SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings

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.

Here’s how Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway impacted this week’s Power Rankings:

1. Kyle Larson – Win number eight for Larson puts him into the Championship 4 in season number one at Hendrick Motorsports. He dominated Sunday in Texas, leading three times for 256 laps including the final 218 to continue his impressive 2021 season.

Driver Rating: 111.4
Playoff Standings: 1st
Previous Ranking: 1st

2. Denny Hamlin – Not the smoothest day for Hamlin, who ended up finishing 11^th in Texas. That was his worst finish of the 2021 Playoffs so far, and he is just nine points ahead of the cutline.

Driver Rating: 109.8
Playoff Standings: 3rd
Previous Ranking: 2nd

3. Ryan Blaney – He has now finished top-10 in seven of the last eight Texas races with his latest effort a sixth-place outing on Sunday. Blaney is second on the Playoff grid after one race in the Round of 8.

Driver Rating: 92.1
Playoff Standings: 2nd
Previous Ranking: 5th

4. Chase Elliott – Not the day Elliott had hoped for in Texas but it could have been worse. His car failed inspection twice before the race, and he started at the rear of the field. Elliott marched to a seventh-place finish, but he is right now out of the Playoff quartet.

Driver Rating: 100.0
Playoff Standings: 5th
Previous Ranking: 3rd

5. Kyle Busch – A roller-coaster day for Busch with all sorts of challenges but somehow at the end of it all he steered his JGR Toyota home to an eighth-place finish to stay above the Playoff cutline.

Driver Rating: 97.6
Playoff Standings: 4th
Previous Ranking: 6th

6. Brad Keselowski – Consistency continues to pay for Keselowski with a fourth-place Texas finish. It was only his second top-five finish in the last 11 races but kept Keselowski in title contention.

Driver Rating: 87.9
Playoff Standings: 6th
Previous Ranking: 8th

7. William Byron – Two weeks straight Byron has been in serious contention for the win. He came up short at the Roval and did the same at Texas with a second-place performance. It was Byron’s fourth top-two finish of 2021.

Driver Rating: 96.6
Playoff Standings: 11th
Previous Ranking: 9th

8. Tyler Reddick – He was aggressive again Sunday in Texas and definitely got the attention of some of his competitors. But Reddick again found himself also finishing inside the top-10.

Driver Rating: 82.2
Point Standings: 14th
Previous Ranking: 10th

9. Martin Truex Jr. – Contact with Daniel Saurez sent Truex Jr. into the wall and out of the race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is now 22 points below the cutline in the aftermath of Texas

Driver Rating: 95.9
Point Standings: 7th
Previous Ranking: 6th

10. Joey Logano – Disaster struck for Logano when an engine expired and he left Texas with a 30^th place finish. It looks as if he’ll have to find a way to win at either Kansas or Martinsville to keep his championship hopes alive.

Driver Rating: 95.2

Point Standings: 8th
Previous Ranking: 4th

Dropped Out: None