The first round of the playoffs has come and gone. Bristol Motor Speedway saw the elimination of four drivers from the playoffs, along with an unpopular driver beating your favorite driver. As for the racing at the Bristol Night Race, it was a letdown. Bristol has not been Bristol with the NextGen car. Short tracks simply are not what the NextGen thrives on. Stage 1 saw the bottom reign supreme. For Stage 2, the groove moved up the track a bit and lapped traffic played a factor. Unfortunately, Stage 3 went back to being a snoozer. When the lapped traffic no longer puts up a fight, the leader could easily scamper away with clean air. Pit strategy between the stages were a factor as well. With that said, what do the Pit Pass Network Power Rankings look for Week 26? With four eliminated drivers, did any drop out from last week?
#10 – Ryan Blaney
Previously Ranked: 8
During Stage 1, Ryan Blaney looked to have a similar car as he had for the first two races of the playoffs. The winning speed was not there, but Blaney ran around the Top-10. Then Stage 2 happened and Blaney fell off the pace. Based on his first two races, Ryan Blaney was able to advance through to the Round of 12. However, Blaney’s two laps down finish sees him drop two spots in the power rankings.
#9 – Kyle Busch
Previously Ranked: 8
What an ugly first round for Kyle Busch. Despite solid finishes at Darlington and Kansas, Busch had a rough going surviving the Round of 16. Bristol could have been the one strong race for the 8 team, especially with Busch’s history at the track. Unfortunately, they missed the setup and Busch finished two laps down.
#8 – Christopher Bell
Previously Ranked: Honorable Mention
Finally, Christopher Bell ran as well as he qualified. After securing his third straight pole, Bell dominated the first two stages of Saturday’s race. A slow pit stop (shocker) lost him the lead heading into Stage 3 and Bell never managed to reclaim it. Still, two stage wins and a Top-5 finish catapults Bell to eighth in the power rankings.
#7 – William Byron
Previously Ranked: 7
For how dominate William Byron’s 2023 looks on paper, his first round of the playoffs was lackluster. After a Top-5 at Darlington, Byron never showed race winning speed the past two races. He managed a Top-10 at Bristol, which is good. However, Byron has looked slower than his teammate Kyle Larson, which is how it has been all season long (despite the wins).
#6 – Martin Truex Jr
Previously Ranked: 4
If William Byron looked a bit more inspired this past weekend, Martin Truex Jr would have fallen one more spot. What a disaster of a first round for Truex: bad at Darlington, unlucky at Kansas, and mediocre at Bristol. To be fair, Truex was one of the faster cars during the final stretch of the race. However, Truex was already multiple laps down. While he returns to the top of the standings with the reset, Truex heads into a daunting round with four straight races without a Top-10.
#5 – Tyler Reddick
Previously Ranked: 6
Tyler Reddick moves up a spot in the power rankings mostly based on the strength of his previous two races. At Bristol, Reddick finished a lap down in fifteenth. Without race winning speed or playoff drama, Reddick was an afterthought this weekend. Based on his first round though, Reddick could advance through to the Round of 8.
#4 – Brad Keselowski
Previously Ranked: 5
Cracking the top four this week is Brad Keselowski. While Chris Buescher has been racking up the wins, Keselowski has been one of the most consistent drivers in the Cup Series recently. Keselowski has a Top-10 in eight of the past nine oval races. Heading into the Round of 12, the RFK owner needs to pick up as many points in the first two races with the ROVAL looming as the elimination race.
#3 – Chris Buescher
Previously Ranked: 1
The difference between the top three is extremely close. Chris Buescher falls two spots mostly due to the other two’s strong runs rather than his performance. Plus, the blown tire at Kansas hurt. Buescher unloaded with a fast car at Bristol. While his qualifying effort fell short of expectations, Buescher ran Top-5 from Stage 2 on, easily advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
#2 – Kyle Larson
Previously Ranked: 3
Three straight Top-5s put Kyle Larson on the edge of the number one spot. Not only has Larson finished in the Top-5 the past two weeks, he has driven through the field in each race. Kansas was due to poor pit strategy. Bristol was due to almost wrecking during qualifying. Either way, Larson has been the fastest car on track the past two weeks. If he can gain solid track position, he should be a championship favorite.
#1 – Denny Hamlin
Previously Ranked: 2
Not only did he beat your favorite driver on Saturday, he does so in the power rankings this week. Denny Hamlin claims the top spot this week after not choking away a win as he did the previous two weekends. Once Hamlin took the lead in Stage 3, he set sail from the pack. Luckily for Hamlin, lapped traffic did not hold him up as much as it did for the leaders in Stage 1 and 2. Hamlin looks to be the championship favorite after the first round.
Honorable Mentions
Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick falls out of the rankings with a disappointing effort shown at Bristol. Harvick finished five laps down with his only hope of advancing was Martin Truex Jr and/or Bubba Wallace wrecking out.
Ross Chastain – The 1 team of Trackhouse played strategy to collect stage points in Stage 1. Unfortunately, Chastain remained stuck in traffic and could not drive forward.
Michael McDowell & Rickey Stenhouse Jr – While both drivers were eliminated on Saturday, both Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr went down fighting. If there was a late race restart, McDowell likely would have tried something crazy to go for the win.
