NASCAR Power Rankings: Kyle Larson back on top after Talladega

Austin Cindric earned a big victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and that is enough of a flex to put him in these power rankings.

Albeit he’s in 10th, but he’s there.

Here are rankings following Talladega as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas this weekend: 

Dropped out: 10. Chase Briscoe (LW: 10)

On the verge: Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace

10. Austin Cindric (Last Week: NR)

Cindric earned his first win of the year and the third of his career. It was his first top-5 of the season. But he has three top-10s in the 10 races.

Austin Cindric breaks down EMOTIONAL win at Talladega w/ Kevin Harvick: 'The pressure is on now!'

9. Ross Chastain (LW: 6)

Chastain finished 20th at Talladega, a disappointing result for him. But he’s 10th in the standings and the next two tracks will be more telling of whether the Trackhouse driver will be more of a contender this year.

8. Tyler Reddick (LW: 9)

The defending winner of the Talladega spring race finished 14th this time at the track. But he did better than some on this list, so he moved up a spot.

7. Alex Bowman (LW: 8)

Bowman was seventh at Talladega for his sixth top-10 of the season. The Hendrick driver didn’t get any stage points in the race, so the top-10 finish was key as he still seeks his first win of the year.

6. Ryan Blaney (LW: 4)

Blaney got caught up in the wreck when Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski appeared to have contact as they entered pit road for a green-flag stop in the first stage. He has four races this year in which he has not finished.

5. Chase Elliott (LW: 7)

Elliott finished fifth at Talladega, another solid finish even if he wasn’t a huge factor for much of the day. He’s grinding out more-than-respectable finishes.

4. Christopher Bell (LW: 3)

Bell got turned (accidentally) by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin near the end of the first stage and his Talladega ended early. Good thing he has three victories this year.

William Byron's post-race interview from Talladega Superspeedway

3. Denny Hamlin (LW: 1)

Hamiln thought he had the strategy that would prove fruitful with the Toyotas pushing the pace and pitting early. Chastain foiled that plan and Hamlin wound up 21st.

2. William Byron (LW: 5)

Byron led for 10 laps but lost the lead with seven laps remaining and settled for third in the race. He’ll still take that at Talladega as he leads the Cup standings by 31 points ahead of his teammate Kyle Larson.

1. Kyle Larson (LW: 2)

Larson finished second (third on the track before Ryan Preece disqualification) and to him, that is nearly as good as a win as he had only one top-5 finish at Talladega — which came in his previous start. With a first and a second in his last two Cup races (and four top-5s in his last five races), he’s back atop the list. 

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.