Tyler Reddick wasn’t in the top 10 entering the Daytona 500, and he proved he should have never dropped off this list.
The 23XI Racing driver is back in the rankings and Chase Elliott, who won his qualifying race and finished top five in his duel, moved into the top spot.
Here are my power rankings going into the race Sunday at Atlanta (race coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on FOX):
Dropped out: Ryan Preece (Last Week: 8)
On the verge: Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith, Bubba Wallace
10. Chris Buescher (Last Week: 10)
Buescher was in the mix throughout and wound up seventh. Not a bad race but not a great one for the RFK driver.
9. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 7)
For the second consecutive year, Bell was a contender and ended up wrecked before the end of the race, finishing 35th. Now for the second consecutive year, he’ll hope that he can rebound and win at Atlanta.
8. Joey Logano (Last Week: 9)
Logano won his duel and finished third, as he was part of the wreck among the leaders at the end. The Penske driver is second in the standings after one race.
7. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: Not Ranked)
Daytona 500 winner. Enough said.
6. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 5)
Larson hasn’t had much success at the drafting tracks. So the Hendrick driver will take his 16th-place finish from Sunday and put it in the rearview mirror.
5. Chase Briscoe (Last Week: 4)
Briscoe led 23 laps but then got collected in an accident. That wreck didn’t end his day but it did put him 12 laps down. At least the Joe Gibbs Racing team got experience on accident repairs.
4. William Byron (Last Week: 2)
Byron was involved in three wrecks over the weekend and left Daytona with a still respectable 12th-place finish. When you’ve won the previous two Daytona 500s, that can’t be all that upsetting.
3. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 3)
Hamlin left Daytona following two wrecks and a 31st-place finish. But one of his 23XI Racing cars won, so it wasn’t all that bad of a day at Daytona.
2. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 1)
Blaney got collected in the wreck at the start of the final lap and finished 27th. The Team Penske driver should still feel good about Atlanta.
1. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 6)
Elliott won his duel and finished fourth in the Daytona 500. But considering the Hendrick driver was leading coming off Turn 4 before getting passed and then tagged, he left kind of hurt. He won the most recent race at Atlanta.
