It's a Tale of Two Chases in Post-Talladega Power Rankings

With a thrilling Talladega win, Chase Briscoe became the second driver to lock their place in the Championship 4 field for the NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway in a couple of weeks. It was a picture-perfect day for Briscoe, but another Chase, Chase Elliott, suffered a rough day with a last-place finish after a Lap 52 melee.

Race Results: YellaWood 500 at Talladega

In the end, a familiar face remained atop the power rankings, but that driver will head to Martinsville Speedway next weekend not knowing what their Playoff hopes will look like after the Xfinity 500. It'll be another nail-biter, you'd expect.

Here are the NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings following Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:

1. Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell is undoubtedly the most consistent of the eight remaining NASCAR Cup Series post-season drivers, with seven consecutive top-eight results through eight playoff races. The No. 20 is doing it quietly, though, and hopefully that doesn’t bite them in the butt. (Previously: 1st)

2. Chase Briscoe

The Championship 4 is guaranteed to have two drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, after Chase Briscoe won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Now, the native of Mitchell, Indiana will have his first shot to chase a NASCAR Cup Series championship. (Previously 4th)

3. Denny Hamlin

Sunday at Talladega literally didn’t matter AT ALL for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, with their guaranteed advancement to the Championship 4 from a victory at Las Vegas. But, it may have unlocked a concern for the team: reliability. (Previously: 3rd)

4. Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick was once again near the front of the field when it mattered, finishing seventh. He’s racked up four straight top-10 finishes, but it’s going largely unnoticed since his playoff elminiation fell during this stretch as well. (Previously: 5th)

5. Kyle Larson

Man, it looked like Kyle Larson finally had superspeedway racing figured out on Sunday. Then, the gas tank ran dry on the backstretch of the final lap. A 26th-place finish wasn't indicative of how strong the driver was. (Previously: 2nd)

6. Joey Logano

Last week, Joey Logano didn’t gain any ground in the Playoff fight despite a strong showing at Las Vegas. Needless to say, a 16th-place finish at Talladega didn’t help that cause at all. Mathematically, there is still a way into the Championship 4 on points for Logano at 38 points back, but he’ll undoubtedly see Martinsville as a must-win scenario. (Previously: 9th)

7. Ryan Preece

He finished 15th on Sunday, but he actually finished higher at Talladega than he did when he initially finished second there in the spring. Confused? He wasn't DQed in post-race inspection this time. Which is good news, and it was another decent day for Preece. (Previously: 10th)

8. Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher had the lead of the race with two laps to go. Then an aggressive push from William Byron, who was being shoved by Carson Hocevar, sent Buescher crashing hard into the inside wall. (Previously: 8th)

9. William Byron

It was the same story as Buescher for Byron. He found himself in a decent position on the final lap of Sunday's race, even after teammate Kyle Larson slowed his line up by running out of gas. Then, a shove gone wrong from Carson Hocevar sent him spinning in the trioval on the final lap. (Previously: 7th)

10. Brad Keselowski

Another top-10 for Brad Keselowski and Jeremy Bullins. While they started off sluggish, this No. 6 RFK Racing team has really churned out excellent results down the stretch this season. (Previously: 13th)

11. Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace tallied his best finish since his Brickyard 400 win on Sunday, taking home fourth place in the YellaWood 500. He was in the mix for the win, but was one of several drivers left scrambling when Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on the final lap. (Previously: 15th)

12. Todd Gilliland

There’s been some building momentum with this No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse team in the second-half of the season, and finally, that momentum has resulted in a good finish; collecting a career-best second-place result at Talladega – one of Todd Gilliland’s best racetracks. (Previously: 18th)

13. Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell qualified on the pole for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 and finished eighth in stage one. He ended up finishing 17th, not reflective of his speed on the weekend but extending his top-20 streak to seven races. (Previously: 12th)

14. Chase Elliott

If ever there was a way to sum up Talladega, Chase Elliott's race did just that. Elliott lamented poor execution during a green flag pit cycle by the Hendrick cars, who all pitted together. That put him back in the pack at the end of Stage 1, where he would be swept up in a multi-car melee. Elliott would finish 40th, and now must win next week at Martinsville. (Previously: 6th)

15. Shane van Gisbergen

Sure, the skillset is different, but Shane Van Gisbergen continues to impress in his oval prowess at the tail-end of the season, finishing one spot shy of the top-10 at Talladega Superspeedway – after spending lots of time around the lead. (Previously: 16th)

16. Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney led as late as lap 170 on Sunday and was working together with Team Penske teammate Joey Logano. However, both drivers fell back as the final laps ticked off, and Blaney crossed the line in the 23rd position. Last year’s Xfinity 500 winner at Martinsville will be looking for another walk-off win into the Championship 4. (Previously: 11th)

17. Ross Chastain

It must have been the camouflage, but Ross Chastain was nowhere to be seen in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega. A 13th-place finish certainly isn’t anything to scoff at when it comes to a superspeedway, though. (Previously: 17th)

18. Alex Bowman

Alex Bowman was simply a non-factor for the majority of the day on Sunday. His car was suffering from all sorts of mechanical issues, which led to a 29th-place run, six laps off the pace. (Previously: 14th)

19. Ty Gibbs

Ty Gibbs didn’t come away from Talladega with his first win, but he did deliver the race-winning push to Chase Briscoe to get him in the Championship 4. Consider that redemption for incidents earlier in the post-season with Denny Hamlin, where the veteran driver suggested he wasn’t a good teammate to his fellow JGR drivers. (Previously: 21st)

20. Daniel Suarez

Much like his teammate Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez didn’t have a lot to say about the outcome of Sunday’s YellaWood 500. In fact, it was a rather uneventful final superspeedway event for Suarez with Trackhouse Racing. (Previously: 24th)

21. Carson Hocevar

Carson Hocevar finished sixth, narrowly missing out on his third top-five finish of the season. However, most of the conversation surrounding him this week will be surrounding his bump-draft-gone-wrong of title hopeful William Byron on the final lap. (Previously: 25th)

22. Kyle Busch

After a third-place qualifying run, I think many expected more out of Kyle Busch than a 19th-place finish, but the losing streak grew to 91 races on Sunday at Talladega. (Previously: 20th)

23. Erik Jones

An out-of-character overly aggressive move on Lap 52 by Erik Jones led to the biggest crash of the day, which ended his race, and the race of others including Playoff contender Chase Elliott. (Previously: 19th)

24. Zane Smith

In the final laps of Sunday’s event, it looked like shades of the 2013 Aaron’s 499 , where David Gilliland (No. 38) and David Ragan (No. 34) held off the remainder of the pack to win. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t the same, but a ninth-place run – and a double top-10 for Front Row Motorsports is certainly a positive outcome. (Previously: 29th)

25. Cole Custer

Cole Custer has been in contention to win three of the four traditional superspeedway events this season (Daytona, Talladega). Another solid result for Haas Factory Team, with a top-five result – their second of the season. (Previously: 34th)

26. AJ Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger took a heavy hit in the first caution of the day, ending his race with a 37th0-place finish. Still, many fans were happy to just see him walk away from his scary incident. (Previously: 22nd)

27. Noah Gragson

It’s been a tough year for Noah Gragson. While running at the front, the Las Vegas, Nevada-native was wrecked because of a bad push in the corner, which triggered a massive incident that took out Chase Elliott. (Previously: 23rd)

28. Austin Cindric

An accident near the end of stage one ended Cindric’s chances of another Talladega win. He went back on track after his team put in some repairs, but he still finished 34th, 116 laps down. (Previously: 26th)

29. Josh Berry

Josh Berry spent time up front, leading 27 laps - only Joey Logano led more with 35. However, a transaxle issue ended his day early, as his miserable playoff continued with a 33rd-place finish. (Previously: 28th)

30. Austin Dillon

Austin Dillon was swept up in the Lap 52 crash, but was one of the rare lucky ones that raced on. However, his car was a shell of its former self, and he finished 27th, two laps down. (Previously: 30th)

31. John Hunter Nemechek

John Hunter Nemechek was a player near the front of the field in stretches throughout Sunday's race at Talladega, and in the end, he captured a top-15 with a 14th-place run. (Previously: 33rd)

32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Talladega was one of HYAK Motorsports’ best shots at securing a good finish, but the No. 47 Jack Links Non-Vegan Chevrolet got a bite taken out of it in a wreck at Lap 51, which included 10 or more cars. (Previously: 27th)

33. Ty Dillon

The 20th-place result on Sunday stops some of the second-half bleeding for Ty Dillon, bouncing back from his incident while pitting at Las Vegas one week ago. It’s not going to move him up much in the power rankings, but with how things have gone since his In-Season Tournament run, it’s a small victory. (Previously: 35th)

34. Riley Herbst

The weekend had it all for Riley Herbst. He qualified second in the first round, ninth in the second round. He went to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments to start the race. He came back from that to lead a lap. He finished 32nd with a mechanical failure. What a way to spend two days in Alabama. (Previously: 32nd)

35. Justin Haley

Justin Haley was one of several victims of the lap 52 incident that wiped out a host of contenders on Sunday. Haley finished 39th in the 40-car field, unable to rejoin the action after the incident. (Previously: 31st)

36. Cody Ware

A blown engine ended the day early for Cody Ware, and it's a shame. The driver of the No. 51 had led some laps prior to the mechanical failure, and he has shown the penchant for late-race charges at superspeedways. (Previously: 36th)