NASCAR Power Rankings After Tyler Reddick’s Dramatic Victory At Phoenix

Through the first six races of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the championship, it looked as if defending champion Kyle Larson was going to run away with this.

Larson had put up historic numbers, posting an average finish of 2.8 over those six races. But Sunday, in Phoenix, that all got turned on its head. Larson fell behind early and never recovered, eventually ending his day early with a crash and earning just three points.

On the flip side, Tyler Reddick picked up his first win since dominating the early parts of the season, giving himself new life and creating a wild points scenario with six drivers within 60 points of Larson entering the final three races of the season.

2026 NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 33

Sunday’s race featured several ups and downs. After sitting on the pole for the race, Ryan Blaney dominated the early portions of the opening stage before a caution and a decision to take four tires while others took two led to him finishing the stage in fourth.

Teammate Joey Logano went on to win the stage and repeated the feat in stage two, establishing himself as a contender for the victory. In the final stage, both Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe worked their way to the front of the field, while Denny Hamlin recovered from an early pit road issue to work his way into the top five before blowing a tire.

Ultimately, a caution with 30 to go caused a split in strategy and gave Reddick the opening he needed, taking two tires and passing Briscoe for the lead with just over 20 laps to go before holding on for victory.

10) Bubba Wallace

Wallace appeared to have the best car in the field late in Sunday’s race. But he wound up finishing all the way back in 17th, and he has nobody to blame but himself.

The 23XI star was leading the race when the final caution flew and opted to pit. It appeared he’d restart the race in eighth, the first car with four fresh tires. But Wallace was hit for speeding on pit road and sent to the back of the lead lap.

Ultimately, he worked his way back into the top 20. But it’s just another unforced error for a driver and team that has made a habit of them in recent seasons.

Last Week: 10th NASCAR Point Standings: 12th (-162)

9) Ty Gibbs

Gibbs maintains his spot in the power rankings after finishing in 10th on Sunday. But it was one of the more under-the-radar top-10 finishes you’ll ever see.

He was forced to start in the back of the pack after changing his alternator prior to the race and slowly made his way forward. But it wasn’t until the final stage of the race that he actually made it into the top 10.

He then opted to stay out during the final caution of the race and restarted in third, but still back through the field over the waning laps, holding on for the top-10 finish.

Last Week: 9th NASCAR Point Standings: 9th (-132)

8) Austin Cindric

Cindric remains in eighth in the power rankings and point standings. But that’s largely due to Wallace’s stumbles and Gibbs’ lack of overall pace.

While teammates Logano and Blaney had speed throughout the weekend, Cindric was off the pace throughout. He qualified back in 15th, while the other two occupied the front row, and never really moved forward.

Cindric failed to score points in either of the first two stages and ultimately finished with a disappointing 19th-place finish in what was undeniably the worst race of an otherwise impressive Chase run.

Last Week: 8th NASCAR Point Standings: 8th (-130)

7) Tyler Reddick

Reddick is the first of seven drivers in the power rankings and standings who reasonably have a shot to lay claim to a championship in Miami in three weeks.

While there’s a good argument for him to make a lofty jump in the power rankings after the victory, he remains in seventh place despite the win, and here’s the rationale:

Of the three races remaining, Reddick probably has the most glaring weakness given his history of struggles at Martinsville. Additionally, despite the win, Reddick didn’t actually gain any positions in the standings, even though he made up significant ground on Larson.

For now, he remains in seventh. But that could change dramatically with another big performance next weekend at Talladega.

Last Week: 7th NASCAR Point Standings: 7th (-59)

6) Joey Logano

It’s hard to call a day where you pick up a pair of stage wins and a sixth place finish disappointing, but you have to think that Joey Logano and his team may look back at Sunday as a missed opportunity.

While the 51-point day put Logano squarely back into contention entering the final three races, just 44 points behind Larson, a victory would’ve seen that margin more than halved, and some may have considered Logano the favorite for the championship given his prowess at Talladega and Martinsville especially.

Still, no team in the garage capitalizes when they smell blood in the water quite like Logano and the 22 team, and you have to think that’s how they feel entering the final three races.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Point Standings: 6th (-44)

5) Denny Hamlin

Somehow, some way, Denny Hamlin isn’t just still alive for a championship, but he even made up a solid chunk of points on Kyle Larson at Phoenix despite finishing a lap down in 28th position.

Hamlin picked up nine points in the opening stage and three more in stage two, despite a pit road issue in the middle of that stage, while Larson earned none.

He then managed to finish six spots ahead of Larson even despite a blown tire in the final stage. Hamlin lost two spots in the points standings and one spot in the power rankings, and it just feels like things are yet again slipping away from him.

But the reality is that a couple of good races in a row could undo an otherwise terrible start to the chase.

Last Week: 4th NASCAR Point Standings: 4th (-31)

4) Ryan Blaney

Like his teammate Logano, Blaney had a highly productive day on Sunday that may well be viewed as a missed opportunity. The former Cup Series champion had won each of the last two times the series raced at Phoenix and sat on the pole for Sunday’s race.

He led the first portion of the race before a caution, and a decision to take four tires while others took two led to a fourth-place finish in stage one. Blaney then slipped to sixth at the end of stage two and looked to be slipping further back before the final caution of the race allowed him a chance to reset.

Ultimately, he recovered to second and made up significant ground on Larson, putting himself right back in the hunt for a championship. But again, like Logano, a win would’ve gone a long way for the team’s confidence.

That being said, Blaney now heads to a pair of tracks in Talladega and Martinsville where he may well be the favorite, and he’s undeniably a real threat to Larson’s points lead.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Point Standings: 5th (-40)

3) Chase Briscoe

After back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Charlotte, Briscoe found himself in a familiar position on Sunday: leading the race with the laps winding down.

A late strategy call to stay out during the final caution handed Briscoe the lead with just 25 laps remaining. Unfortunately, that call proved to be the wrong decision, as Briscoe couldn’t maintain his track position on older tires.

Even so, he still brought home an eighth-place finish, and when you combine that with the 15 points he earned in the opening stages of the race, Briscoe yet again took a huge chunk out of Larson’s points lead for the third week in a row.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Point Standings: 3rd (-24)

2) Christopher Bell

CAUTION: Objects in mirror are larger than they appear.

Bell overcame a pair of issues on pit road to claim a fourth-place finish on Sunday, and after finishing third in both stage one and stage two, he made up over 40 points on Larson.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver now sits just five points adrift of the lead in the standings and has displayed remarkable consistency throughout the season. While Larson still has control in the standings, it’s not a very strong control, and Bell has to be full of confidence moving forward.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Point Standings: 2nd (-5)

1) Kyle Larson

Larson has simply been too good over the first six races of the Chase to justify dropping him at all after this weekend’s debacle.

But make no mistake, a debacle is exactly what it was. Larson was slow from the jump, qualifying back in 22nd and dropping back in the opening stage, nearly losing a lap in the process.

He did lose a lap in the second stage, but managed to get it back thanks to a timely caution and strategy call from crew chief Cliff Daniels. It appears Larson may salvage at least a passable day in the final stage, but a blown right-front tire with 31 laps to go sent him careening into the wall, ending his day.

Larson finished in 34th position and scored just three points on the day. Suddenly, what appeared to be a firm grasp on the championship lead is anything but with three races remaining.

Last Week: 1st NASCAR Point Standings: 1st