NASCAR Power Rankings: Kyle Larson launches back to the top

The results from the Next Gen car’s debut at Auto Club Speedway have shaken up the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.

Some names from the season-opening Daytona 500 stuck around, but many new challengers vaulted into this week’s list, including race winner Kyle Larson.

Plenty of drivers turned in eye-catching performances, but there’s only room for 10 on this list. Here’s our selection.

1. Kyle Larson (Last week: Unranked) — The defending Cup Series champion returns to his throne after winning for the fifth time in the last seven points races. The No. 5 team wasn’t the most dominant, but Larson outdrove his competition through multiple late restarts to grab his second win at Auto Club and 17th career victory.

2. Tyler Reddick (Last week: Unranked) — Sunday was a day of what-could-have-beens for Reddick, the third-year driver for Richard Childress Racing in search of his first Cup win. Reddick dominated the race by leading a race-high (and career-high) 90 laps and was surely the driver to beat. That was until a flat left rear tire and subsequent contact from William Byron at Lap 152 derailed his day, relegating him to a 24th-place finish. Hard to believe that’s the last we’ve seen of Reddick near the front of the field in 2022.

3. Austin Cindric (Last week: No. 1) — Finally, a name that was on last week’s Daytona 500 Power Rankings. Cindric remains the series points leader after two races and the first rookie atop those standings since Jimmie Johnson in 2002. The Team Penske driver impressed the field with a pole run Saturday and brought home a 12th-place finish Sunday.

4. Ryan Blaney (Last week: No. 4) — If it felt like Blaney was charging through the field back into the top 10 on every restart, that’s because he was.