The final superspeedway race has come and gone. As the drivers are starting to figure out the NextGen car on the superspeedways, the Yellawood 500 offered quality pack racing with minimal carnage. Much like the summer Daytona race, this past weekend at Talladega had fewer cautions than expected. Outside of the wreck to the finish, only one other major incident occurred on track. As for the drafting, the movement within the field was a bit more stagnant than Daytona. The third line struggled to build momentum consistently. Certain drivers could move their way forward when needed. Overall, it was a solid race. With the limited chaos, how did the drivers of the power rankings fare? Is there much change for the Pit Pass Network Power Rankings in Week 28 compared to Week 27?
#10 – Martin Truex Jr
Previously Ranked: 8
What is going on with this team? In Week 22 (post Watkins Glen), Martin Truex Jr was atop the power rankings during his weeks long reign. In the past six weeks, Truex has now fallen to tenth. Since his Top-10 at The Glen, Truex has failed to finish inside the Top-15. Based on his regular season strength alone has Truex managed to survive thus far in the playoffs. Heading into the ROVAL, he sits in a decent points position.
 #9 – Kevin Harvick
Previously Ranked: 9
Ignoring the DQ after the race, Kevin Harvick almost won the Yellawood 500. If he did win, it is a wonder if NASCAR would have still disqualified him considering the consequences of that action. Anyways, Harvick’s second place finish was a welcome sign. With his final season dwindling down, almost every NASCAR fan is hoping to see Harvick find victory lane before he retires.
#8 – Ryan Blaney
Previously Ranked: 10
Ryan Blaney’s win at Talladega pushes him up to the eighth spot this week. Not only did Blaney win the race, but he also claimed the Stage 1 win. Blaney’s move on Kevin Harvick down the backstretch was impressive. More impressive though was his state of mind to think to box William Byron in next to Harvick to keep his push. If Blaney gets too far ahead of Byron, then the Hendrick driver might have made the race winning move through Turns 3 and 4.
#7 – Tyler Reddick
Previously Ranked: 7
Outside of Denny Hamlin, the Toyotas were fairly quiet on Sunday. Tyler Reddick drafted with teammate Bubba Wallace to move to the front at times. However, the Stage 1 strategy to pit last left the team on the outside for stage points. Reddick led two laps on the day, but was a non-factor for much of the race. The best positive for Reddick was Brad Keselowski wrecking out and narrowing the cutline in his favor.
#6 – Christopher Bell
Previously Ranked: 6
Christopher Bell got damage in the Ross Chastain incident at the end of Stage 1. The damage was not severe enough to take Bell out of contention, it did limit his ability to comfortably work the draft. At the end of Stage 2, he backed out of the lead pack in order to prevent further damage. Even with the damage, Bell was the fourth highest finishing playoff driver.
#5 – Brad Keselowski
Previously Ranked: 4
Down a spot this week, Brad Keselowski’s worst playoff race thus far came at Talladega. What a weird timeline. Keselowski did win Stage 2 before slipping to the back of the lead pack during the final stage. In an aggressive move to push his way forward again, Keselowski pushed rookie Carson Hocevar through the tri-oval. This sparked the first major wreck of the day, with Keselowski getting clipped on the rear quarter panel as he attempted to drive through. The DNF sees Keselowski sitting a mere two points above the cutline.
#4 – Chris Buescher
Previously Ranked: 3
Down a spot this week, Chris Buescher had a pedestrian day at Talladega. He scored no stage points and finished twentieth (nineteenth after the DQ to Harvick). Buescher managed to work his way to the lead in the highline. Once there, he attempted to take the momentum from the middle lane. Bubba Wallace decided to try to draft around Buescher, which resulted in Buescher, Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano to go four wide and fall to the back of the pack.
#3 – William Byron
Previously Ranked: 5
William Byron is starting to put himself back into the conversation for the number one spot. After a sluggish summer, Byron has returned to form since his win at Watkins Glen. Only once has Byron finished outside the Top-10 in the past seven races (a fifteenth at Kansas). Byron is looking like a formidable championship contender as the races dwindle down. His Top-5 at Talladega was another strong race for the 24 team.
 #2 – Denny Hamlin
Previously Ranked: 1
Remember, these power rankings are not solely based on where a driver finishes. While Denny Hamlin had a better result than the number one driver, Hamlin’s Talladega was lackluster. Not only did Hamlin receive any stage points, he spent a bulk of the last half of the race a lap down due to speeding on pit road. Self-inflected wounds are what has cost Hamlin in the past. While he did bounce back to finish Top-5, the last lap wreck is the only reason he finished better than the next driver.
#1 – Kyle Larson
Previously Ranked: 2
Back to the number one spot is Kyle Larson. Who could have guessed that Larson would see a boost in the power rankings after a superspeedway? Well, Larson accomplished this by staying near the front all race long. He collected the stage points in the first stage and ran fourth in the inside line. If not for the wreck, Larson would have netted his ninth Top-10 at a superspeedway. Still, his overall weekend (Top-5 qualifying effort) was good enough to put him at number one.
Honorable Mention
Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch was unlucky to have his drafting partner run out of gas at the end of Stage 1. By the end of the race, his damage repairs started to falter.
Ross Chastain – Much like Busch above, Ross Chastain was unlucky this Sunday. While trying to go for the gap, Chastain got nicked by Christopher Bell, causing the Melon Man to DNF.
Chase Elliott – Finishing the race sideways, Chase Elliott earned a Top-10 and stretched his car’s lead on the owner playoff cutline.
