NASCAR Power Rankings: Chase Elliott gets back in Victory Lane
The season continues to unfold as a battle between Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing and the NASCAR Power Rankings reflect that. Chase Elliott is the third Hendrick driver to win this season.
Joining his teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron, HMS is looking like they are back to being a three-headed monster. Lord help us if Alex Bowman ends up “backing into” a couple of wins this season.
For all the talk about the Next Gen car leveling out the field, it is strange how the two most well-funded teams are rising to the top, eh? Of course, I joke, the resources at HMS and JGR set them apart from all other teams. It’s no wonder their drivers dominate the NASCAR Power Rankings below.
1. William Byron – Hendrick Motorsports (-)
It will take quite a fall from William Byron or quite a rise from another driver to unseat William Byron at this point. He has three wins and is on top of the NASCAR Power Rankings for another week.
P3 at Texas and causing a little drama with Ross Chastain, Byron was in the mix late once again. Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle might be the next-best duo in the sport.
2. Kyle Larson – Hendrick Motorsports (-)
This was Kyle Larson’s race to lose and boy did he. A loose wheel came off his car under caution in Stage two and put him down two laps.
Despite starting on the pole and winning Stage 1, Larson finished P22. Issues with his car’s speed and on the track after the wheel incident were too much to overcome and get back to the front.
3. Chase Elliott – Hendrick Motorsports (+5)
Don’t look now but Chase Elliott has three straight top-5 finishes and a win to cap off that run. Alan Gustafson defended his driver against the Next Gen narrative afterward too.
Elliott winning is good for NASCAR, he’s the most popular driver in the sport. But it might be dangerous for the rest of the field, that 9 team has a lot of unfinished business to catch up on.
4. Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing (-1)
Can’t knock Denny Hamlin for spinning out late while trying to take the lead. He was one of the four fastest cars all day at Texas and had a real shot at winning this until he went around racing Elliott.
If this race runs green for the last 50 laps, Denny likely wins, but it didn’t. A small notch down just because of Elliott’s breakthrough performance.
5. Tyler Reddick – 23XI Racing (-1)
Same situation as Hamlin, Tyler Reddick was one of the best cars all day. He just had too many issues on the track to overcome.
He wasn’t in a great spot to get a nose in for the lead, but a solid top-5 finish will keep him high on the NASCAR Power Rankings. 23XI Racing keeps bringing fast cars and Reddick is a skilled driver, his time is coming.
6. Martin Truex Jr. – Joe Gibbs Racing (-1)
Second in the points standings, Martin Truex Jr. is going to just quietly keep finishing races and keeping his wheels under him. The 19 team is often overlooked, until they aren’t.
Here soon we’re going to watch Truex lead 80% of the laps and win by five seconds or more. There are road courses coming up in the summer and Dover is just two weeks away, don’t sleep on this driver.
7. Ty Gibbs – Joe Gibbs Racing (+3)
Ty Gibbs moves up for a multitude of reasons – he had a very fast car yet again but a fire on pit road took his track position. Then he got mired in traffic and petty spats with other drivers, making it hard to pass.
P13 on the day. He’s running fast every week, also drivers like Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney performed worse and decisions had to be made in these NASCAR Power Rankings.
8. Ryan Blaney – Team Penske (-2)
Ryan Blaney dropped from the top-5 in the points standings, and he had a rough day at Texas to say the least. Due to his strong start to the year, I’ve given Blaney the benefit of the doubt.
That patience is wearing thin, but Blaney is the best Talladega racer in the Cup Series right now. So, he has a real chance at winning and turning the narrative around.
9. Christopher Bell – Joe Gibbs Racing (-)
Christopher Bell’s car was just ruined in this race. Still, they managed to pull off a top-20 finish. It was an impressive, but probably extremely frustrating day for the 20 team.
Bell manages to finish well almost every week. He is another quiet one at JGR. He hangs around but will need to have some better races soon if he wants to stay here.
10. Bubba Wallace – 23XI Racing (NR)
Welcome back to the NASCAR Power Rankings, Bubba Wallace! Fast car, and had issues all day with small wrecks. Spun while racing for the lead.
Despite the problems and losing track position, Wallace played the battle of attrition to a top-10 finish. P7 on the day and heading to Talladega, another strong track for him. Ninth in points, Wallace jumped three spots thanks to Sunday’s performance.