Kyle Larson moves to the top spot in the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings after another top-five finish at Kansas Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr., the regular-season champion, drops again after another weekend of unexpected struggles.
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS
1. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 5th) — Led a race-high 99 laps and won stage 1. He lost more than 20 positions after his team made the decision to stay out on older tires after a caution in stage 2. Larson worked his way back through the field and still finished fourth.
2. William Byron (1) — His eventful weekend began with a broken suspension part that required a fix before Sunday’s race. It continued with a spin during stage 1 as he checked up to avoid Austin Dillon hitting the wall. Byron avoided damaging the No. 24. He finished 15th and left Kansas 41 points above the cutline.
3. Denny Hamlin (3) — For the second week in a row, he had a dominant car but failed to reach Victory Lane. He finished second after focusing too much on Larson on the final restart. Hamlin remains 49 points above the cutline heading to Bristol for the elimination race.
4. Chris Buescher (4) — He was in position for his fourth career top-10 finish at Kansas. A blown tire with seven laps remaining in regulation sent him down pit road. Buescher finished 27th and left Kansas 13 points above the cutline. Now he heads to Bristol where he won last fall.
5. Martin Truex Jr. (2) — He entered the playoffs tied for the top spot in the playoff standings. He lost four points after an 18th-place finish at Darlington. He then fell seven points below the cutline at Kansas after a punctured tire sent him into the wall in the opening laps. Truex will try to avoid elimination at a track where he has four career top-10 finishes in 32 starts.
6. Brad Keselowski (6) — He entered the Kansas race eighth in the playoff standings, 18 points above the cutline. He finished ninth after leading 23 laps and winning stage 2. Keselowski is now 33 points above the cutline heading to Bristol, a track where he has three career wins.
7. Tyler Reddick (NR) — He and the No. 45 team made mistakes and dealt with struggles throughout the regular season. They have largely avoided them during the first two races of the playoffs while other teams have failed to put together clean performances. Reddick finished second at Darlington and then won at Kansas to reach the Round of 12 for the first time.
8. Chase Elliott (9) — Contact with Larson after the final pit stop takes away from another top-10 day for Elliott. He finished sixth and moved the No. 9 to eighth in the owner championship. The entry should move on to the next round if Elliott can continue to perform at Bristol. This is a track where he has six top-10 finishes in 12 starts and one All-Star Race win.
9. Kyle Busch (9) — For the second consecutive week, he hit the wall during practice and started the race from the rear of the field. He missed out on stage points but finished seventh. Battling through adversity is key for a championship run, and Busch is doing just that as he moved to 24 points above the cutline.
10. Bubba Wallace (7) — He had one of the fastest cars in the field Sunday at Kansas. He finished second in stage 1 and continued to race inside the top three before a blown tire sent him into the wall. A broken toe link dropped Wallace several laps behind the leaders. He finished 32nd. His last chance to reach the Round of the 12 is Bristol, the track where he ran inside of the top five last season before a power steering failure dropped him 92 laps behind the leaders.
Dropped out: Christopher Bell (10)
