Each month of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season, ESPN's Ryan McGee ranks the top 20 drivers in the series.
Biggest mover: Jimmie Johnson jumps 11 spots, from 15th to fourth.
Biggest losers: Kurt Busch falls 10 spots, from seventh to 17th.
New this month: Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Dropped out: Erik Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Also considered: Daniel Suarez, Joe Leonard
1. Joey Logano
Last month: 5
| Top 10s: 8
Since our last Power Rankings he's 4-for-4 in top-5s and he finally earned his first win of the season by slipping past the field at Richmond. Like Luke Skywalker, the prophecy of his greatness is finally being fulfilled.
2. Brad Keselowski
Last month: 1
| Top 10s: 7
Meanwhile, JoLo's teammate was just behind him with three top-six finishes and a win over the past month, not to mention the fastest car at Richmond. And guess who won at Talladega one year ago for his fourth Dega victory?
3. Kyle Larson
Last month: 2 | Top 10s: 6
Meanwhile, Sliced Bread Part Deux is also finally achieving his forecast awesomeness. He enters Talladega as the points leader going all the way back to mid-March.
4. Jimmie Johnson
Last month: 15 | Top 10s: 3
Meanwhile, declarations of this guy's demise were a bit premature seeing as how he's won two of the last three. It might've been three straight except for a run-in with his teammate. Tuesday morning's team meeting? Aawwkkwaarrrd.
5. Martin Truex Jr.
Last month: 3 | Top 10s: 6
Meanwhile, the only guy with Joe Gibbs Racing gear who has won a race this year keeps punching out top-10 finishes. And his girlfriend keeps punching cancer in the face.
6. Kevin Harvick
Last month: 10 | Top 10s: 5
Meanwhile, Happy's Busch car has the bluest paint scheme I can recall since Junie Donlavey's Heilig-Meyers Furniture Ford, though there's nothing blue about posting three straight top-5s.
7. Chase Elliott
Last month: 4 | Top 10s: 6
Meanwhile, at the rate Hendrick Motorsports drivers are retiring, the youngest guy in the building will be the roster's cagey old veteran before the next election year.
8. Jamie McMurray
Last month: 11 | Top 10s: 5
Meanwhile, this two-time Talladega winner continues to make McDonald's proud as it continues to anger me with its refusal to offer the Egg White Delight McMuffin on the all-day breakfast menu.
9. Kyle Busch
Last month: 6 | Top 10s: 4
Meanwhile, Shrub continues to enjoy the kind of relationship with Goodyear that a cowboy enjoys with a cactus.
10. Clint Bowyer
Last month: 13 | Top 10s: 4
Meanwhile, Bowyer has already posted more top-10s in nine races (four) than he did in 36 races (three) last season.
11. Denny Hamlin
Last month: 14 | Top 10s: 4
I always know I'm at Richmond International Raceway, Hambone's hometown track, because when I pull into the parking lot among the fans it looks like I'm at a FedEx delivery dude convention.
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Last month: NR | Top 10s: 4
He has four top-10 finishes this year and they've come at Phoenix, Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond. If this were the 1960s and two-thirds of the schedule was short tracks, he might already be a Cup champion.
13. Ryan Newman
Last month: 9 | Top 10s: 3
There are only seven drivers with wins and he is still one of them. And he is still the only driver on that list with no neck.
14. Ryan Blaney
Last month: 8 | Top 10s: 3
For all the talk about Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, this is still the baritone voice that makes my wife and daughter stop what they're doing in the middle of postrace shows and say, "Now, who is this?"
15. Trevor Bayne
Last month: 17 | Top 10s: 1
Bayne has quietly re-arrived this season, posting five top-13 finishes in six races. But that's where the lucky 13s end.
16. Matt Kenseth
Last month: NR | Top 10s: 2
Over the first four races Matty Nice posted a pair of top-10s and a pair of really bad finishes. Over the last four he posted a pair of top-10s, one really bad finish and one so-so finish. So ... improvement!
17. Kurt Busch
Last month: 7 | Top 10s: 4
Still your reigning Daytona 500 champion. Still hasn't done much else to get excited about but has quietly scored a pair of top-10s over the last three races. And did I mention he won the Daytona 500?
18. Kasey Kahne
Last month:12 | Top 10s: 2
Meet the big winner in the Dale Junior retirement fallout. Think about it. How many times did we hear "How much longer will Hendrick stick with Kahne?" before the announcement? How many times since?
19. Aric Almirola
Last month: 18 | Top 10s: 2
For fantasy racing geeks out there looking for a cheap end-of-roster option for this weekend, a reminder that The King's car finished fourth at Daytona in February and eighth at Talladega last fall.
20. Austin Dillon
Last month: 19 | Top 10s: 1
Finished third and ninth at Dega last year. I like to imagine The Intimidator speaking to his former ride in the closing laps like Obi-Wan Kenobi. And yes, I just opened and closed these rankings with Star Wars references. May the Fourth be with y'all.