NASCAR Power Rankings After Carson Hocevar’s First Career Win At Talladega

It was only a matter of time until Carson Hocevar won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race, so it surprised no one in the racing world to see Hocevar take home the checkered flag in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Hocevar survived some early turmoil, as well as a wild crash that took out half the field at the beginning of the second stage, to bring the victory for an emergent Spire Motorsports team.

Not only does the victory see him fly up the Cup Series point standings, but he also re-enters our NASCAR Power Rankings for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500.

 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 10

Any time the Cup Series comes to Talladega, it offers the opportunity for chaos, and that’s exactly what we saw on Sunday.

Despite the opening stage running entirely under green flag conditions, differing strategies and multiple mistakes on pit road shook up the running order, leading to Ryan Preece taking the stage victory.

Then, when things seemed to get back in order to start stage two, a massive crash wiped out over 20 cars, including many of the race’s top contenders.

HUGE CRASH at Talladega.

Calling it the Big One doesn’t do it justice. pic.twitter.com/QBhk9ewDXH

— Motorsport (@Motorsport) April 26, 2026

Ultimately, only around 20 cars were left without significant damage, and when it came time for the pay window to open, Hocevar found his way to the front and was able to stay there, claiming the victory in the process.

10) Brad Keselowski

Keselowski, who picked up his first career win at Talladega and has excelled at superspeedway racing ever since, remains in the same spot he found himself in a week ago.

He showed speed early, finishing second in the opening stage behind his teammate, Preece. However, he was one of the casualties of the massive crash at the beginning of the second stage and ultimately brought home a 31st-place finish, through little fault of his own.

Keselowski will hope to rebound next weekend at Texas, another place where he’s had considerable success, although he has yet to win.

Last Week: 10th NASCAR Point Standings: 10th (-205)

9) Christopher Bell

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good when it comes to restrictor plate racing, and that could definitely apply to Christopher Bell’s race on Sunday.

Bell struggled to find his way to the front early despite his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates running first through third. He pitted out of sequence with them and failed to score points in the opening stage.

However, Bell’s struggles were such that he avoided the wreck at the front of the field in stage two and eventually finished that stage in second position. He’d go on to lead five times for 31 laps before unfortunately getting caught up in a last-lap accident while running inside the top five.

Still, what could have been a terrible day was at least salvaged with stage points and a top-20 finish.

Last Week: 9th NASCAR Point Standings: 9th (-194)

8) Carson Hocevar

The reality is, when you’re as talented as Carson Hocevar is, and you’re as aggressive as Carson Hocevar is, you’re going to win races, plural.

You’re also going to make a lot of people mad along the way, and Hocevar has certainly done that. But hey, that’s racing.

Hocevar survived what he thought might be a flat tire in the opening stage and then the massive wreck that began in the second stage. That cycled him into the top 15 after running in the back for the majority of the race until that point.

But when winning began to become a possibility, Hocevar showed up, finding his way to the front and leading 19 laps, including the final one to pick up an historic first victory, capped by an incredible celebration.

Carson Hocevar celebration, so cool to see this in person the one time it’s ever gonna be allowed lol pic.twitter.com/1OrjluekpX

— David iñ Georgia (@stormynormy42) April 26, 2026

Last Week: UR NASCAR Point Standings: 8th (-192)

7) Chris Buescher

Nobody in the field on Sunday put together as clean and consistent of a race as Chris Buescher, which has sort of become Buescher’s M.O.

The RFK Racing driver finished fourth in the opening stage, avoided the big wreck by being at the front of the pack, and then took home third in the second stage, before bringing his car home in second at the checkered flag.

Was it the win that Buescher was hoping for? No. But he’s creeping ever closer, and in the process, he continues to climb up both the power rankings and the point standings.

Last Week: UR NASCAR Point Standings: 7th (-175)

6) Kyle Larson

Historically speaking, Kyle Larson and restrictor plate racing just don’t get along. Larson has a long history of heavy crashes at plate tracks despite running well. It seemed that the trend was beginning to change, but the fates turned back against him on Sunday.

After a bad green-flag pit stop in the opening stage, Larson got shuffled back in the pack, failing to take home any stage points. He then found himself in no-man’s land when the big wreck hit, getting swept up in the mess en route to a last-place finish.

Larson drops just one spot this week because the rest of the field around him also found trouble. So it wasn’t all bad for the hopeful championship contender.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Point Standings: 6th (-169)

5) Chase Elliott

We’re not exactly sure how Chase Elliott managed to survive the gigantic crash that took out half the field in the beginning of the second stage, but Elliott likely isn’t concerned with the matter of how.

After a difficult opening stage, he was running right in the middle of the pack when the accident happened, but somehow, the Red Sea seemed to part, and he made it through unscathed.

He converted that into a ninth-place finish in the stage and fourth-place finish in the race, making for a surprisingly strong result considering the way things started.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Point Standings: 5th (-144)

4) Ty Gibbs

Gibbs was fantastic early on in Sunday’s race, leading three separate times for 17 laps before the opening round of green-flag pit stops. While he executed well, teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe had issues with their stops, leaving Gibbs without much drafting help.

That, combined with a separate strategy from the lead group of Fords, meant Gibbs couldn’t capitalize on his speed to pick up any stage points. He then got swept up in the wreck that took out darn near the entire field and finished in 34th, ending a once-promising-looking day.

Last Week: 4th NASCAR Point Standings: 4th (-162)

3) Ryan Blaney

It appeared, for a while, as if it was all coming together for Ryan Blaney, who has won three times before at Talladega Superspeedway. He managed his fuel well in stage one to claim a fifth-place finish and the six bonus points that came with it.

Blaney then found himself running in the top five to start the second stage and looked in line to contend for a victory. But at Talladega, nobody is safe. When Bubba Wallace got turned in front of the field on lap 114, Blaney, and seemingly everyone else, had nowhere to go but into the wreckage.

The crash ended Blaney’s day with a disappointing 37th-place finish.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Point Standings: 3rd (-140)

2) Denny Hamlin

Unlike Gibbs and Blaney, Hamlin was the maker of his own demise on Sunday, speeding on pit road during the opening round of pit stops.

Ultimately, that led to him going multiple laps down, and while he was so far back in the pack, he avoided the big wreck. It wasn’t until late in the race that Hamlin was actually able to get those laps back.

That meant that he scored zero stage points and never made it to the front to fight for the win. But, perhaps fortuitously, Hamlin did manage to take home a 15th-placed finish.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Point Standings: 2nd (-110)

1) Tyler Reddick

Perhaps it’s just indicative of the incredible season that Tyler Reddick is having that he somehow managed to extend his points lead on Sunday despite not really having the speed to compete for a victory.

Reddick was the lone Toyota to extend his fuel and stick with the Ford pit strategy in the opening stage, leading to a seventh-place finish in the stage and four bonus points. He then suffered minimal damage in the huge crash to start the second stage, which put him behind the eight ball, but not out of the race.

Ultimately, Reddick had an issue and hit the wall with 28 laps remaining. However, the damage was yet again relatively insignificant, and Reddick brought home a 14th-place finish that many of his other championship contenders would have killed for on Sunday.

Last Week: 1st NASCAR Point Standings: 1st