NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Week 3

COTA served as the first road course event of the 2023 season for NASCAR. The race featured numerous former champions from across various motorsports. With no more stage cautions, the racing during 90% of the race was exciting television. Split strategies were playing out before a caution with eleven laps to go brought everyone down pit road. Then the chaos took over. Whatever you want to chalk it up to, COTA’s finish soured a solid weekend of racing. Now that the Cup Series has raced on every type of track this year (except Bristol dirt), the power rankings are starting to become clearer. As with Atlanta last week, some of the top drivers thrived in Austin while others struggled mightily. How did COTA shake up the power rankings for Week 3?

#10 – Brad Keselowski

Previous Ranking: 6

Brad Keselowski had the worst day by far out of the drivers in the Power Rankings. His spin out on Lap 1 took out Ty Dillon and Jimmie Johnson for the race. Later in the race, Keselowski spun twice more and eventually retired after breaking the drive shaft. The RFK group struggled at COTA this week. Both entries had poor practice and qualifying efforts. However, Chris Buescher was able to rebound for a Top-10. Meanwhile, Keselowski failed to lead a lap during the race for the first time this season. While the speed has been an improvement for Keselowski, he needs to secure better finishes to maintain his place in the power rankings.

#9 – Joey Logano

Previous Ranking: 5

The largest drop this week is last week’s race winner Joey Logano. Outside of well-timed pit stop that put him in the lead, Logano was a non-factor all race. Much like last year, the Fords seemed to lack speed at COTA. Logano was no exception. It has been a bit of an odd year for Logano. When he has speed, it is race winning/contending speed. However, if he is not battling for the win, he is running mid-pack. It is quite surprising to see out of the #22 team.

#8 – Tyler Reddick

Previous Ranking: Not Ranked

Tyler Reddick has been on a hot streak recently. With his win on Sunday, Reddick has three Top-5 finishes in a row. Not only did Reddick win on Sunday, he dominated the race. Only William Byron seemed to have a car capable of running with the #45 machine. After an abysmal start to the season where he was last in points after Auto Club, Reddick has rebounded nicely.  If he keeps this pace up, Reddick will quickly rise up the power rankings. With Toyota-friendly Richmond next up on the schedule, expect to see Reddick running in the Top-5 again.

#7 – Christopher Bell

Previous Ranking: 4

Once again, deciding between the three drivers who make up the next spots on the rankings has been difficult. By virtue of bad luck, Christopher Bell falls to seventh in the power rankings. Bell’s run was ended early after getting caught up in one of the numerous overtime restarts. However, Bell’s day was far from great before then. Despite finishing ninth in Stage 1, Bell ran mid-pack most of the race. Much like the Fords, Toyota seemed to be off at COTA (except for Reddick). Once again, Richmond has been Toyota friendly recently. Plus, Bell has the best average finish out of active drivers.

#6 – Kyle Busch

Previous Ranking: 10

Second best riser this week is Kyle Busch. On paper, Busch had a strong running at COTA with his second place finish. However, Busch’s speed throughout the race was lacking behind other drivers on this ranking. While definitely a Top-10 car, Busch was never a serious threat to win unless he decided to wipe out Reddick on one of those restarts. Much like The Clash, Busch finishes well without race winning speed. The solid runs have been great, but the more season goes on, the more Auto Club looks like a flash in the pan.

#5 – Kevin Harvick

Previous Ranking: 3

Kevin Harvick’s pit strategy and ability to finish the race keep him in the top five this week. Outside of Stage 2, Harvick was not a noteworthy entry at COTA. Falling into the trap of slow Fords, Harvick only ran inside the Top-15 for less than 70% of the race. While pit strategy is a factor in that number, the majority of the race saw Harvick mid-pack with the other Fords. Moving forward, Richmond is a track where Harvick ran very well last year. It would be surprising to see Harvick fall outside of the top five after this coming weekend.

#4 – Ross Chastain

Previous Ranking: 9

The highest riser this week is Ross Chastain. After getting damage during the first green-white-checkered restart, Chastain was able to rebound to collect his second Top-5 of the season. Chastain had the third best car at COTA. If given the chance, Chastain could have made a strong move to win back-to-back races at COTA. Instead, he has to settled for arguing with his teammate on pit road. Chastain’s speed has been better than his average finishes this year, hence why he is ranked highly this week.

#3 – Alex Bowman

Previous Ranking: 7

Alex Bowman has been the yoyo of this young power rankings series. He started off fourth, got dropped to seventh, and now has rebounded up to third. There is something about COTA that seems to mesh well with Alex Bowman. Not known for his expertise at road courses, Bowman has found himself running for the lead in the closing laps in back to back races. Bowman was the driver to AJ Allmendinger’s outside when Chastain punted him for the win. Although this is Bowman’s third Top-5 this season, this was the first race where Bowman felt like a legitimate threat for the win.

#2 – Kyle Larson

Previous Ranking: 2

Kyle Larson was the field’s bunching bag on Sunday. Larson found himself in multiple incidents, starting early in the race with Bubba Wallace. During Stage 2, Larson was able to secure some points, even after spinning out late in the stage. However, bad luck would strike and Larson fell down the running order. With all the overtime restarts, Larson was able to rebound with a respectable fourteenth place finish. Larson would slip more down the rankings if not for the drivers right behind him having more issues than him.

#1 – William Byron

Previous Ranking: 1

For the third week in a row, the number one spot goes to William Byron. Byron had a great weekend despite not winning either race he entered. For the Cup Series, Byron qualified on the pole and kept pace with Tyler Reddick throughout the race. It was clear that Byron’s car was the only machine capable of beating Reddick’s head-to-head. Unfortunately for Byron (and fans), the late race battling between the two drivers was interrupted for NASCAR shenanigans. The second best car of the day had to settle for a fifth place finish. For now though, Byron remains the head of the power rankings.

Honorable Mentions: Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, and Corey LaJoie