NASCAR Power Rankings After Shane Van Gisbergen’s Dominant Win At Watkins Glen

When the NASCAR Cup Series heads to a road course, there’s one name and one name only that everybody has circled as the driver to beat: Shane Van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen broke onto the scene in 2023 when he claimed victory in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance for Trackhouse Racing at the Chicago Street Course. That victory landed him a full-time ride with the team, and all he’s done since then is win six of 12 starts on road and street courses.

So when the series headed to famed Watkins Glen International in upstate New York on Sunday, it was clear who the man to beat would be.

Well, Van Gisbergen delivered, and did so in dominant fashion. The 37-year-old New Zealander led 74 of 100 laps and came from nearly 30 seconds back on the last stint of the race to come away with perhaps his most impressive win yet.

2026 NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 12

Van Gisbergen’s dominance was, of course, the story of the day. But alterantively, the story was about how many drivers in our power rankings struggled throughout the weekend.

In fact, only one driver in last week’s poweMediar rankings finished in the top 10 at Watkins Glen. Conversely, Van Gisbergen’s results on ovals of late just haven’t been good enough to validate him moving into the top 10 quite yet.

However, with stops at Coranado and Sonoma coming up, a pair of additional wins could change that in the near future. For now, our power rankings stayed fairly stagnant heading into the All-Star Race next weekend at Dover.

10) William Byron

Everything about Byron’s weekend says that he has no business remaining in the power rankings this week.

He qualified in 13th, which was actually the best of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers. But he fell backwards immediately as the race began, failed to score in the opening stage, and then got caught up in a wreck with Ryan Blaney in stage two that ruined his day.

Ultimately, Byron finished in 36th, three laps downs. However, because nobody in the vicinity of him in the points standings had a strong day either, there’s not really a case for anyone jumping him in the power rankings.

Last Week: 10 NASCAR Point Standings: 12 (-258)

9) Brad Keselowski

Like Byron, Keselowski had a dismal weekend at Watkins Glen.

A three-time runner-up at the track, Keselowski was off the pace from the get go and never really found any speed. He qualified back in 26th and ran in the 20s or deeper for much of the race.

Eventually, he came home with an extremely disappointing 30th-place finish. However, like Byron, nobody behind him in the rankings or standings did enough to warrant a jump over him.

Last Week: 9th NASCAR Point Standings: 9th (-249)

8) Kyle Larson

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before…

Kyle Larson had a rough weekend at Watkins Glen. He qualified all the way back in 23rd and finished in the exact same spot, failing to score points in either stage.

But, yet again, nobody close behind Larson in the power rankings or points standings ran well either, so there’s really nobody to supplant him at No. 8.

Last Week: 8th NASCAR Point Standings: 8th (-235)

7) Carson Hocevar

Carson Hocevar’s heater finally came to an end with a difficult weekend at The Glen. While he qualified in 11th, he quickly slid back through the pack and failled to score in either stage.

After getting caught on the wrong side of some late-race strategy, Hocevar finished all the way back in 23rd. However, because Larson, Byron, and Keselowski all struggled as well, he remains in the seventh spot in both the power rankings and the Cup Series points.

Last Week: 7th NASCAR Point Standings: 7th (-225)

6) Chris Buescher

Finally, a driver that didn’t have a bad day!

Was Sunday the run that Chris Buescher, a former Watkins Glen winner with incredible stats at the track, was hoping for? Probably not. But it certainly wasn’t terrible.

Buescher qualified in 14th position and then used some strategy to work his way up to sixth at the end of the second stage. Fuel saving and tire wear saw Buescher sink back to 12th by the time the checkered flag fell. But given all the issues for drivers around him in the points, it was certainly a productive day for the Texan.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Point Standings: 5th (-192)

5) Ty Gibbs

Buescher would have a strong case for moving up in this week’s rankings if not for the run of Ty Gibbs, who was far and away the best Joe Gibbs Racing driver over the course of the race.

Gibbs qualified in 10th and quickly began clawing his way up through the field. He forwent stage points to flip the opening stage, but finished third in stage two to pick up eight big points.

Gibbs then played the strategy game to try and knock off Van Gisbergen, hoping to make it on one less pit stop than his foe. However, eventually tire wear and fuel saving proved too much.

Van Gisbergen passed Gibbs for the lead with under 10 laps to go, but the JGR star still held on for a strong third-place finish.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Point Standings: 6th (-195)

4) Ryan Blaney

Talk about a whirlwind of a weekend for Ryan Blaney.

After qualifying on the pole at Watkins Glen a year ago, Blaney backed it up by starting seventh on Sunday, and he was running strongly in sixth late in the opening stage. He took advantage of Van Gisbergen and others flipping the stage, choosing instead to stay out and finish third, claiming eight points.

However, that put him back in traffic, and early in stage two he got into a spinning Byron, causing what he felt at the time was significant damage.

Instead, Blaney was able to work his way back up through the field for a perfectly solid 11th-place finish. It wasn’t exactly what he hoped for given the speed of his car before the wreck, but it was a strong day relative to almost everyone around him in the points.

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

3) Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott’s win a week ago at Texas is just about the only thing that keeps him above Blaney this time around. Otherwise, Elliott, like his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, had a dismal weekend.

The form3er Watkins Glen winner qualified all the way back in 27th and never even began to make progress, failing to score points in either stage and eventually bringing home a disappointing 24th-place finish.

Elliott has shown before that he’s one of the best road racers in the series when given the proper equipment. But at the current time, it seems as if his team is completely lost on road and street circuits.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Point Standings: 3rd (-145)

2) Denny Hamlin

You can add Denny Hamlin to the list of star drivers who had a no good, very bad weekend in the Finger Lakes.

While Hamlin’s teammates qualified in eighth, ninth and 10th, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran started the race all the way back in 20th and never really made much progress.

He briefly found himself running in the top 10 in the final stage due to strategy, but that left him on old tires and needing to save fuel, causing him to fall back to 16th by the time the checkered flag fell.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Point Standings: 2nd (-129)

1) Tyler Reddick

Apart from odd the off week, it feels like Tyler Reddick can do no wrong in 2026.

Reddick, who has proven to be one of the few drivers who can trouble Van Gisbergen on road courses, qualified back in 15th and was seemingly nowhere to be found at the end of the opening stage.

However, as he’s done all season, he just kept getting better as the race went on. Reddick finished second behind Van Gisbergen in stage two, and then was one of the better drivers on his strategy to end the race, knifing his way through the field after a late pit stop to pick up a fifth-place finish.

With his stage points, Reddick scored the third-most points on the day behind Van Gisbergen and Gibbs and continued to stretch his lead in the point standings and assert his dominance in the power rankings.

Last Week: 1st NASCAR Point Standings: 1st