By Noah Poser, Staff Writer
For the longest time, the biggest weakness for Kyle Larson was superspeedway racing. A more than well-rounded driver otherwise, there was something about him and drafting tracks that didn’t click.
But after a second-place finish this past weekend at Talladega, along with a third-place finish at Atlanta earlier this season, it appears Larson has figured something out when it comes to pack racing.
In the long term, that’s a dangerous sign for the rest of the Cup Series field, but in the short term, it just means that Larson once again finds himself on top in this week’s edition of the NASCAR Power Rankings, which also features Talladega winner Austin Cindric for the first time this season.
1. Kyle Larson (Previous: 2)
Season Stats: 2 Wins, 6 Top 5s, 7 Top 10s, 506 Laps Led, 5 Stage Wins
Larson didn’t win, but other than ending up in victory lane, he’d have been hard-pressed to envision a better result than the one he produced at Talladega. He led just three laps, but he won the first stage, finished second in Stage Two and then crossed the line second (among the cars that didn’t get DQ’ed) for yet another top-five finish. The points haul moves him to second in the standings, just 31 points back of William Byron.
2. Denny Hamlin (Previous: 1)
Season Stats: 2 Wins, 5 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, 315 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
Hamlin led seven laps and collected stage points in the first stage, but ultimately didn’t end up getting the outcome he was hoping for at Talladega, finishing 21st. Hamlin and his Toyota teammates opted for an alternate strategy on the final series of pit stops that ultimately failed to pan out and once he was stuck in traffic, it was game over from there.
3. William Byron (Previous: 3)
Season Stats: 1 Win, 5 Top 5s, 7 Top 10s, 364 Laps Led, 3 Stage Wins
Byron once again found himself in the mix late in the going as he often does at these drafting tracks, battling for the lead inside 10 laps to go. He would go on to settle for third, but pair that with 10 laps led and nine stage points for the afternoon, and it was a good day for the points leader at Talladega.
4. Christopher Bell (Previous: 4)
Season Stats: 3 Wins, 5 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, 139 Laps Led, 1 Stage Win
There’s not much to say about Bell’s day at Talladega. His day was over before Stage 1 had even concluded after a bad bump from Hamlin sent him careening into the inside wall. It’s unfortunate for Bell, but these things happen at superspeedways.
5. Ryan Blaney (Previous: 5)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 197 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
The description of Blaney’s day is quite similar to that of Bell’s. Like Bell, Blaney was an innocent bystander turned victim after Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski got together trying to enter pit road under green. It was a simple case of bad luck, which has been the theme of Blaney’s season thus far.
6. Chase Elliott (Previous: 7)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, 45 Laps Led
Elliott briefly appeared on the scene when he came out of nowhere to finish fourth in the opening stage. After that, the driver of the No. 9 was MIA throughout much of the race at Talladega. That is until the race was just about over, and after the dust settled he had pulled out another top-five finish, finishing fifth. The team still appears to be lacking race-winning speed, but he’s been the model of consistency thus far this season and that’s good enough for fourth in the standings right now.
7. Bubba Wallace (Previous: 8)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 103 Laps Led, 2 Stage Wins
Wallace has proven on numerous occasions that he’s one of the best in NASCAR at the superspeedways. So it should come as no surprise that he finished top five in both stages, which includes a stage win in the second stage, before eventually coming home to finish eighth (after starting the final lap in 20th no less). He was only out front for five laps, but it was still just the day the No. 23 team was looking for.
8. Tyler Reddick (Previous: 6)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 85 Laps Led
Reddick, as has been the case in seemingly a lot of races recently, was quiet at Talladega. However, he did finish fifth in Stage 2 to collect a few stage points and kept the car clean, which is far from the worst outcome you can have at the Alabama track.
9. Alex Bowman (Previous: 11)
Season Stats: 1 Top 5, 6 Top 10s, 107 Laps Led
Bowman also flew under the radar for much of the day at Talladega. But like his Hendrick teammates, he found his way towards the front by the end of the race and brought the No. 48 Ally machine home in seventh place. A top-10 finish is just what the doctor ordered for this team after a poor three race stretch.
10. Ross Chastain (Previous: 9)
Season Stats: 1 Top 5, 5 Top 10s, 50 Laps Led
Chastain finished 18th in Stage 1, 19th in Stage 2 and 20th in the race. Suffice to say, it just wasn’t his day at Talladega. He did lead 11 laps, however, and entered the race on a bit of a heater, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Chastain pick up right where he left off at Bristol this weekend at Texas.
11. Austin Cindric (Previous: NR)
Season Stats: 1 Win, 1 Top 5, 3 Top 10s, 166 Laps Led, 1 Stage Win
Welcome to the rankings (and the playoffs), Austin Cindric! Yes, the win at Talladega is the big story when it comes to Cindric right now, but it’s important to note that if he hadn’t received a 50-point penalty for spinning out Ty Dillon earlier in the season, he’d be top 10 in points as of today as opposed to 14th. It’s no longer relevant when it comes to the playoff picture, but it shows that from a consistency standpoint, Cindric has been much-improved this season.
Dropped out: Chase Briscoe
Next up: A.J. Allmendinger, Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano