NASCAR Power Rankings: Post Talladega

Honorable Mention: Even though the result sheets don’t show it, Chris Buescher had a great run on Sunday, making his way to the lead with 4 laps to go. It was short lived, however, as Buescher was soon sent spinning towards the inside wall, nearly identical to the way his race ended in the spring. (Not-so-fun fact, these will both go down as the only DNFs of the year for Chris, barring the last 2 races run off as normal). This was probably the last chance for Chris, and RFK as a whole, to win a race this year, unless his teammate in the 60 can make some magic happen at this weekend. 

10. Joey Logano may have just seen his title hopes go up in flames. After leading 35 laps throughout the day, Logano was seemingly absent after a spin by Cody Ware brought out the caution with 20 laps to go. Maybe his reputation caught up to him, because it seemed like nobody wanted to push the Shell Pennzoil 22 late. He now sits 38 points below the cutline after a 16th place finish, not quite must-win territory, but he’s going to need some shenanigans to happen if he’s not going to outright win and still make it. He only has 1 previous win at Martinsville, but everyone remembers what it was. Can he repeat his 2018 magic and make a run at a 4th championship? (Probably not, it’s an odd numbered year).

9. Tyler Reddick came home 7th after a solid Talladega run but he drops a spot to his teammate. Since joining 23XI, Reddick has an average finish of 20.6 at Martinsville, yikes. Much like Chris Buescher, Talladega looked to be Reddick’s last shot at a victory this year, and they came up just a little short. 

8. Bubba Wallace moves up to 8th. Can’t put too much stock in a superspeedway race, but a P4 for Bubba is a solid outing on a disappointing playoffs. Wallace heads to Martinsville, and while it looks somewhat bleak, considering the fact that in his 15 starts, he only has 4 top 10s, it does look brighter when you realize all 4 are in the last 6 races, including a 3rd in the last race run here. Wallace was always noted as a good short track racer coming up through the ranks, so expect the 23 to run well.

7. Chase Elliott drops to 7 after a bad, bad race. Through no fault of his own, Elliott was out only 51 laps in. Elliott has won at Martinsville before, but only once, all the way back in 2020, which led him to his first championship. His last 3 runs at Martinsville have been 4th, 2nd, and 3rd, so to say that he’s going to have a chance to match his 2020 run this week is an understatement. It’s put up or shut up time for Elliott.

6. The bad news? Ryan Blaney had a surprisingly quiet day, only leading 3 laps and finishing 23rd. He fell to 47 behind the cutline. The good news? He has the best average finish of all drivers at Martinsville in the Next Gen era, with a 4.6, the next closest being Kyle Larson with a 5.4. He has 2 wins, both coming in the previous 2 fall races at Martinsville. 3 times Blaney has finished 11th, earlier in the season and both races in 2021. Take those away, and he hasn’t finished outside the top 7 since 2018. If there’s ever a place you want to go needing a win as a Blaney fan, it’s Martinsville.

5. Chase Briscoe jumps up after his win at Talladega locks himself into the Championship Round, along with his teammate Denny Hamlin. His Martinsville stats don’t matter, but I’ll give them to you anyways. 6 of his last 7 starts at Martinsville have been to 10s, the lone outlier being a P15 in this race last year. If you go back to the rule we had earlier in the year, if MTJ was good here, expect the same from Briscoe, I’d say Chase is in for a good run, not that it matters in the slightest. 

4. Speaking of good runs that don’t matter in the slightest, Denny Hamlin at Martinsville. His Las Vegas win locked him into the Championship Round with his teammate, and a 24th place run at Talladega was all that he needed. A clean run, no enemies made, no wrecked race car, a solid bring-it-home-in-one-piece type of day. Hamlin won the last race at Martinsville, but that was his first clock since 2015. 

3. William Byron…you gotta feel for him. A 2nd place run ruined by pit road miscommunication followed up by a 24th place finish at Talladega, after leading the field to the overtime restart and sitting in 5th on the trioval. What was a great all-around season is now a near must-win at Martinsville, with a 36 point deficit to his teammate, Kyle Larson. Byron has won at Martinsville twice before, in the spring of 2022 and 2024, but had a rare miss earlier this year, only mustering a 22nd place finish. He’s going to need a, bare minimum, really good run if he wants a shot at his first title. 

2. Kyle Larson drops to 2nd. Much like his teammate, he was leading with 2 to go, and much like his teammate, Larson ran out of gas and dropped to 26th on the last lap. Unlike his teammate, however, Larson is 36 above instead of below. Larson has won at Martinsville once, back in the spring of 2023, and he’s finished top 6 every race in the Next Gen outside the inaugural one, which saw a 19th place run. The only number that matters to Larson, however, is 22 (and six seven, according to his radio). That’s how many races it’s been since he last went to victory lane. Winning this week would tie a record that Larson would really not want to break, that being the longest streak without a win for him in the 5 car (race 2 to race 25 of the 2022 season, Auto Club to Watkins Glen).

1. Christopher Bell sits atop the standings. Other than Briscoe winning, he’s the only playoff driver with a top 15 finish, coming home 8th. This leaves him in a more than favorable position, sitting 37 above the cutline, a healthy gap unless we get a bottom 4 driver winning, in which then his gap to Kyle Larson would only be a measly 1 point, as of right now. Bell won at Martinsville in 2022 to advance himself to the title round, as well as finishing 2nd here earlier this year. A solid run should be enough to have him fight for a championship, as long as we don’t get a new winner.