NASCAR Top 10 driver rankings . What to do about Tyler Reddick's slump

Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-JournalWed, August 12, 2026 at 9:05 AM UTC

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He's hanging in there, folks. By a hanging shard on the end of the nail on his longest finger, but by golly, he's hanging in.

That's right, against all odds, Tyler Reddick has seriously flirted with leaving our little weekly Top 10. It's shocking to consider ditching a driver who leads the league in wins (Five!), but that's just how bad it's been going for the No. 45 Toyota of 23XI Racing.

Over the past nine races, Reddick has been parked in the 30s, 30th or worse five times, 25th in another. Maybe it's unfair. Perhaps human nature has us judging him by the skyscraper-high standards of his first nine starts this year.

In fact, that's probably a big part of it. But if you want to argue with human nature, go ahead. I'm moving on to the rankings ...

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1. Denny Hamlin

That fifth-place finish at Iowa was hard work and put him closer to clinching the top spot entering the Chase.

2. Ty Gibbs

Dare we say “championship contender” when we talk of this guy?

3. Chase Briscoe

Never seems to have a bad week. Mr. Hunch is eyeballing him as an early postseason favorite.

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4. Ryan Blaney

Ended a budding mini-slump with a third at Iowa.

5. Christopher Bell

What he’d give for a champagne bath.

6. Joey Logano

Always runs up front at Richmond. Will likely do so again.

7. Carson Hocevar

Won a Truck Series race at Richmond three years ago.

8. Chase Elliott

No top-10s since the end of May, and 0-for-18 in his career at Richmond.

9. Chris Buescher

Has a win at Richmond, but mostly it's been one miserable finish after another.

10. Tyler Reddick

It took a lot of deep digging to sink to this level with five wins under his little belt.

Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Top 10 driver rankings . What to do about Tyler Reddick's slump

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