1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – For the first time this year, Sieg finishes outside of the top-15. His p16 finish after sustaining damage in a crash could have been a lot worse if not for a solid repair to the rear bumper cover after losing it. Still managed to gain a position in the Xfinity standings.
2. Ty Dillon (No change) – A second stage win for Dillon followed by a 17th place finish has him up to 2nd in the rankings. He ran 43.6% of his laps at Talladega in the top-15.
3. Gray Gaulding (+4) – Some ECR magic had him up in the top-10 and eventually top-5 late. A great charge to the checkered resulted in a 2nd place finish. In the closing laps made up 10 spots for first Xfinity top-5 of career.
4. Ross Chastain (-1) – Only Christopher Bell had a higher average running position and only Justin Allgaier had a faster average green flag speed in the Xfinity race. Unfortunately Chastain wasn’t there at the end to take advantage of his speed, retiring with a broken oil line.
5. Matt DiBenedetto (-1) – DiBenedetto was in good position late, running up in the top-10 before getting caught up in the biggish one. Hard hit relegates him to a 31st place finish on a day where he averaged a running position of 15.7.
6. Brandon Brown (No change) – Brown collects his 4th top-15 of season, through 9 races he is averaging a 17.0 finish and sitting 15th in points.
7. Chris Buescher (-2) – Before Talladega, his last four finishes had been 21st, 20th, 22nd, and 22nd. A late crash handed him a 30th place finish, his first finish outside of top-25 since the Daytona 500.
8. Ryan Preece (+2) – Another strong drafting track showing for Preece who weaved his way to a 3rd place finish. Heading Dover where he finished 4th in his last Xfinity start at the track.
9. Josh Williams (+5) – After missing the race two weeks ago Williams bounces back with his career-best finish. After running consistently around the top-15 he collects an 8th place finish, his first Xfinity top-10.
10. David Ragan (+1) – In his 444th Cup start Ragan got back on the lead lap just before final restart. Was making way up toward top-15 when he made contact off of turn 2 and got caught up in the last lap big one, resulting in a 23rd place finish.
11. Garrett Smithley (+2) – Smithley finishes 11th, just missing out on his 5th career top-10.
12. Jeremy Clements (-3) – Rough stretch of luck of Clements who has shown great speed the last two weeks only have his race ended early. Caught up in a crash late at Talladega, finishes 27th.
13. Ray Black Jr (-5) – Black was just biding his time when the radiator got caught up in someone else’s mess. Ends up in 34th place
14. Corey LaJoie (+4) – A 26th place finish at Richmond followed by an 11th at Talladega has LaJoie moving up the rankings quickly.
15. Bubba Wallace (-3) –  An early push gone awry for Wallace ends up in a 39th place finish.
16. Brennan Poole (-2) – Despite another NGOTS off week, Poole hangs tough in rankings. Back in action at Dover.
17. Landon Cassill (+2) – A top-10 in his triumphant return to J.D. Motorsports in Xfinity followed by a fuel pickup issue in the Cup race negates a higher rise up the rankings.
18. Spencer Boyd (-2) – Still hanging in there.
19. Michael McDowell (-3) – Last place finish for McDowell at Talladega after a DNF the previous race at Richmond. Averaging a 28.2 finish so far this season.
20. David Starr (Not ranked last week) – Starr is just a few positions each week from being a staple in the rankings. Finishes 14th at Talladega

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Stephen Leicht (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – Sieg collected his second top five of season at Richmond which bounced him back up to 9th in the Xfinity points standings, 58 points ahead of the cut off line. Easily one of the favorites this week at Talladega to pick up his first win.
2. Ty Dillon (+1) – After an up and down start to 2019, Dillon has found the consistency to go with the speed. Over the last four races he has an average finish of 17.5.
3. Ross Chastain (+1) – Solidly 13th in Xfinity points (32 points behind 12th and 37 points ahead of 14th) it looks like Chastain’s best shot at making the playoffs may come this weekend at Talladega in the Kaulig Racing entry.
4. Matt DiBenedetto (-2) – DiBenedetto finished 24th at Richmond on a night where passing was difficult. If Daytona was any indication, he will be a threat to win his first race if he can avoid the calamity.
5. Chris Buescher (+1) – Buescher has been extremely consistent since his sole DNF at Daytona. His last four finishes have been 21st, 20th, 22nd, and 22nd at Richmond
6. Brandon Brown (+3) – Despite giving up his ride and hopping into a Ryan Sieg Racing entry at Richmond, Brown persevered for a 20th place finish. It was his 7th top-20 finish in 8 races this season.
7. Gray Gaulding (No change) – Gaulding finished 17th at Richmond, his 6th top-20 of season with SS Greenlight Racing. Holds on to 15th in the Xfinity points standings
8. Ray Black Jr (No change) – Black just missed out on his 5th top-20 of the season, finishing 21st in the Richmond Xfinity race. Looking for his first career top-10 or better this weekend at Talladega.
9. Jeremy Clements (-3) – Solid run for Clements was negated by a blown motor mid-race, relegating him to 35th place finish. Maintains his 16th place in the Xfinity points standings.
10. Ryan Preece (+3) – Preece put on a clinic in crash avoidance in the Daytona 500, grabbing his first career top-10, will look to repeat this weekend.
11. David Ragan (+1) – Ragan and Front Row Motorsports know a thing or two about running well at Talladega. They finished 6th in the Talladega Spring race last year.
12. Bubba Wallace (-2) –  Richmond cost Wallace a little of the momentum he and the team had been building, they finished 27th. They had finishes of 16th and 19th in the two Talladega races last year.
13. Garrett Smithley (+1) – Smithley picked up his 4th top-20 of season at Richmond, he only had two at this point last year.
14. Brennan Poole (+4) – Despite another NGOTS off week, Poole bounces up the standings due to bad luck of others.
15. Josh Williams (-4) – Williams sat out a week after missing the race when qualifying was canceled at Richmond, dropping him to 21st in the Xfinity standings. Returns this week with a sponsor.
16. Michael McDowell (-1) – Not the best short track season for McDowell with finishes of 31st, 28th and 36th at Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond. Talladega coming at just the right time.
17. Spencer Boyd (+2) – Still hanging in there on strength of 11th place finish at Texas almost a month ago.
18. Corey LaJoie (Not ranked last week) – LaJoie rebounds from a 34th at Bristol with a hard-fought 26th place finish at Richmond.
19. Landon Cassill (-2) – Drops down the standings after issues sent him behind the wall temporarily at Richmond.
20. Stephen Leicht (Not ranked last week) – Slow start to season for Leicht has finally given way to some consistency. Picked up his first top-20 of season at Richmond.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Chad Finchum (ranked 16th last week), Timmy Hill (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – Through 8 races Sieg has run 92% of all laps inside of the top-15, even with his 12th place finish at Bristol he is still averaging a 9.1 finish. In the process he has built a 46 point lead over the playoff cut off line.
2. Matt DiBenedetto (+4) – Like several other races this year, DiBenedetto didn’t get the finish indicative of how well he ran. Despite running as high at 6th place late, he ends up finishing 12th. Still strong enough to bounce him up to 2nd in the rankings. He also completed the most green flag passes of race with 125.
3. Ty Dillon (+3) – Dillon collected an emotional stage win at Bristol and followed it up with a 15th place finish, his fourth top-15 of year. With an average finish of 18.9 so far this year compared to a 24.1 average finish last year, it seems Germain Racing is trending the right direction.
4. Ross Chastain (-2) – Chastain was the victim of bad circumstances in the Xfinity race, getting taken out by Jeff Green who spun in his own fluid. The finish cost him more ground in the points where he is now more than a full race behind the playoff cut off line.
5. Chris Buescher (-2) – Consistently in the top-10 for much of race, a late unscheduled pit stop cost Buescher the finish he deserved. His 22nd place finish is his worst of 2019 since Daytona.
6. Jeremy Clements (+3) – At one point, Clements was the fastest car on the track, willing it to stay in front of the leader for quite a few laps. Despite spinning late, he still managed a 13th place finish his 4th top-15 of year.
7. Gray Gaulding (+1) – Gaulding collected his 2nd top-15 of season at Bristol, finishing 15th which keeps him at 15th in the Xfinity points. He has finished no worse than 21st since his 34th place finish at Daytona.
8. Ray Black Jr (+2) – After a DNF at Texas, Black rebounds with a 16th place finish, which bumps him back up to 17th in the Xfinity points standings.
9. Brandon Brown (-5) – For the first time this year, Brown fails to finish inside of the top-20. His 23rd place finish didn’t cost him any positions in the points, he actually made up ground on Chastain in 13th.
10. Bubba Wallace (+1) – A hard fought 20th place finish for Wallace who has acknowledged that the team has to start running better. Has averaged a 20.0 finish over last three races compared to 28.9 finish over the first five races.
11. Josh Williams (+3) – After a solid start to 2019, including a 19th place finish last week at Bristol, sponsor issues finds Williams moved third DGM entry which will not race at Richmond.
12. David Ragan (+3) – Despite bouncing off the wall while running up toward the top-15, Front Row Motorsports was able to keep Ragan from losing too much track position, finishing 21st.
13. Ryan Preece (-6) – After going to a backup car at Bristol, Preece manages a 25th place finish after spinning early. 
14. Garrett Smithley (-2) – After a DNF at Texas for a motor issue, Smithley finishes in 22nd place at Bristol, matching his 2019 average finish.
15. Michael McDowell (-2) – Handling issues gave McDowell a 28th place finish, still a slight improvement from his two DNFs from crashes at both 2018 Bristol races.
16. Chad Finchum (No change) – Second top-20 of season for Finchum who is averaging a 23.5 finish this year compared to 34.5 last year.
17. Landon Cassill (+2) – Cassill showed some speed at Bristol racing his way into the top-25 before eventually finishing in 26th. His fourth straight top-30.
18. Brennan Poole (-1) – Hanging tough in the rankings on the strength of his top-10 finish at Texas.
19. Spencer Boyd (+1) – Averaging a 19.2 finish this year.
20. Timmy Hill (Not ranked last week) – Season-best finish for Hill, finishes 17th for first top-20 of 2019.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Tommy Joe Martins (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – I’d really like to find an excuse to change the top order of the rankings so it looks like I’m not phoning this in but Sieg continues his strong start to season. After a 10th place finish in Texas, his 4th top-10 this year, Sieg has an average finish of 8.7 and a 25 point cushion over the playoff cut off line.
2. Ross Chastain (No change) – A 16th place finish in the Xfinity race, another top-10 in NGOTS and another top-30 in Cup, Chastain continues to deliver across all three series. Sits 10 points outside of the last Xfinity series playoff position and had he declared for NGOTS points, would be considered a championship contender with an average finish of 6.0
3. Chris Buescher (No change) – Buescher picked up his 5th top-20 of season in 7 starts. Excluding his DNF at Daytona has averaged a 16.7 finish. Of the small team drivers, only Matt DiBenedetto has run more laps in the top-15 than Buescher.
4. Brandon Brown (+1) – Brown’s 17th place finish at Texas was his 6th straight top-20 of season, his worst finish to date being 18th at Daytona. Remarkable consistency has him sitting 14th in points.
5. Matt DiBenedetto (-1) – After two straight top-20’s, DiBenedetto finishes 26th at Texas after losing his power steering. His 723 green flag passes and 248 quality passes are the most of any small team driver.
6. Ty Dillon (+4) – Dillon just misses the top-20 at Texas with a 21st place finish. His average finish of 19.4 has him 23rd in points just 4 points behind Chris Buescher.
7. Ryan Preece (+2) – With his 22nd place finish at Texas Preece collected his 3rd straight top-25 finish. He heads to Bristol where he took the victory last year in the Xfinity series driving for Joe Gibbs.
8. Gray Gaulding (-1) – Gaulding couldn’t quite get the car to free up the way he needed, just misses out on his fifth straight top-20 with a 21st place finish at Texas. Good enough to stay in the top-15 in Xfinity points.
9. Jeremy Clements (-3) – Clements spun early in race, made it back into the top-20 before stalling on pit road late and finishing in 26th. Frustrating day where it looked he was in line to collect his 5th straight top-20.
10. Ray Black Jr (-2) – A flat left rear tire sent Black Jr around in turn 1 and hard into the wall ending his day while running in the top-20.
11. Bubba Wallace (+4) – Wallace looked to be fighting for a top-15 in the truck race until contact damaged his fender. He ended up finishing in 20th, 6 laps down after repairs. Had his best showing on a 1.5 mile track on Sunday finishing 23rd.
12. Garrett Smithley (-1) – Smithley’s day ended early with motor issues, relegating him to 31st after running in the top-25 for most of race.
13. Michael McDowell (+3) – After pounding the wall in Martinsville, McDowell rebounds at Texas with his first top-15 since Daytona.
14. Josh Williams (-1) – Williams’ 14th place finish at Texas is his career-best finish. Coming in his 35th start, it is his first Xfinity top-15.
15. David Ragan (-3) – Ragan’s last four finishes, 25th, 25th, 26th and 25th this last week at Texas.
16. Chad Finchum (-2) – Finchum grabs his third top-25 in 5 starts with a 23rd place finish
17. Brennan Poole (Not ranked last week) – Poole had shown plenty of speed over the start of the 2019 season but had yet to cash in until Texas. Picks up his first NGOTS top-10, finishing 9th.
18. Tommy Joe Martins  (Not ranked last week)– Martins picks up his second straight top-20 on a day where he needed several extra pit stops to work on the car.
19. Landon Cassill (-2) – Three straight top-30 finishes for Cassill, raising his average finish for season to 30.0
20. Spencer Boyd (Not ranked last week) – Boyd finished in 11th at Texas for his best finish since Daytona, rebounding from a three race span where his best finish was 25th.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Timothy Peters (ranked 17th last week), Corey LaJoie (ranked 18th last week), Timmy Hill (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – Sieg holds down the top spot despite a week off for the Xfinity series. Finished in 12th place the last time the series went to Texas Motor Speedway
2. Ross Chastain (No change) – Finished a strong 4th place finish with a now very competitive Niece Motorsports at Martinsville, leading 53 laps along the way. A lost axle then a blown motor resulted in a 34th place finish in the Cup race and kept him from moving to the top position in this week’s rankings.
3. Chris Buescher (No change) –Buescher ran in the top-25 for most of the race at Martinsville, eventually getting caught a lap down and finishing 21st. Averaging a 19.5 finish in 2019.
4. Matt DiBenedetto (+1) – DiBenedetto collects his second straight top-20 at Martinsville, finishing in 20th. Will be the class of the small team field if he can consistently finish where he’s been running mid-race. To date he averages a 15.3 running position at mid-race, compared to a 23.4 average finish over the same races.
5. Brandon Brown (-1) – The strong start to the season for Brown keeps him in the top-5 in the rankings. It is disappointing to see that he will give up his #86 ride at Richmond.
6. Jeremy Clements (No change) – Finished 14th the last time the series went to Texas Motor Speedway.
7. Gray Gaulding (No change) – Has one prior start (and park) at Texas, finishing 33rd with Ryan Sieg Racing.
8. Ray Black Jr (No change) – Was 19th with BJ McLeod Motorsports the last time the series went to Texas.
9. Ryan Preece (+3) – Most expected Preece to excel on the short track at Martinsville, it took some well-timed cautions but makes the most of being on the lead lap late in race, finishing 16th.
10. Ty Dillon (+3) – A remarkable run up through the field to 13th, running a total of 109 laps in the top-15. Owns an average start and finish position of 19.2 in 2019.
11. Garrett Smithley (-2) –Finished 20th the last time JD Motorsports and he visited Texas. Through five races this season Smithley has an average finish of 20th.
12. David Ragan (-2) – Could not get the handling improved at Martinsville, finishing where he started in 25th place.
13. Josh Williams (+2) – Will look to rebound from two straight DNFs this weekend at Texas.
14. Chad Finchum (+2) – Showed much promise at California until a broken axle took him out, will look to better his 17th place Texas finish from last fall
15. Bubba Wallace (Not ranked last week) – After a very sluggish start for 2019, breaks through for first top-20 of season, finishing 17th at Martinsville. Also collected a top-10 with AM Racing in Saturday’s truck race, shooting him up into the rankings for first time this year.
16. Michael McDowell (-2) – Early contact with wall cost him a top-25 or better, finished 35th at Martinsville
17. Landon Cassill (Not ranked last week) – Second straight top-30 with StarCom Racing puts Cassill into the rankings for first time this year. His 28th place finish at Martinsville was best finish since Daytona 500.
18. Timothy Peters (-7) – A second straight week with no ride, Peters may very well be enjoying his last appearance in the rankings this season.
19. Corey LaJoie (No change) – Finishes 33rd in backup car after losing brakes and crashing his much faster primary car in practice.
20. Timmy Hill (Not ranked last week) – Qualified in on time with his own truck, running the entire race and finishing 21st ahead of some strong truck series regulars.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Austin Wayne Self (ranked 17th last week), Brennan Poole (ranked 18th last week), Tommy Joe Martins (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – With an average finish of 8.4 this year and an impressive 94.2% of all his laps run inside of the top-15, Sieg has opened up the gap over the playoff cut off line to 18 points. An 11th place finish at California means he retains his position at the top of the rankings for another week.
2. Ross Chastain (No change) – A tire issue early in the Xfinity race for Chastain meant he was playing from behind the remainder of race, managing an 18th place finish, three laps down. Will get another shot at his first Truck series victory this weekend with Niece Motorsports.
3. Chris Buescher (+2) – A quiet, strong start to season for Buescher, with an average finish of 19.2, he’s only 16 points behind the playoff cut off line. If not for the DNF at Daytona, he’d be above the cut off line. His last four finishes are 9th, 18th, 16th and 16th.
4. Brandon Brown (-1) – Brown keeps a spot in the top-5 of rankings with another solid finish at California, his second straight 15th place finish. No finish worse than 19th this year has him sitting 14th in points just behind Chastain.
5. Matt DiBenedetto (+1) – Finally notched the first top-20 of season with new team. After several near misses, DiBenedetto finishes 18th. He has the most green flag passes of any of the small team drivers with 586.
6. Jeremy Clements (+2) – Third straight top-15 for Clements, who is up to 16th in Xfinity points after a DNF at Daytona.
7. Gray Gaulding (No change) – Gaulding knocks down his third 16th place finish in 5 races and sits 15th in Xfinity points. After working with Gaulding back in 2017 at BK Racing, crew chief Patrick Donahue has his young driver heading the right direction with SS Greenlight.
8. Ray Black Jr (+1) – After a sluggish start, Black Jr is keeping pace with his SS Greenlight teammate, averaging a 19.8 finish to Gaulding’s 18.8 despite a 30th and 23rd place finish to open the season. A 17th place finish at California bumped him up to 17th in the Xfinity points.
9. Garrett Smithley (+1) – For the first time in his career, Smithley is averaging a 20th place finish over the first 5 races of a season. His decision to stay put for a fourth year with JD Motorsports looks to be paying off with no finish worse than 24th this year.
10. David Ragan (+2) – Back-to-back 25th place finishes in Cup for Ragan has him up to 26th in points, one position behind where he ended up in for 2018. At this point last year he was 3 races into 7 straight top-25 finishes.
11. Timothy Peters (-7) – Not on the Trucks entry list for Martinsville, so he sadly slides down the rankings.
12. Ryan Preece (-1) – After a crash at Phoenix, Preece collects his third top-25 of season with a 23rd place finish at California. After an up and down West Coast swing, has to be looking forward to a short track.
13. Ty Dillon (+3) – Dillon finished 27th at California, dropping his average finish to 20.4 for season.
14. Michael McDowell (+5) – Rebounds from a crash at Phoenix for 24th place at California, finished 21st and 25th at Martinsville last year. 
15. Josh Williams (-2) – An engine failure while running in the top-20 handed Williams his second straight DNF after opening season with three straight finishes 22nd or better.
16. Chad Finchum (-2) – Was having his best run of season, racing way up into the top-20 before a broken axle retired him from race.
17. Austin Wayne Self (Not ranked last week) – How did a driver who didn’t run a race last weekend move into the rankings? Of the smaller team drivers in the Truck series, only Chastain has a better driver rating and a lot of Xfinity teams struggled at California.
18. Brennan Poole (-3) – Average finish to date not indicative of how well he has run. Will be his first trip to Martinsville in a truck.
19. Corey LaJoie (-1) – A rough race at California with contact on a couple of different occasions, finished 31st.
20.  Tommy Joe Martins (Not ranked last week) – After a difficult first two races, breaks through for his first top-20 of season.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Tyler Dippel (ranked 17th last week), David Starr (ranked 20th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (No change) – Three top-10’s in four races for Ryan Sieg Racing, averaging a finish of 7.8 and an average running position of 11.3. At this point last year, was averaging a 24.3 finish. Sieg seems poised for a run toward playoff contention and potentially his first Xfinity win. Also poised to jump right out of the underdog category.
2. Ross Chastain (No change) – Excluding season-opening 13th place finish with Kaulig Racing, Chastain has averaged a 13th place finish in Xfinity with JD Motorsports. His 27th place finish at Phoenix with Premium Motorsports in Cup nets him his first top-30 since Daytona.
3. Brandon Brown (+2) – Averaging a 15.8 finish to open 2019, Brandonbilt Motorsports coming out of the gate fast in their first full-time effort. He grabbed his second top-15 of season at Phoenix. The question is whether this early success can translate to filling the quarter panels on the #86 going forward.
4. Timothy Peters (No change) – Despite being off this week, Peters still holds the 4th best driver rating among the small team drivers. His three-race stint with Niece Motorsports is over but I’m just going to let him enjoy the view from the top for another week.
5. Chris Buescher (-2) – Another solid top-20 for Buescher at Phoenix, despite a DNF at Daytona he is still averaging a 20.0 finish. His third straight top-20 has him sitting 23rd in Cup points.
6. Matt DiBenedetto (+2) – Of all the other small team drivers in Cup, only David Ragan has completed more green flag passes, but DiBenedetto has over double the number of quality passes. His average finish of 25.8 is deceiving as he has averaged a running position of 18.5 through 4 races. A battery issue at Phoenix cost him at least a top-15 finish.
7. Gray Gaulding (-1) – Gaulding holds tight in the top-10 after a 16th place finish at Phoenix. Has averaged 19.5 finish in first four races of season, good enough for 15th in Xfinity points.
8. Jeremy Clements (-1) – Clements is averaging just over a top-20 finish after Phoenix, where he finished 13th. If not for the DNF at Daytona, would be hovering right below the Xfinity playoffs cut-off line.
9. Ray Black Jr (+4) – Fresh off his second top-20 finish, Black is up to 18th in points after starting the season in 29th. In 2016, his only full Xfinity season, he finished 19th in the final Xfinity standings.
10. Garrett Smithley (+1) – Another strong start to the season for Smithley who finds himself 17th in points. In the first four races of season he’s finished 24th, 17th, 18th and 22nd this past week in Phoenix.
11. Ryan Preece (-2) – It was a rough Phoenix outing for Preece who managed 34th after getting turned during a restart. Has run in top-15 for over 10% of total laps run to date.
12. David Ragan (-2) – Consistently churning out the top-25’s like last year, averaging a 24.8 finish. Has completed more green flag passes (551) than any of the other small team Cup drivers.
13. Josh Williams (-1) – Williams had an ignition issue cost him another top-20 late in the going at Phoenix. Despite his 29th place finish, Williams is still averaging a 22.0 finish.
14. Chad Finchum (Not ranked last week) – Has been a consistent presence in the top-25 for the three races he’s been behind the wheel of the #42. Up to 23rd points after not racing in Daytona.
15. Brennan Poole (+1) – Stays in rankings this week on strength of his average finish (19.0) and having run 34.9% of all total laps inside of the top-15.
16. Ty Dillon (+2) – Bounces back from a rough outing at Las Vegas with a 15th place effort in Phoenix, holding steady at 22nd in Cup points.
17. Tyler Dippel (-2) – Stays in the rankings with an average finish in three Trucks starts of 19.0.
18. Corey LaJoie (-1) – LaJoie nets his best finish since Daytona with a 26th place finish at Phoenix.
19. Michael McDowell (-5) – Hard knocks all the way around for McDowell at Phoenix send him tumbling in the rankings. Since his top-5 at Daytona, he’s had no finish better than 30th despite showing speed in several of those races.
20. David Starr (No change) – Starr stays put as the last driver in the rankings. With two top-20’s already under his belt this season, he has helped give Jimmy Means Racing one of their best starts ever to a season.

Ranks for the memories! This driver fell out of the top-20 this week: Timmy Hill (ranked 19th last week)

1. Ryan Sieg (+1)  – There’s a new sheriff in town. It appears that the addition of Shane Wilson and a new deal with ECR have more than jumpstarted the small team from Tucker, GA. Averaging a 7th-place finish over the first three races, Sieg finds himself sitting 8th in points, one of 11 drivers with 2 top-10’s to start the year. In Las Vegas, Sieg ran over 94% of his laps inside of the top-15, averaging a 12.5 running position.
2. Ross Chastain (-1) – Chastain continued his run of good finishes in the Trucks (10th) and Xfinity (7th). Chastain was the only driver in the NGOTS field to have 100% of his passes deemed to be quality passes. Since his top-10 in Daytona 500 to start the year, his two other Cup finishes have been outside the top-30, a rare occurrence for the driver and team that averaged a 28.4 finish in 2018.
3. Chris Buescher (+1) – Steady run up toward the top-15 in Vegas for Buescher.  Despite running 24% of race inside of the top-15 Buescher ends up finishing in 18th-place. After the DNF in Daytona, Buescher has lowered his average finish to 21.3, similar to his 2017 (21.4) and 2018 (21.0) average finishes.
4. Timothy Peters (-1) – For the first time this year a Niece Motorsports entry failed to finish inside of the top-10. Running two-thirds of the race in the top-15 and as high as 7th-place, Peters ends up finishing in 12th. He currently sits 11th in points, 7 points out of 10th.
5. Brandon Brown (+4) – A very solid start to 2019 for Brown, finishing 18th at Daytona, 13th in Atlanta and 17th this past weekend in Las Vegas. Brown never ran lower than 22nd the entire race, averaging a 17.6 average position. His three top-20’s to start the year matches his total number of top-20’s in 7 starts from last year.
6. Gray Gaulding (+4) – Quietly has made his way into the top-20 in Xfinity points after three races. His 12th-place in Las Vegas was his career-best series finish, besting his pair of 13th-place finishes while racing for Jack Roush in 2016 and leading the first laps of his Xfinity career.
7. Jeremy Clements (+7) – Since his engine issue at Daytona, Clements has managed an 18-place finish in Atlanta and a 15th last week in Las Vegas. Spending most of the race inside of the top-20, Clements gained 4 spots late, working his way back into the top-15. He finished 13th the last time the series visited Las Vegas
8. Matt DiBenedetto (No change) – A 21st-place finish for DiBenedetto, who ran in 21st-place for almost the entire second half of the race in Las Vegas. It is the best finish of the year for the new driver/team combo.
9. Ryan Preece (-3) – A relatively quiet race for Preece given how the first two races of season played out. Managed a 25th-place finish, the same position he was in at mid-race.
10. David Ragan (-5) – After a remarkable qualifying effort (6th) with the new format, Ragan drifted back to the top-25, eventually finishing 28th. Through three races he is averaging a finish of one position higher than at this point in 2018.
11. Garrett Smithley (+1) – Ran around 21st for much of race but able to make a little track position up late, finishing in 18th.
12. Josh Williams (Not ranked last week) – Much like Smithley, ran just outside of top-20 for much of race before making up 6 positions late. His 16th-place finish is a career-best for him in Xfinity.
13. Ray Black Jr (Not ranked last week) – Probably overdue appearance on this list, but Daytona was such a snoozer, his 30th-place finish followed by a 23rd in Atlanta  kept him off the list. An 11th-place finish in Las Vegas after running the majority of race in the top-20 catapulted him up into the rankings this week.
14. Michael McDowell (-3) – Still benefitting from his top-5 in the Daytona 500 as well as the speed he showed in Atlanta before a parts failure sent him behind the wall. His 30th-place finish in Las Vegas was hampered by a pit road penalty.
15. Tyler Dippel (-2) – Comes off his 11th in Atlanta with a 17th-place showing in Vegas, ran in the top-20 for entire second half of race.
16. Brennan Poole (-1) – A 20th-place finish for Poole after starting 8th, was in contention for a top-10 if not for a late fuel pickup issue.
17. Corey LaJoie (+3) – Vegas recap from LaJoie on Twitter, “We had 27th place speed all weekend. We finished 27th”. I appreciate the honesty.
18. Ty Dillon (-11) –Finishes of 25th and 29th have slowly sunk him since his top-10 at Daytona.
19. Timmy Hill (Not ranked last week) – In three Xfinity seasons with Carl Long, Hill is off to his best start averaging a 23.3 finish, almost 10 positions higher than his two previous seasons, 23rd last week in Vegas.
20. David Starr (Not ranked last week) – Starr finally cracks the rankings after collecting his 2nd top-20 (19th) in the first three Xfinity races.

Ranks for the memories! These drivers fell out of the top-20 this week: Gus Dean (Ranked 16th last week), Corey Roper (Ranked 17th last week), Alex Labbe (ranked 18th last week), Parker Kligerman (ranked 19th last week).

1. Ross Chastain – The only driver to have run all six of races so far between Cup, Trucks and Xfinity, Chastain has averaged a 12.8 finish across all series in the first two weekends. Chastain finished 6th with Niece Motorsports in the Truck series for his second straight top-10 and 14th with JD Motorsports in Xfinity for his second straight top-15. Even with a 31st place finish in the Cup race Premium Motorsports, Chastain easily holds on to the top spot in this week’s rankings.
2. Ryan Sieg (+3) – With a 4th place and 11th place finishes to kick off the season, Sieg currently sits 10th in points. He averaged a 12.4 running position never falling lower than his qualifying position of 18th during the entire Xfinity race, running nearly 99% of his laps inside of the top-15. 
3. Timothy Peters (+9) – Like his Niece Motorsports teammate, Ross Chastain, Peters has notched two top-10’s in Truck series competition to start the 2019 season. A 10th-place finish in Atlanta bounces him up to 7th in points.
4. Chris Buescher (Not ranked last week) – After getting taken out in the first big crash of the Daytona 500, finishing 37th, Buescher rallied in Atlanta with a 9th-place finish. His 9th career Cup top-10 wasn’t a fluke, after restarting in the top-10 midway through the last stage was able to maintain his track position. Eventually had to make way back into the top-10 late after getting shuffled to 13th-place on late restart.
5. David Ragan (+11) – Strong run for Ragan after getting taken out at Daytona while running in the top-10. One of the first drivers to find speed running near the wall, he was able to make way into the top-25 early and slowly work his way up to eventually finish in 16th. Seven positions higher than his finish in Atlanta last year.
6. Ryan Preece (-1) – Preece was looking to collect his second straight top-10 when he ran into the back of B.J. McLeod on pit road, resulting in a 35th-place finish. Having restarted inside the top-10 with less than 100 laps left in race, he was able to hang there along with teammate Buescher, running as high as 7th.
7. Ty Dillon (-1) – After capturing his 2nd career top-10 at Daytona, Dillon finished in 25th-place in Atlanta. Hovering just outside of top-25 for much of race, Dillon found himself as one of only two drivers two laps down with little chance to make up any spots late. Was also the highest finishing driver who didn’t complete a quality pass over course of the race.
8. Matt DiBenedetto (-5)  – DiBenedetto had contact on pit road which cause a tire rub and an unscheduled pit stop. After running within the top-25 for much of race, he ended up in 26th. With the exception of JTG Daugherty, Leavine Family Racing certainly looking like the best of the rest of the smaller teams.
9. Brandon Brown  (Not ranked last week) – A strong Atlanta race in Xfinity for Brown catapults him up from the ranks of the unranked. Despite finishing 18th in Daytona last week, he was not ranked due to the large number of successful runs by other teams at Daytona. Brown was extremely consistent over course of entire race this past week, starting 11th, never running lower than 18th and finishing in 13th-place.
10. Gray Gaulding (Not ranked last week) – Impressive speed from Gaulding in the second SS Greenlight entry. After starting 35th, quickly moved up toward top-20, running in an average position of 16.7 before eventually finishing in 16th.
11. Michael McDowell (-9) – McD was looking at a likely top-25 until a broken tie rod sent him behind the wall, relegating him to a 37th place finish.
12. Garrett Smithley (Not ranked last week) – Strong 17th-place Xfinity run for Smithley who ran inside the top-20 for virtually entire race after qualifying 22nd. Electrical issues on the Cup side kept him behind the wall for many laps.
13. Tyler Dippel (Not ranked last week) – Just missed out on his first career NGOTS top-10, nabbing 11th-place, his best finish in seven starts. Also his 5th top-15 in 7 career starts
14. Jeremy Clements (Not ranked last week) – Clements went behind the wall early at Daytona but made the most of a top-20 starting position in Atlanta, running between 17th and 20th for virtually the entire race, eventually finishing in 18th.
15. Brennan Poole (Not ranked last week) – After running the bulk of race inside of the top-20, able make way into the top-15 after late crash, his best NGOTS finish since his debut in 2015.
16. Gus Dean (Not ranked last week) – Gus Dean finishes 15th for second straight week, this time he was running at the finish
17. Corey Roper (Not ranked last week) – After crashing at Daytona while racing in the top-5, Roper bounces back with a solid 16th-place finish.
18.  Alex Labbe (Not ranked last week) – Labbe is back(e), picks up where he left off in 2018 with another Xfinity top-20, averaged a 19.9 running position in Atlanta 
19. Parker Kligerman (-4) – A Cup 30th-place finish and a late crash in the Truck series cost him when a potential top-25 and top-10 were up for grabs.
20. Corey Lajoie (-2) – Ran inside of top-30 for most of Cup race despite late contact with the #34 when McDowell had his issue with tie rod, finishes 29th.

Ranks for the memories! These drivers fell out of the top-20 this week: Josh Reaume (7th last week), Spencer Boyd (8th last week), Jeff Green (9th last week), Clay Greenfield (12th last week), Austin Wayne Self (13th last week), B.J. McLeod (14th last week),  Angela Ruch (15th last week), Timmy Hill (17th last week), Joey Gase (19th last week), Bobby Gerhart (20th last week),