Kyle Larson keeps the top spot in the NASCAR Power Rankings after closing out the Round of 16 with a second-place finish at Bristol.
Denny Hamlin moves up after scoring his 51st career Cup Series win while Martin Truex Jr. falls for the second consecutive week. The series heads to Texas this weekend for the start of the Round of 12.
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS
1. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 1st) — Started last after an issue in qualifying but led 20 laps and scored points in the first two stages. Larson, who struggled with consistency during the regular season, never finished worse than fourth in the opening round of the playoffs. Now he starts the Round of 12 at Texas where he has two top-10 finishes and one win in his last two starts.
2. Denny Hamlin (3) — He led 142 laps at Bristol, lapped the majority of the drivers in the field and scored his 51st career win. Hamlin, who has embraced the heel role, is the third seed entering the Round of 12. He is 21 points above the cutline heading to a track where he has three career wins. He finished 10th at Texas last season after getting spun by William Byron under caution.
3. William Byron (2) — He finished ninth at Bristol and closed out an opening round of the playoffs in which he avoided issues and flew under the radio. Byron’s worst finish was 15th at Kansas. His best was fourth at Darlington. He is the tied for the top seed once again entering the Round of 12.
4. Chris Buescher (4) — He finished fourth at Bristol and advanced to the Round of 12 by 35 points. This is the first time he has reached the second round of the playoffs. His career-best finish at Texas is 15th in 2018, but he has put himself into contention at a variety of tracks during a career season.
5. Brad Keselowski (6) — He finished eighth at Bristol and advanced to the Round of 12 by 51 points. Keselowski has four straight top-10 finishes at Texas. He also has six career wins at Talladega. He will have to make up ground early as he sits three points below the cutline.
6. Tyler Reddick (7) — He finished 15th at Bristol after a quiet night of racing. He moved to the Round of 12 by virtue of his Kansas win and moved to eighth in the standings. Reddick is the defending winner at Texas.
7. Chase Elliott (8) — He finished seventh at Bristol, his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. He moved the No. 9 to the Round of 12 of the owner championship. Now Elliott takes on a round featuring tracks – Talladega and the Roval – where he has four combined wins.
8. Bubba Wallace (10) — A a blown tire and crash at Kansas dropped him 19 points below the cutline heading to the Round of 16 elimination race. He moved on to the Round of 12 by scoring eight points in stage 1 and avoiding incidents in the remaining laps at Bristol.
9. Kyle Busch (9) — His 20th-place finish at Bristol closed an opening round in which he hit the wall in two different practice sessions, started from the rear twice and finished top 20 in all three races. Busch made mistakes but limited the effect they had on his playoff run. Now he is eight points above the cutline entering the Round of 12.
10. Martin Truex Jr. (2) — The regular-season champion used all of his available points to make it through an adversity-filled opening round. His finishes were 18th, 36th and 19th due to myriad issues. Now that the points reset, Truex is tied for the top spot in the standings once again. He just has to make it through three more tracks where he has no wins in 75 combined starts.
