The start of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicked off at Atlanta Motor Speedway. For the first time, a superspeedway started the Round of 16. While the expectation was a wild card race where chaos would reign supreme, the end product was much more mundane. Pack racing was a feature, but the lack of grip kept the cars a bit distant from each other. Plus, the importance of keeping the playoff drivers clean throughout brought points racing back to mind. In the end, Joey Logano secured his spot into the Round of 12 to cap off a Team Penske dominated race. After Week 26, only one Penske driver featured in the power rankings. Could that change this week? With playoff Atlanta in the rearview, who fill outs the FitStop Performance Week 27 Power Rankings?
#10 – Kyle Busch
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
Since returning from the Olympic break, Kyle Busch has been on a hot streak. Over the past 5 races, Busch has finished no worse than 12th. This includes 4 straight Top-10s after Atlanta. Despite missing the playoffs, Busch’s quest to pick up a win in his 20th straight season seems to be more likely based on recent weeks. With this surge in performance, Busch returns to the power rankings for the first time since Week 6.
#9 – Chris Buescher
Previous Ranking: 7
It has been a rough couple of weeks for Chris Buescher. After missing the playoffs due to Chase Briscoe’s Darlington win, Atlanta continued the pain for the 17 team. On Lap 206, Buescher chased his car up the track in Turn 2 and made contact with Ryan Blaney. Due to the damage, Buescher’s day ended in the garage with his second DNF of the season.
#8 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 9
After back-to-back DNFs to head into the playoffs, William Byron bounced back with a quietly solid day in Atlanta. He picked up 9 stage points and finished inside the Top-10. For Byron and the 24 team, it was an ideal way to kick off the playoffs. While a stronger finish or even a win would have been perfect, this team needed a race where nothing went wrong. Byron will need to regain that momentum from earlier this season if he wants to rejoin the championship conversation.
#7 – Ryan Blaney
Previous Ranking: 10
When you look at the results from the Quaker State 400, Ryan Blaney’s day looks strong. It would suggest that he faced little adversity with a stage win and a third place finish. However, Blaney’s car taped up and battered sitting on pit road after the checkered flag tells a different story. As mentioned earlier, Blaney got caught up in the Buescher incident. Credit to the 12 team though, as they managed to repair the car to the point where Blaney managed to climb back through the field. Ultimately, it was Blaney’s push that led to Joey Logano’s win.
#6 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 3
What an odd race for Denny Hamlin. After an engine issue ruined his qualifying run, Hamlin started from the rear of the field. From there, the strategy was clearly conservative in nature. With a poor handling car, Hamlin contently ran in the back with BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley. While everyone was waiting for Hamlin to start making moves through the field, it never happened. On the final restart, his mid-pack status saw him get caught up in the last lap accident. Thusly, he winds up losing 3 spots in the rankings.
#5 – Brad Keselowski
Previous Ranking: 4
Round 2 of a known superspeedway ace not putting on a good performance. Brad Keselowski was also surprisingly quiet during the Quaker State 400. While never intentionally falling back into pack, Keselowski struggled to make any gains. He did pop into the Top-10 occasionally, but struggled to remain there. By the end of the race, his poor handling race car prevented him from being competitive for a top finish. For a race where he needed to gain on the cutline, Keselowski now has to survive a road course for his playoffs hopes.
#4 – Chase Elliott
Previous Ranking: 6
Similar to William Byron, Chase Elliott had a quietly solid day. He picked up points in both stages and brought home the 9 car in the Top-10. Due to the mediocre/poor performances from Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, Elliott managed to climb up two spots in the power rankings. He also put himself in a solid spot heading into the next two races for the Round of 16.
#3 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 5
For the second straight superspeedway race, Christopher Bell somewhat surprisingly ends up in the Top-5. Not that it is surprising for Bell to finish there, but Bell did not feature in the top portion of the field for much of the race. However, a green-white-checkered finish unfolds and there is the 20 car playing a pivotal role in pushing one of the top drivers. However, Bell did manage to sneak into the Top-10 at the end of Stage 2 to nab a single point.
#2 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 1
Kyle Larson’s return to the top spot in the power rankings was brief, similar to his time in the Quaker State 400. As the field ran single file in the build up to the end of Stage 1, Larson’s car took off from under him and slammed into the outside wall. Then, Chase Briscoe plowed into the 5 car to further seal Larson’s DNF fate. Superspeedways have never been kind to Larson, so the early exit did not come as a surprise. However, now he only sits 15 points above the cutline heading into Watkins Glen.
#1 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: 2
Returning to the top of the FitStop Performance Power Rankings is Tyler Reddick. Atlanta continued his run of Top-10s, which was only briefly interrupted by a Daytona DNF. Overcoming a late pit road mistake, Reddick managed to claw his way back into the Top-10 during the later portions of the race. Sitting pretty atop the power rankings, Reddick will look to dominate the road course next week and pick up win number 3.
Honorable Mention
Bubba Wallace – Dropping out of the power rankings this week, Bubba Wallace got caught up in the last lap wreck to spoil a decent finish.
Ty Gibbs –Â Ty Gibbs is on the verge of reentering the power rankings. However, missing a block on the second to last restart saw a Top-5 turn into barely a Top-20.
Joey Logano – Atlanta Motor Speedway was quite kind to Joey Logano. He picked up the win to advance into the Round of 12.
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