Denny Hamlin takes the top spot in the NASCAR Power Rankings after his third consecutive top-five finish of the playoffs.
Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott move up after strong finishes at Texas.
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS
1. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 2nd) — He had one of the best cars at Texas but lost his ability to contend for the win after teammate Ty Gibbs ran into him on pit road. Hamlin still finished fifth with his third top five finish of the playoffs.
2. Kyle Larson (1) — He had a dominant car in clean air at Texas. He led 99 laps and won stage 2. A late caution erased his lead and set up a restart with 20 laps to go. Larson spun and crashed while running side-by-side with Bubba Wallace and finished 31st. This was Larson’s only finish worse than fourth in the first four playoff races. It dropped him to two points above the cutline.
3. William Byron (3) — He ran inside of the top 10 during stage 1 at Texas but did not lead any laps until the final restart. He passed both Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace with six to go and went on to win his sixth race of the season – the 300th for team owner Rick Hendrick. Byron has three top-10 finishes in the four playoff races.
4. Chris Buescher (4) — He scored a race-high 15 stage points at Texas and finished 14th. Buescher moved to third in the standings and 22 points above the cutline. He has two top-five finishes in the four playoff races. Now he takes on a superspeedway and a road course, track styles where he has delivered strong finishes throughout his career.
5. Brad Keselowski (6) — He has been Mr. Consistency during the first four races of the playoffs with finishes of sixth, ninth, eighth and seventh. Keselowski has scored 28 stage points and one playoff point in that stretch. He entered the Round of 12 below the cutline but moved to eight points above. Next up is Talladega, where he has six Cup wins, 14 top-10 finishes and 10 top fives in 29 starts.
6. Bubba Wallace (8) — He missed out on the win but finished third at Texas after delivering the best all-around performance of his Cup career. Wallace won the pole, led a career-high 111 laps and scored points in the first two stages. He moved to only two points below the cutline after starting the weekend 14 below. Talladega becomes his best opportunity to reach the Round of 8.
7. Chase Elliott (8) — He qualified 29th but worked his way into the top 10 before the end of stage 1. He remained there for the majority of the race while scoring 10 stage points. Elliott finished 11th, his only finish outside of the top 10 in the past five races. The No. 9 is only two points out of the transfer spot to the owner championship Round of 8. Next up is Talladega where he won last season.
8. Tyler Reddick (6) — He scored the stage 1 win and locked up a playoff point while leading 36 laps. Reddick lost his track position when the caution flew after he made a green flag pit stop. He finished 25th after hitting the outside wall with just over 10 laps remaining in the race. This was his second consecutive finish of 15th or worse.
9. Kyle Busch (9) — He showed speed early in a car that qualified and ran inside of the top 10 early at Texas. He spun from eighth on Lap 74 and hit the outside wall. Busch made it back to pit road but his team could not make repairs in time to clear the DVP clock. He only has three top-10 finishes in the past 11 races and only one in the playoffs.
10. Martin Truex Jr. (2) — Another week, another round of issues affecting the No. 19 team. Truex spun through no fault of his own after the end of stage 1 and dealt with handling issues over the course of the remaining laps at Texas. These problems on the track, paired with slow pit stops, led to a 17th-place finish in which Truex lost part of his points cushion. He is now only 19 points above the cutline.