Week 16 NASCAR Power Rankings

After an exciting race in Mexico City here are the updated NASCAR Power Rankings

HM: Backing up his P2 at Michigan with a top 10 at Hermanos Rodríguez, Chris Buescher‘s quietly consistent season continues. However, due to SVG’s win and an impressive run from Alex Bowman, he drops from 14th to 16th on the cutline, despite increasing his point total to the line. Another solid run just might propel him into the top 10.

10th

Just beating out his teammate, Ryan Preece slots in at the 10 spot. After winning a stage early on strategy, Preece had pit road mishaps late, driving through too many pit boxes during his final stop, sending him to the back. In the final 32 laps, Preece clawed back for a top 15, barely retaining a top 10 spot in our rankings.

9th

Tyler Reddick’s lackluster season continues with a 20th place finish at Hermanos Rodríguez. However, you can never count this 45 team out, especially with where we’re headed next. Reddick at Pocono in the next gen car has a worst finish of 6th last year and a pair of runner ups in 2022 and 2023. If there’s ever a time for Reddick to turn it on, it’s now.

8th

Chase Briscoe’s run of poles seem to be behind him, which might be a good thing. After 3 straight first place starting spots, Briscoe seemed to have zero race pace at Nashville and Michigan. A slow car on Saturday seemed to turn into a fast one come Sunday, and despite being caught up in Kyle Busch’s wreck on lap 7 and mowing down a tire barrier late in the race, he still walked away with a solid 7th place finish. 

7th

Ross Chastain had a quiet day Sunday, running middle of the road both in position and relative to his Trackhouse teammates. After locking up an additional 8 stage points, Ross heads to a difficult track for the 1 crew. While one solid run was tarnished by Denny Hamlin in 2022, the rest of Chastain’s runs at Pocono have been mid pack results. Ross still has zero top 10s at the Tricky Triangle, but he did finish 6th at another high speed track earlier this year, Michigan.

6th

Chase Elliott may have had the best car on Sunday…if Shane van Gisbergen didn’t show up to the track. Restarting 11th with 32 to go, Elliott fought to the bottom step on the podium. Elliott heads to a place he’s won before (granted, thanks to a post race DQ from JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin). The question remains whether this road course speed continues to the ovals or if Elliott is still a one-trick pony.

5th

After winning at Nashville, Ryan Blaney has had a rough couple of weeks. After self spinning at Michigan, he mixed it up with Erik Jones and Chase Briscoe throughout the day, resulting in a 14th place run. However, if you’re a Blaney fan, you’ve got to feel good going to Pocono. Blaney has 2 victories at the triangle: his first ever win and the most recent race run at the track.

4th

Denny Hamlin is coming off a win at Michigan and a literal no-show at Mexico City. After missing the previous race due to the birth of his son, Hamlin is heading to arguably his best track, Pocono. His 7 wins at the track are a record for both Pocono’s most and for Denny’s winningest track. 

3th

We never really got to see Kyle Larson on Sunday. After being taken out on lap 7 by Kyle Busch, Larson finished in 36th place. While his on track position didn’t show much, he did still manage to return to the track and set the fastest lap of the race, garnering him an extra point. Despite the crash, Larson still showed some speed in his 5 Valvoline Chevrolet. Still winless at Pocono, Larson looks for a rebound and his first top 5 at the track since 2022.

2nd

What’s not to love about Christopher Bell right now? After a slow 31st place qualifying run, Bell rebounded Sunday for a 2nd place finish. Despite the fact that Bell has been somewhat quiet since his All Star win, his worst finish is only 16th in a fuel mileage race at Michigan. The other 3 races have all been top 10s. He’s also good at Pocono, too. He has the 4th best average finish at Pocono in the next gen car, with a worst finish of 12th and a best finish of 4th.

1st

William Byron picks up yet another top 10 on the season. While race wins are few and far between this year, with his lone win coming at the season opener at Daytona, nobody has had more consistent speed than Byron. Byron’s last time up to the mountains resulted in a 4th place finish, and he’s started on the front row the last 2 years.