SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Power Rankings – April 19, 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 visited the historic short track Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Here are the “power Rankings” after the NOCO 400:

1. Kyle Larson

His second win of the season and first at Martinsville came with a strong finish that ended in a 4.14 seconds victory for Larson on Sunday. He has been in contention every week over the last few races and is starting to round into shape as the schedule heads into the second half of April.

Point Standings: 5th
Last Week: 2nd

2.  Ross Chastain

No controversies and no wall rides for Chastain on a quiet Martinsville afternoon by the Trackhouse Racing driver’s standards. A 13th-place finish including 31 laps at the front of the field summarized Chastain’s day.

Point Standings: 2nd
Last Week: 4th

3. Joey Logano

A nice rebound after starting last because of a water cooler lead found before Sunday’a race. Logano and company had to employ a great deal of strategy to gain spots on the race track and after leading for 25 laps and finishing second, Logano now has eight straight Martinsville top-10 finishes.

Point Standings: 7th
Last Week: 10th

4. Christopher Bell

A head scratcher for Bell and company who were looking for a second straight Martinsville win after the dramatic victory in last year’s Playoffs. But the 20 team was mediocre most all weekend and it added up to just a 16th-place finish on Sunday.

Point Standings: 1st
Last Week: 1st

5. Kevin Harvick

A late race tire challenge ruined the day for Harvick who was inside the top-five most of the afternoon at Martinsville until that trouble hit.He did win the first stage for his first stage victory since 2020.

Point Standings: 3rd
Last Week: 5th

6. William Byron

The defending race winner wasn’t among those that looked capable of taking the checkered flag. Byron developed a vibration late in the race that didn’t help maters by any means and he came home a very disappointing 23rd on Sunday.

Point Standings: 15th
Last Week: 6th

7. Martin Truex Jr.

It wasn’t easy for Truex Jr. by any means but he did knock down a third place performance to score his first top-five finish of 2023. The former Martinsville dominator has been on a steady run the last three outings.

Point Standings: 5th
Last Week: 8th

8. Alex Bowman

The Hendrick Motorsports driver was decidedly a non-factor on Sunday. While Bowman hovered around the front and did score an 11th-place finish, he didn’t generate a lot of attention or conversation at Martinsville.

Point Standings: 11th
Last Week: 7th

9. Tyler Reddick

Big drop for Reddick who was not able tp put himself anywhere near contention for a top finish let alone a second trip to Victory Lane. Martinsville was a handful for the 23XI Racing driver.

Point Standings: 6th
Last Week: 3rd

10. Denny Hamlin

Finally scored a top-five finish this season with his Martinsville run. Hamlin led 36 laps but was very vocal about his dislike of the current rules package’s performance and the difficulty in passing for position.

Point Standings: 9th
Last Week: NR

Dropped Out: Kyle Busch