SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings – October 4, 2023

Pete Pistone will unveil Power Rankings each week of the NASCAR season. Check out this week’s edition of NASCAR Power Rankings below, and listen to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) on the SXM App now.

The NASCAR Cup Series second round of the Playoffs visited Talladega Superspeedway. Here’s a look at the “Power Rankings” after Sunday’s Yellawood 500:

1. Denny Hamlin

A pit road speeding penalty put Hamlin behind the Eight Ball but he made a nice recovery to finish third at Talladega. Hamlin has put top-five finishes on the board in four straight Playoff races.

Playoff Ranking: 3rd
Last Week: 1st

2. William Byron

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has an average finish of 1.5 in the second round of the Playoffs as he followed up his Texas win to start the round with a second place Talladega performance. Byron is already set for the Round of 8.

Playoff Ranking: 1st
Last Week: 2nd

3. Kyle Larson

Superspeedway racing has not been kind to Larson this season and Talladega was no different. He finished 15th on Sunday despite spending some time inside the top-10. Larson is still solid in the Playoff picture and heads to The Roval where he was the 2021 race winner.

Playoff Ranking: 7th
Last Week: 3rd

4. Chase Elliott

The Hendrick Motorsports driver started 23rd and got up front leading eight laps and finished seventh at Talladega. In the last eight races, Elliott has only been outside the top-10 twice and remains in the owners championship picture.

Point Standings: 17th:
Last Week: 9th

5. Chris Buescher

The bad news for Buescher was a rather uncompetitive 19th-place Talladega finish. However on the flip side he is still 19 points ahead of the cutline heading to The Roval where he’s been inside the first six finishers the last two years.

Playoff Ranking: 5th
Last Week: 4th

6. Brad Keselowski

One of the day’s strongest cars but Keselowski has nothing to show for the effort. Despite winning a stage, Keselowski’s errant push to the rear bumper of Carson Hocevar triggered an accident the led to the RFK driver ending up 32nd at Talladega.

Playoff Ranking: 8th
Last Week: 6th

7. Bubba Wallace

Things have changed in a hurry for Wallace who thanks to a 23rd-place Talladega finish now finds himself below the cutline heading into the end of the Round of 12 Sunday at The Roval.

Playoff Ranking: 10th
Last Week: 5th

8. Christopher Bell

He picked up some damage early in the race as part of a crash involving Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch but Bell was able to continue to come home 14th at Talladega, his only finish outside the top-10 since the Playoffs began.

Playoff Ranking: 4th
Last Week: 7th

9. Tyler Reddick

Since Reddick won Kansas in the opening round of the Playoffs things have not gone well for the 23XI Racing driver. He has not finished better than 15th since then and put up a 16th-place effort Sunday in Talladega.

Playoff Ranking: 9th
Last Week: 8th

10. Ryan Blaney

Raced his way into the Round of 8 with his second win of the season and third career Talladega victory on Sunday. Blaney was able to keep Team Penske’s championship hopes alive with the win.

Playoff Ranking: 2nd
Last Week: NR

Dropped Out: Kyle Busch