Kyle Larson’s misfortune turned out to be precisely what Chase Elliott wanted to break a 42-race winless streak in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. With Elliott’s win, the ability rankings received shaken on the prime.
Here is the place the rankings stand after leaving Texas and with the NASCAR Cup Sequence heading subsequent to the excessive banks of Talladega for Sunday’s GEICO 500.
1. William Byron (Final week: 3)
After a third-place end Sunday, Byron strikes into our No. 1 spot this week, as he was the one driver of final week’s prime three to outlive the mess at Texas. Whereas not fairly the dominant power some thought he could be Sunday, Byron quietly stayed inside the highest 10 for a lot of the day, a powerful feat given the topsy-turvy nature of the Texas race. He stays the winningest driver within the area this season.
2. Kyle Larson (Final week: 1)
A Twenty first-place end does not start to inform the story of Sunday’s race for the 2021 champion who, after profitable the pole and main 77 laps, had the proper rear wheel fall off his automobile, turning the race the wrong way up. Larson seemed to be the dominant automobile earlier than the incident, however being mired in site visitors and two laps down put him in a gap he was unable to climb from.
3. Chase Elliott (Final week: 5)
It could appear daring to position Elliott over the JGR duo of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, however his win at Texas marks three consecutive top-five finishes for the 2020 champion on three fairly completely different racetracks. Elliott is beginning to look extra like his previous self, and Sunday’s win was a reminder how good he might be as soon as he will get on a roll.
4. Tyler Reddick (Final week: 6)
Simply as in Las Vegas in March, Reddick had one of many quickest and most constant vehicles Sunday. Regardless of not being within the combine for the win as he was in Sin Metropolis, Reddick made a fourth-place run at Texas. It was a wanted shot within the arm for a group and driver which have struggled to discover a groove at drafting tracks.
5. Denny Hamlin (Final week: 2)
Just like Kyle Larson, his Thirtieth-place end cannot come near doing justice to the velocity that was beneath his hood Sunday. Hamlin was slowly pulling away from Elliott late earlier than a warning for John Hunter Nemechek triggered a series of chaos that finally ended with Hamlin within the wall and Elliott in victory lane. Talladega might be the spot the place he will get his third win of the season, nonetheless, as Hamlin is at all times one to observe on superspeedways.
6. Martin Truex Jr. (Final week: 4)
Truex’s 14th-place end marks two straight weeks of mediocre performances from a driver who was near profitable at Richmond on Easter Sunday. It appears the frustration of the No. 19 group’s Richmond defeat has carried over to Martinsville and Texas. Like Larson, Truex is one other Cup Sequence champion who’s 0-fer on drafting tracks, however the New Jersey native will likely be trying to go for back-to-wins at Dover on April 28.
7. Joey Logano (Final week: 8)
Sunday’s Eleventh-place end marks three straight top-11 finishes for the two-time Cup Sequence champion, who has risen from twenty sixth within the factors after Bristol to being tied for the ultimate playoff spot with Kyle Busch. Talladega has at all times been good to Logano, who has gained there 3 times, most lately within the fall of 2018.
8. Bubba Wallace (Final week: 11)
Wallace’s greatest enemy in his time with 23XI Racing has at all times been extraordinarily gradual begins, which normally pits the No. 23 group beneath twentieth in factors heading into the summer time stretch. This yr, nonetheless, Wallace — who completed seventh Sunday — has mitigated the group’s gradual begin, incomes three top-fives and 4 top-10s via the primary quarter of the season. He additionally sits Eleventh within the playoff standings, 38 factors above the cutline. He almost gained the Talladega spring race a yr in the past earlier than a foul block value him the victory.
9. Ty Gibbs (Final week: 9)
Gibbs’ day was marred early resulting from a number of pit highway points outdoors of his management. A hearth close to his pit stall compelled him to remain out buried in lapped site visitors, and a gradual pit cease value him a number of seconds on the guaranteeing green-flag run. Admirably, Gibbs steered away from the late-race chaos, bringing residence his No. 54 Camry in thirteenth, not a horrible outcome contemplating the adversity he confronted. Gibbs is 63 factors above the playoff cutline heading to Talladega, and continues to be one of many extra constant drivers.
10. Chase Briscoe (Final week: 14)
It could be time for the NASCAR world to begin respecting Briscoe this season. A sixth-place end Sunday marked his fourth top-10 end of the season, the identical quantity as Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, and he is thirteenth within the standings, 14 factors above the playoff cutline. After an abysmal 2023, Briscoe is trying like his 2022 self once more, a yr by which he gained his first race (Phoenix) and made all of it the way in which to the Spherical of 8 within the playoffs.
11. Ryan Blaney (Final week: 7)
The defending Cup Sequence champion carried the banner for Ford for many of the race, working inside the highest 5 and even taking the lead off of pit technique. A crash, nonetheless, ended Blaney’s day and put him thirty third when the checkered flag fell, dropping him right down to ninth within the playoff standings, 61 factors above the cutline. Talladega might supply an opportunity for redemption, nonetheless, as Blaney has three wins on the Alabama monitor, all picture finishes.
12. Christopher Bell (Final week: 10)
Bell’s season appears to be feast or famine, however an early spin at Texas doomed what might’ve been one other top-five run for the motive force of the No. 20 automobile. Bell fought laborious to get a good outcome Sunday regardless of the early crash, and admirably piloted his broken Camry to a decent seventeenth place. Bell is not one of the best superspeedway driver, however he ran up entrance on this yr’s Daytona 500. Search for him to be within the combine at Talladega.
13. Kyle Busch (Final week: 16)
Busch’s ninth-place end ought to in all probability have an asterisk subsequent to it, as he and his RCR teammate, Austin Dillon, ran outdoors the highest 25 for a lot of the afternoon. After a tough begin to the season and a crash in observe Saturday, the two-time Cup Sequence champion will take no matter he can get. Busch has held the ultimate playoff spot for a number of weeks now, however all his stress concerning the playoff bubble would go away if he defends his Talladega win from final spring.
14. Chris Buescher (Final week: 15)
Buescher’s Fifteenth-place end at Texas exemplifies the Texas native’s consistency this season — he’s one in every of solely six drivers this season to have a minimum of 5 top-10s. At Talladega, he’ll probably be within the combine to win due to RFK Racing’s proficiency at superspeedways. Buescher has been silently strong to start the season, and if he can sustain a powerful tempo, he’ll be properly on monitor to level his manner into the postseason.
15. Ross Chastain (Final week: 12)
Chastain had a runner-up end in hand earlier than William Byron turned him popping out of flip two on the ultimate lap. Regardless of a Thirty second-place end, Chastain led laps Sunday and seemed to be one of many quickest drivers within the area. Chastain can also be a former Talladega winner, profitable his second profession race there within the spring of 2022.
16. Brad Keselowski (Final week: NR)
After dropping out of our rankings per week in the past, Keselowski capitalized on pit technique and monitor place to remove a runner-up end from William Byron and seize his fourth top-10 end of the season. Sitting 18th within the standings, one level out of the playoffs, Keselowski is the one driver not at present within the playoff image to have 4 or extra top-10 finishes.
Dropped out: Alex Bowman
