Week 9 NASCAR power rankings: A new face ascends to driver's seat

Kyle Larson's misfortune turned out to be exactly what Chase Elliott needed to break a 42-race winless streak in Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. With Elliott's win, the power rankings got shaken at the top. 

Here's where the rankings stand after leaving Texas and with the NASCAR Cup Series heading next to the high banks of Talladega for Sunday's GEICO 500. 

1. William Byron (Last week: 3)

After a third-place finish Sunday, Byron moves into our No. 1 spot this week, as he was the only driver of last week's top three to survive the mess at Texas. While not quite the dominant force some thought he might be Sunday, Byron quietly stayed inside the top 10 for much of the day, an impressive feat given the topsy-turvy nature of the Texas race. He remains the winningest driver in the field this season. 

2. Kyle Larson (Last week: 1)

A 21st-place finish doesn't begin to tell the story of Sunday's race for the 2021 champion who, after winning the pole and leading 77 laps, had the right rear wheel fall off his car, turning the race upside down. Larson looked to be the dominant car before the incident, but being mired in traffic and two laps down put him in a hole he was unable to climb from. 

3. Chase Elliott (Last week: 5)

It may seem bold to place Elliott over the JGR duo of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, but his win at Texas marks three consecutive top-five finishes for the 2020 champion on three pretty different racetracks. Elliott is starting to look more like his old self, and Sunday's win was a reminder how good he can be once he gets on a roll. 

4. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 6) 

Just as in Las Vegas in March, Reddick had one of the fastest and most consistent cars Sunday. Despite not being in the mix for the win as he was in Sin City, Reddick made a fourth-place run at Texas. It was a needed shot in the arm for a team and driver that have struggled to find a groove at drafting tracks. 

5. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 2) 

Similar to Kyle Larson, his 30th-place finish can't come close to doing justice to the speed that was under his hood Sunday. Hamlin was slowly pulling away from Elliott late before a caution for John Hunter Nemechek caused a chain of chaos that ultimately ended with Hamlin in the wall and Elliott in victory lane. Talladega could be the spot where he gets his third win of the season, however, as Hamlin is always one to watch on superspeedways. 

6. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 4)

Truex's 14th-place finish marks two straight weeks of mediocre performances from a driver who was close to winning at Richmond on Easter Sunday. It seems the disappointment of the No. 19 team's Richmond defeat has carried over to Martinsville and Texas. Like Larson, Truex is another Cup Series champion who is 0-fer on drafting tracks, but the New Jersey native will be looking to go for back-to-wins at Dover on April 28. 

7. Joey Logano (Last week: 8)

Sunday's 11th-place finish marks three straight top-11 finishes for the two-time Cup Series champion, who has risen from 26th in the points after Bristol to being tied for the final playoff spot with Kyle Busch. Talladega has always been good to Logano, who has won there three times, most recently in the fall of 2018. 

8. Bubba Wallace (Last week: 11)

Wallace's biggest enemy in his time with 23XI Racing has always been extremely slow starts, which usually pits the No. 23 team below 20th in points heading into the summer stretch. This year, however, Wallace — who finished seventh Sunday — has mitigated the team's slow start, earning three top-fives and four top-10s through the first quarter of the season. He also sits 11th in the playoff standings, 38 points above the cutline. He nearly won the Talladega spring race a year ago before a bad block cost him the victory.  

9. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 9)

Gibbs' day was marred early due to multiple pit road issues outside of his control. A fire near his pit stall forced him to stay out buried in lapped traffic, and a slow pit stop cost him multiple seconds on the ensuring green-flag run. Admirably, Gibbs steered clear of the late-race chaos, bringing home his No. 54 Camry in 13th, not a terrible result considering the adversity he faced. Gibbs is 63 points above the playoff cutline heading to Talladega, and continues to be one of the more consistent drivers. 

10. Chase Briscoe (Last week: 14)

It may be time for the NASCAR world to start respecting Briscoe this season. A sixth-place finish Sunday marked his fourth top-10 finish of the season, the same number as Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, and he's 13th in the standings, 14 points above the playoff cutline. After an abysmal 2023, Briscoe is looking like his 2022 self again, a year in which he won his first race (Phoenix) and made it all the way to the Round of 8 in the playoffs.

11. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 7)

The defending Cup Series champion carried the banner for Ford for most of the race, running inside the top five and even taking the lead off of pit strategy. A crash, however, ended Blaney's day and put him 33rd when the checkered flag fell, dropping him down to ninth in the playoff standings, 61 points above the cutline. Talladega may offer a chance for redemption, however, as Blaney has three wins at the Alabama track, all photo finishes. 

12. Christopher Bell (Last week: 10)

Bell's season seems to be feast or famine, but an early spin at Texas doomed what could've been another top-five run for the driver of the No. 20 car. Bell fought hard to get a decent result Sunday despite the early crash, and admirably piloted his damaged Camry to a respectable 17th place. Bell isn't the best superspeedway driver, but he ran up front in this year's Daytona 500. Look for him to be in the mix at Talladega. 

13. Kyle Busch (Last week: 16)

Busch's ninth-place finish should probably have an asterisk next to it, as he and his RCR teammate, Austin Dillon, ran outside the top 25 for much of the afternoon. After a rough start to the season and a crash in practice Saturday, the two-time Cup Series champion will take whatever he can get. Busch has held the final playoff spot for a few weeks now, but all his stress about the playoff bubble would go away if he defends his Talladega win from last spring. 

14. Chris Buescher (Last week: 15)

Buescher's 15th-place finish at Texas exemplifies the Texas native's consistency this season — he is one of only six drivers this season to have at least five top-10s. At Talladega, he'll likely be in the mix to win because of RFK Racing's proficiency at superspeedways. Buescher has been silently solid to begin the season, and if he can keep up a strong pace, he'll be well on track to point his way into the postseason. 

15. Ross Chastain (Last week: 12)

Chastain had a runner-up finish in hand before William Byron turned him coming out of turn two on the final lap. Despite a 32nd-place finish, Chastain led laps Sunday and looked to be one of the fastest drivers in the field. Chastain is also a former Talladega winner, winning his second career race there in the spring of 2022.

16. Brad Keselowski (Last week: NR)

After dropping out of our rankings a week ago, Keselowski capitalized on pit strategy and track position to take away a runner-up finish from William Byron and grab his fourth top-10 finish of the season. Sitting 18th in the standings, one point out of the playoffs, Keselowski is the only driver not currently in the playoff picture to have four or more top-10 finishes. 

Dropped out: Alex Bowman