NASCAR Power Rankings: Did historic Kansas finish shake things up?

Kyle Larson certainly isn’t going to lose his top spot in the rankings after his performance last week as he won the closest finish in NASCAR history by 0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver needed a late caution after wearing out his tires on the previous run. He got it just in time to be able to get fresh tires and make the winning moves.

And will there be any stopping Larson? The next two races are at tracks — Darlington and North Wilkesboro — where Larson won the most recent trip.

The NASCAR season is one-third complete (12 out of 36 events). Here’s a look at my current power rankings and how their last six races compared to their first six races of the year.

1. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 1)

Larson has earned 262 points — more than any other driver — in the last six races as he has moved from fifth to first in the Cup standings. He didn’t do that with wins as he has two victories this year, but he has won four stages in the last six races.

2. Denny Hamlin (LW: 3)

Hamlin ranks fourth in the last six races with 205 points. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a model of consistency — he earned 206 points over the first six races.

3. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 4)

Truex ranks third with 218 points over the last six races and just like his JGR teammate Hamlin, he is certainly consistent. He was leading the points after the first six races this year with 220 points.

4. Chase Elliott (LW: 5)

Elliott continues to surge as he has 249 points in the last six races compared with 173 over the first six. Elliott has climbed to third in the overall Cup standings as the Hendrick driver has five top-5 finishes in his last six races.

5. William Byron (LW: 2)

Byron has three wins this year and had hoped to not slow down, but he still is somewhat inconsistent. He has 179 points over the last six races (sixth overall). And over the first six races, the Hendrick driver was sixth overall with 183 points.

6. Christopher Bell (LW: 7)              

Bell’s recent struggles have been well-documented as he has dropped from seventh to 13th in the standings. His 113 points in the last six races rank him 19th. So why is he still on this list? The JGR driver has shown speed as he won the pole for the Kansas race and finished sixth.

7. Alex Bowman (LW: 8)

Bowman ranks eighth in points earned over the last six races with 171, six points more than he earned in the first half. He’s having a consistently very good-not-great year.

8. Tyler Reddick (LW: 6)

Reddick continues to drop after his win two weeks ago. He does have the fifth-most points over the last six races with 203, a solid improvement over the 171 of his first six. But a 20th at Kansas was disappointing for the driver who won there in September.

9. Chris Buescher (LW: NR)

Buescher vaults back into the power rankings based on nearly winning Kansas. The RFK Racing driver has 163 points over the last six races (he had 153 during the first six).

10. Noah Gragson (LW: NR)

Gragson makes his first appearance in the rankings this year as he has had three consecutive top-10 finishes. His 157 points over the last six races rank 12th overall in the series, and he has vaulted to 19th in the standings.

On the verge: Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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