NASCAR Power Rankings: Did Texas win push Chase Elliott into first place?

The top three in the power rankings remain the same this week. Chase Elliott, winner Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, remains third. Although a win should move someone up in the rankings, it was tough to knock Tyler Reddick out of the top spot. Reddick finished fourth at Texas, followed by Denny Hamlin in second place. These two have always been a little stronger than Elliott. Here are my power rankings heading into this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen: Ditched: Brad Keselowski (last week: 10) On point: Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace 10. William Byron (last week: unranked) The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Byron rallied after a spin for an eighth-place finish in the Texas, which put him back in the top 10 of the season rankings. He has six top-10 finishes in his last eight races. 9. Chase Briscoe (last week: 7) Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Contact on pit road in Texas allowed Briscoe to finish 23rd, as he never recovered from the damage after leading early in the race. It was his second straight finish outside the top 20. 8. Ty Gibbs (last week: 5)Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota No. 54 Contact with Ryan Preece ended the Texas race early for Gibbs, who appeared to have a car that could challenge for the win. It was his second finish worse than 30th after seven consecutive finishes in the top 10. 7. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 6) Penske Team No. 12 Ford Blaney finished 10th at Texas, a slight rebound after finishing 24th and 37th in the previous two races. 6. Carson Hocevar (last week: 8) Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Hocevar Chevrolet continues to be on a roll, as he followed his victory at Talladega with a pole and seventh-place finish at Texas. 5. Kyle Larson (last week: 4) The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Larson made contact with Briscoe on pit road, then spun later in the race. He finished in a disappointing 34th place. 4. Chris Buescher (last week: 9) RFK Racing’s No. 17 Buescher Ford has back-to-back top-five finishes following a second-place finish at Talladega and a fifth-place finish at Texas. 3. Chase Elliott (last week: 3) Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 Elliott Chevrolet won at Texas, its second victory in its last five races. He has seven top 10s (including five top fives) in 11 races this year. 2. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 2) Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Hamlin Toyota’s second-place finish was his fifth top-five finish of the season. He finished no worse than 15th after opening the season 31st at the Daytona 500. 1. Tyler Reddick (last week: 1) The strong year for 23XI Racing’s No. 45 Reddick Toyota continued with a fourth-place finish at Texas. It was his seventh top-five finish of the year and his fourth in the last six races.