SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings – March 8, 2023

Pete Pistone will unveil Power Rankings each week of the NASCAR season. Check out this week’s edition of NASCAR Power Rankings below, and listen to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) on the SXM App now.

The NASCAR Cup Series tackled Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the third race of the season. Here’s a look at the “Power Rankings” after Sunday’s “Pennzoil 400:”

1. William Byron

Career Cup win number five came for Byron is dramatic fashion in Las Vegas. While he did dominate the race leading 176 laps, he had to get a good pit stop and even better restart to wrestle the lead away in overtime and drive into Victory Lane for the first time this season.

Point Standings: 13th
Last Week: NR

2. Ross Chastain

Maybe it wasn’t as strong of a performance as in recent outings for Chastain but he still kept his Trackhouse Racing No. 1 Chevrolet in the front half of the field finally ended his trip to Vegas with a 12th-place finish.

Point Standings: 1st
Last Week: 2nd

3. Kyle Busch

He wasn’t able to find the touch that helped Busch score his first win for Richard Childress Racing the week prior. The weekend did start off with a Truck Series win on Friday but ended with Busch taking the checkered flag 14th in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.

Point Standings: 8th
Last Week: 1st

4. Kyle Larson

A very nice rebound for Larson and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team after experiencing mechanical issues the prior race at Auto Club Speedway. Larson led 63 laps and was in position to win until a late race caution set up a restart that ultimately ended up in the second place finish.

Point Standings: 14th
Last Week: NR

5. Joey Logano

Speed on Saturday that equated to winning the pole was just a memory for Logano in Sunday’s race. He faded relatively quickly once the green flag flew and his day ended after a trip into the wall and a damaged racecar that was credited with a 36th place finish.

Point Standings: 9th
Last Week: 3rd

6. Daniel Saurez

He started 24th and finished inside the top-10 yet again as Suarez continued his consistent start to the 2023 season. Trackhouse Racing hasn’t lost a step from its breakout season a year ago at least so far this year.

Point Standings: 4th
Last Week: 6th

7. Alex Bowman

Last year’s Las Vegas spring race winner was again in the mix this time around and Bowman recorded a very impressive third-place finish. It’s been a nice start for the No. 48 team in 2023 as new crew chief Blake Harris puts his touch on the performance.

Point Standings: 2nd
Last Week: 7th

8. Denny Hamlin

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hung around the top-10 for most of the afternoon. A two-tire stop late in the race didn’t pay enough dividends to give Hamlin the track position he needed to compete and he settled for an 11th-place performance.

Point Standings: 6th
Last Week: 9th

9. Brad Keselowski

He qualified inside the top-10 and had a decent car until things began to fade for Keselowski as the race wore on. He came out of Vegas with a top-twenty finish after taking the checkered flag in 17th on Sunday.

Point Standings: 11th
Last Week: 4th

10. Kevin Harvick

The steady start to 2023 continued for Harvick at Las Vegas as he brought home another top-10 finish. While the rest of the Stewart-Haas Racing stable struggles, Harvick has as per usual been the team’s one constant.

Point Standings: 3rd
Last Week: NR

Dropped Out: Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.