SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings – April 26, 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 tackled Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Here’s a look at the “Power Rankings” after the GEICO 500:

1. Kyle Busch

Win number two for Busch as a member of Richard Childress Racing this season came Sunday at Talladega for Busch, who hadn’t been to Victory Lane at the track since 2008. He along with Byron and Larson are the only two-time winners of 2023 with ten races in the books.

Point Standings: 5th
Last Week: NR

2.  Ross Chastain

The Trackhouse Racing driver wasn’t able to replicate his Talladega win of a year ago and ended up with a 13th place finish. However he was strong but just not able to have the pieces of the draft fall into line for him as the race’s end drew near.

Point Standings: 2nd
Last Week: 2nd

3. William Byron

The two-time winner this season didn’t have the best day at Talladega with a decent seventh place effort. But Byron is second only to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson in laps in the top five (1,149) through the first 10 races of 2023.

Point Standings: 14th
Last Week: 6th

4. Kyle Larson

A week after winning at Martinsville Larson was involved in one of the most violent crashes in recent years at Talladega. He was T-boned by Ryan Preece on lap 189, an incident that destroyed both cars but fortunately the driver were not injured.

Point Standings: 4th
Last Week: 1st

5. Alex Bowman

He finished outside the top-10 with a 13th-place finish but Bowman did lead eight laps. He’s trying to get over the hump after a stretch of some challenges they last several weeks but doesn’t appear to be that far off.

Point Standings: 9th
Last Week: 8th

6. Joey Logano

A 30th-place finish for Logano who had a car much better than that number. But challenges included a pit road speeding penalty as well as getting caught in a multi-car accident in the latter stages of the race added up to a disappointing Talladega outing.

Point Standings: 11th
Last Week: 3rd

7. Christopher Bell

The best of the Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing stable was again Bell at Talladega with an eighth place finish. He’s been consistent this season over the first ten races with a number of top-10 performances.

Point Standings: 1st
Last Week: 4th

8. Denny Hamlin

Strong start to the weekend by winning the pole but Hamlin only led seven laps at Talladega. Although he did have some strength late in the race he faded to finish 17th on Sunday.

Point Standings: 10th
Last Week: 8th

9. Tyler Reddick

A disaster of a start for Reddick who spun down pit road early in the race and wasn’t really able to recover from the miscue. The 23XI driver did all he could just to cross the finish line 16th when the race was over.

Point Standings: 6th
Last Week: 10th

10. Chase Elliott

Two races back and a couple of solid performances for Elliott. Sunday at Talladega he came home with a 12th-place finish and along the way racked up the most stage points with good runs totaling 19 points.

Point Standings: 31st
Last Week: NR

Dropped Out: Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr.