NASCAR Power Rankings: Christopher Bell in contention for No. 1

Christopher Bell accomplished the weekend sweep of winning both the Xfinity and Cup races on Saturday-Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was the first time this season that a driver won multiple times in NASCAR national series races in the same weekend.

The sweep lifted Bell from third to second in the rankings and this sweep seemed like a good time to take a look at whether these drivers in the rankings have ever won a Cup race and another NASCAR national series races in one weekend and how many times they’ve done double duty this year.

Cup drivers are limited to five races in each the Xfinity and truck series during the season. They can’t compete in the final eight races (the regular-season finale and the playoffs) as well as races with special winning bonuses such as the Dash 4 Cash Xfinity events and the Triple Truck Challenge.

And one driver to note — Kyle Busch isn’t in the rankings. He has the record with 18 race weekends where he has won a Cup race and an Xfinity or truck event. Included in those are him being the only driver to have two tripleheader weekend sweeps of all three series – both at Bristol (August 2010 and August 2017).

1. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 1)

Larson has won Xfinity and Cup races in one weekend twice in his career — in March 2017 at California Speedway and then August 2022 at Watkins Glen. Larson won the Xfinity race at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year (his only Xfinity start) but finished 17th in the Cup race. He will do double duty again next week when he races in Xfinity and Cup on the Chicago street course. 

2. Christopher Bell (LW: 3)

This past weekend at New Hampshire was the first time Bell had earned a weekend sweep — quite appropriate since he is 4-for-4 in his Xfinity starts at the track. It was the second time this year he did two races in a weekend, with the first coming at Las Vegas when he finished fifth in a Tricon truck. 

3. Chase Elliott (LW: 2)

Elliott has one weekend where he won multiple races — he won the truck race and the Cup race at Charlotte in May 2020. He had a chance to win the Xfinity and Cup races at Charlotte this year as he won Xfinity but finished seventh in Cup. His next Xfinity race scheduled is in August at Darlington.

4. Denny Hamlin (LW: 4)

Hamlin has two weekends with multiple wins. Back in May 2010, he won the Xfinity and Cup races at Darlington. And no surprise, he did that again in September 2017 at Darlington. Hamlin hasn’t done any double duty this year but would expect him to attempt the sweep at Darlington again this fall.

5. Tyler Reddick (LW: 8)

Reddick has not had a multiple-win race weekend. He hasn’t done double duty this year but will this weekend at Nashville when he drives for Sam Hunt Racing. 

6. Ryan Blaney (LW: 5)

Blaney has not had a multiple-win race weekend. If Blaney does double duty it will be a strange feeling for him — the last time he did two races in one weekend was in 2019, a year where he did two Xfinity races.

7. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 9)

Truex hasn’t had a multiple-win race weekend. He isn’t much of a double-duty guy as he has done one Xfinity race since 2010 and one truck race since 2006 (he won the 2021 truck race on the Bristol dirt).

8. William Byron (LW: 6)

Byron won the truck and Cup races at Martinsville in the same weekend in April 2022. He has had two Xfinity starts this year and has two more scheduled — at Pocono and Watkins Glen.

9. Chris Buescher (LW: NR)

Buescher has not had a weekend sweep. He focuses on Cup — he has not competed in an Xfinity race since winning the championship in 2015 and has never competed in a truck.

10. Josh Berry (LW: NR)

Berry, a Cup rookie looking for his first Cup win, obviously has not had a sweep. He has not competed in an Xfinity nor a truck race this year.

Dropped out: Alex Bowman (LW: 10), Brad Keselowski (LW: 7)

On the verge: Bowman, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Keselowski, Joey Logano

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.

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