Denny Hamlin has given his pick for the best driver in NASCAR right now, and decided against picking himself...or one of his drivers.
The 2025 Cup Series runner-up did give 23XI Racing star Tyler Reddick an honorable mention, but claimed that Ryan Blaney is the man to beat on any given Sunday.
Blaney currently sits second in the points standings eight races into the season, having fallen less than a car length short of a second victory of the year at Bristol on Sunday.
Ty Gibbs ended up winning that race, his first career visit to victory lane in the Cup Series, but it was Blaney who left the race with other drivers convinced he had the fastest driver/car pairing.
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Denny Hamlin hails Ryan Blaney talents
Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week, Hamlin was asked straight-up if he believes Blaney is the best driver in the Cup Series right now, and replied: "Gosh, it's hard to say no on that. From the pure speed to the ability to pass, Reddick has got the most wins.
"I'm a car owner, but I would say Ryan Blaney is week in week out the guy that you've got to beat. Right now. Tyler Reddick is there too. They're really close."
Kyle Larson, who battled with Blaney for much of Sunday's race at Bristol, hailed the Team Penske star's equipment after the race – but did flag one potential problem area for the moustachioed man.
“Blaney had by far the best car," he said. "His pit crew just kept putting him behind all day, which really allowed us to lead a lot of laps, get those stage wins. Yeah, so that was good. Happy about all of that. Just knew it was going to be difficult to hold him off.”
NASCAR Cup Series standings after Bristol
| Pos | Driver | Manufacturer | Points (Stage) | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | Toyota | 386 (58) | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 324 (81) | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 300 (64) | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 281 (49) | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 264 (34) | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 260 (72) | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 245 (55) | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | Bubba Wallace | Toyota | 236 (64) | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 231 (52) | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 230 (41) | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 229 (29) | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | Joey Logano | Ford | 218 (46) | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 13 | Carson Hocevar | Chevrolet | 209 (38) | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Ryan Preece | Ford | 209 (22) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Daniel Suarez | Chevrolet | 192 (26) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Shane van Gisbergen | Chevrolet | 177 (24) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Chase Briscoe | Toyota | 176 (28) | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 18 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 172 (49) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 171 (19) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 156 (15) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 153 (11) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Zane Smith | Ford | 144 (10) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 133 (0) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | 131 (11) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Josh Berry | Ford | 128 (25) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Todd Gilliland | Ford | 127 (11) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 124 (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | John Hunter Nemechek | Toyota | 111 (14) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Riley Herbst | Toyota | 109 (9) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 107 (4) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 | Noah Gragson | Ford | 104 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 95 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Connor Zilisch | Chevrolet | 84 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Cole Custer | Chevrolet | 76 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 64 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 24 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Casey Mears | Ford | 9 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | BJ McLeod | Chevrolet | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
READ MORE: NASCAR Cup Series winners and losers after Bristol Motor Speedway
