NASCAR Power Rankings After William Byron’s Win At Iowa

William Byron survived a bizarre, caution-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway to pick up his second victory of the season on Sunday. In doing so, Byron moved back atop the regular season points standings and moves up the last edition of our weekly power rankings.

A number of ill-timed cautions shook up the running order of the NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday. But ultimately, it was William Byron who found himself in the right place at the right time to pick up the victory.

The win moved Byron back atop the regular season points standings and moved him up in our latest power rankings. Meanwhile, a new face enters the fray after a strong run.

10) Tyler Reddick

Once again, Tyler Reddick just never seemed to have the speed or track position he needed to succeed on Sunday.

After qualifying in 22nd, he spent most of the race mired mid-pack, before ultimately bringing home a disappointing 19th-place finish.

Reddick hasn’t finished in the top 10 since Sonoma on July 13th, and while he’s not at risk of missing the playoffs, it may be time to wonder how realistic it is for him to make a deep run unless the team turns things around.

Last Week: 10th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 14th

 

9) Brad Keselowski

After an absolutely disastrous start to the season, Brad Keselowski still needs a win at some point in the next three races to qualify for the playoffs.

But at this point, we wouldn’t bet against him pulling it off. Keselowski was on our recent list of drivers most likely to win their way into the playoffs, and all he’s done since is show exactly why.

He finished fifth a week ago in the Brickyard 400 and followed it up with two stage wins at Iowa and a third-place finish. Had the cautions fallen differently, we could very well be sitting here talking about him as the winner of Sunday’s race.

Last Week: UR NASCAR Playoff Standings: 21st

8) Bubba Wallace

While Tyler Reddick continues to struggle, 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace stayed hot with a sixth-place finish Sunday at Iowa.

Sure, Wallace didn’t run inside the top 10 for most of the race. But he put himself in a position to capitalize late and then did just that, bringing home a third straight top-10 finish.

Wallace won’t be favored to make a deep run in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, but if he keeps running the way he has of late, he’s plenty dangerous.

Last Week: 8th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 9th

7) Chase Briscoe

Chase Briscoe’s remarkably strong summer continued on Sunday with a runner-up finish at Iowa.

Briscoe qualified on the pole and, despite some early struggles, managed to fight back for a fifth-place finish in the first stage before finishing second in the race.

If he could just find his way to a second win this year, Briscoe could vault up our power rankings. Until then, he finds himself in a very solid spot and looks like a threat to make a lengthy playoff run.

Last Week: 7th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 8th

6) Chase Elliott

When Chase Elliott took the lead of the regular season point standings in Dover, it looked as if he might just run away and hide.

Elliott had a remarkably strong run in the middle of the Summer. But the magic seems to have fizzled. He put in a mediocre performance a week ago in the Brickyard 400 and backed it up with a similar showing on Sunday in Iowa.

Elliott finished in 14th place after spending most of the just outside of the top 10. He also relinquished the points lead to race winner William Byron. He’ll be hoping to recapture some of his early summer magic next week at Watkins Glen, a track he’s had success at in the past.

Last Week: 5th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 11th

5) Ryan Blaney

It looked for a while as if last year’s winner at Iowa could go back-to-back on Sunday. He qualified in sixth and finished in fourth and second in the first two stages.

Blaney then cycled to the lead at one point, but several ill-timed cautions buried him in the mid-pack.

Ultimately, Blaney fought all the way back to fourth to complete an extremely strong day at the office, and jumped over Elliott in our power rankings in the process.

Last Week: 6th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 6th

4) Christopher Bell

Things just aren’t clicking these days for Christopher Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team, and that continued this weekend in Iowa.

He both started and finished in 17th at a track where he’d had previous success on the Xfinity Series level. Not only did Bell struggle for speed, but he was also caught up again in a pair of incidents, which is becoming a theme for the remarkably talented young driver.

Bell could easily get back on track in a hurry with a win. But for the time being, he seems stuck in the mud.

Last Week: 3rd NASCAR Playoff Standings: 4th

3) William Byron

Sometimes all you need is a little luck, huh? Byron had incredible speed early in the season but failed to convert it into victories, winning just one time.

Then, in the summer months, some of that speed disappeared and misfortune reared its head, sending Byron down from his perch atop the regular season standings and down our power rankings.

Despite leading a race-high 141 laps on Sunday, Byron didn’t seem to have the best car. He did, however, have luck on his side with well-timed cautions and stretched his fuel to earn his second win of the season.

Last Week: 4th NASCAR Playoff Standings: 3rd

2) Kyle Larson

It’s rare to hear Kyle Larson lose his cool, but that’s exactly what happened in Sunday’s race at Iowa en route to a disappointing 28th-place finish.

Larson qualified fifth and ran the entire first stage inside the top 10, finishing sixth. But he ultimately got shuffled back in the pack on strategy and got pushed around by other drivers, leading to a meltdown over the radio to crew chief Cliff Daniels.

Ultimately, Larson never recovered and left Iowa with a disappointing finish and a frustrated mindset. We debated dropping him to third behind Byron in this week’s rankings, but six more playoff points and an extra win are enough to keep him at No. 2 for now.

Last Week: 2nd NASCAR Playoff Standings: 2nd

1) Denny Hamlin

Much like Larson, Hamlin maintains his spot in the power rankings based on his body of work to this point.

But like Larson, he had an uncharacteristically disappointing day in Iowa. Hamlin qualified in 11th, but he immediately went backward from there and never really spent significant time inside the top 10.

Like Larson, he then got caught up in someone else’s incident before bringing home a 24th-place finish.

While it’s likely a one-off poor performance for Hamlin, it is a bit concerning given Iowa’s similarities to Phoenix Raceway, which will host the championship race in November.

Last Week: 1st NASCAR Playoff Standings: 1st