SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings – May 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 had too wait an extra day to race at Dover Motor Speedway. Here’s a look at the “Power Rankings” following Monday’s rain-delayed Wurth 400:

1. Ross Chastain

He led 98 laps and was certainly in the hunt to win the race but Chastain’s four tire stop on the final trip to pit road didn’t give him the advantage he needed. His afternoon was shrouded in controversy – again – after the contact with Poole, but Chastain was able to post a runner-up Dover finish.

Point Standings: 1st
Last Week: 2nd

2.  Martin Truex Jr.

The 54-race winless drought is finally over after Truex Jr. broke through on Monday at his true home track. A late race call for two tires proved to be the winning move for Truex Jr. to keep track position and he was able to stay ahead all the way to his first points paying race checkered flag of the season.

Point Standings: 4th
Last Week: NR

3. William Byron

By far the fastest Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports driver of the day, Byron led a race high 193 laps on Monday and finished first and second in the opening two stages. He slid back some in the second half of the race and wasn’t able to contend for win number three of the season.

Point Standings: 11th
Last Week: 3rd

4. Kyle Busch

Last week’s Talladega winner started from the pole after qualifying was rained out but Busch unfortunately went backwards from there. He was caught speeding on pit road and also picked up some damage to his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet adding up to finishing 21st.

Point Standings: 8th
Last Week: 1st

5. Christopher Bell

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to make a bit of a comeback Monday from some challenges to post a top-10 performance. Bell and company left the Monster Mile with a sixth place finish.

Point Standings: 2nd
Last Week: 7th

6. Kyle Larson

A victim of an incident between Ross Chastain and Brennan Poole that took Larson out of contention Monday. He wasn’t happy with the situation by any means and was particularly upset with Chastain’s aggressiveness to trigger the accident.

Point Standings: 10th
Last Week: 4th

7. Denny Hamlin

A fifth-place finish for Hamlin but he was not pleased with the effort or more correctly lack of execution by his team on pit road. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team is still looking to put together a fully executed race to find Victory Lane.

Point Standings: 7th
Last Week: 8th

8. Tyler Reddick

He started seventh and finished seventh in Dover. Reddick had a bread and butter effort on Monday and kept his Toyota inside the top-10 most of the 400 miles.

Point Standings: 6th
Last Week: 9th

9. Chase Elliott

His steady return from injury continued Monday at Dover. Elliott wasn’t able to replicate his Dover win from a year ago but still just missed the top-10 with an 11th-place performance.

Point Standings: 29th
Last Week: 10th

10. Joey Logano

A bad day for Logano that ended worse than it began. A trip into the wall on lap 375 put the Team Penske driver out of the race and Logano left Dover with a disappointing 31st place finish.

Point Standings: 13th
Last Week: 6th

Dropped Out: Alex Bowman