NASCAR Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney all smiles after All-Star win

Sunday night’s All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway brought a little chaos to the table.

The top three drivers in the NBC Sports Power Rankings were eliminated in the same crash, and this year’s winner Ryan Blaney took home a $1 million check he had to win twice.

1. Chase Elliott (Last week: No. 1) Elliott may not have been a frontrunner at the start of Sunday’s exhibition race, running sixth at the time of his crash, but the No. 9 Chevrolet remains among the most consistent in the series. Elliott is averaging a 10.4 running position this season, second only to Blaney’s 10.3, and leads the points standings by 52 points over the No. 12 Ford. Coupled with a Dover victory, Elliott enters the second half of the regular season with plenty to smile about despite his All-Star DNF.

2. Kyle Busch (Last week: No. 2) The 2022 edition of the All-Star Race looked like Busch’s to lose as the No. 18 Toyota led each of the opening 47 laps at Texas. That was until his right rear tire flattened at the exit of Turn 4, slowing in front of the field and becoming a ramp for Ross Chastain‘s No. 1 Chevrolet. While the result is disappointing — and the crash frightening — this blip on the radar shouldn’t be expected to hamper Busch. The two-time Cup champion has finished inside the top 10 in six of the last seven points races, the lone exception was when he was collected in Brad Keselowski‘s crash at Darlington.

3. Ross Chastain (Last week: No. 3) While Kyle Busch dominated the night, Chastain ran well inside the top five in Texas. Before he took flight over Busch’s car, Chastain was running third, showing the speed we’ve come to expect from his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Chastain, whose two wins this year are tied for the series’ most,