 points total.
The rest of the top-5 is all Hendrick Motorsports. William Byron and his two wins are in fourth with 144 points while Kyle Larson is edging out Christopher Bell for the fifth-place tiebreaker at 137 points.
Who Can Compete With Hendrick Motorsports Early?
With Hendrick Motorsports flexing on the entire Cup Series the last two weeks, it’s hard to see anyone competing with them. They were strong at Daytona. Then at Fontana, they faltered a bit. Chase Elliott was P2 and Bowman P8. But the last two weeks have been all HMS.
Of course, we have seen some drivers able to compete with this team. Harvick, Ross Chastain, and Denny Hamlin all come to mind. Even Bell under the right circumstances. Kyle Busch has been one of the top drivers in the series as well.
Trackhouse as a team has looked strong. The RFK boys, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher have also been sneakily good at times this year.
We are in the very early season and things are shaking up each and every week. One team could find something that works next week and all of a sudden Joe Gibbs Racing is dominating like we saw from Hendrick Motorsports.
On to Atlanta.