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Kyle Larson’s disastrous Phoenix finish shakes up the NASCAR Cup power rankings ahead of Talladega and with 3 races remaining.
NASCAR Chase leader Kyle Larson’s disastrous day at Phoenix Raceway threw the championship race into chaos, shrinking his 49-point lead to five after a blown tire left him 34th. But Larson still holds the top spot in the Fox Sports NASCAR Cup power rankings, according to motorsports insider Bob Pockrass.
Larson started 22nd, never found speed and collected three points. Six drivers now sit within 56 of him with three races left. The reigning champion carries that thin margin into Talladega, with a crowded field behind him and no way to know who cracks first.
Fox’s weekly power rankings still put Larson at No. 1, with a far smaller margin than a week ago. Pockrass expects him to be the favorite at Homestead, though he must get there, preferably still leading the points, to control his own title hopes, according to Pockrass in his latest ranking published Monday.
2026 NASCAR CUP SERIES — THE CHASE STANDINGS
After Phoenix Raceway • Race 33 of 36 • October 18, 2026 • Top 16 in The Chase
Pos
No.
Driver
Mfr
Points
Behind
Wins
Top 5s
Top 10s
DNFs
Laps Led
1
5
Kyle Larson
Chev
2370
—
2
14
19
4
1,215
2 ▲1
20
Christopher Bell
Toyota
2365
-5
1
15
18
4
792
3 ▲1
19
Chase Briscoe
Toyota
2346
-24
3
13
18
6
662
4 ▼2
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
2339
-31
4
16
21
0
993
5
12
Ryan Blaney
Ford
2330
-40
3
11
22
5
1,100
6
22
Joey Logano
Ford
2326
-44
3
7
15
3
809
7
45
Tyler Reddick
Toyota
2314
-56
6
14
20
2
542
8
2
Austin Cindric
Ford
2240
-130
0
4
9
3
85
9
54
Ty Gibbs
Toyota
2238
-132
2
12
19
5
402
10 ▲2
9
Chase Elliott
Chev
2221
-149
2
7
12
3
318
11 ▼1
77
Carson Hocevar
Chev
2212
-158
1
6
11
2
198
12 ▼1
23
Bubba Wallace
Toyota
2208
-162
0
4
15
4
316
13 ▲1
7
Daniel Suárez
Chev
2182
-188
1
3
8
2
42
14 ▼1
24
William Byron
Chev
2180
-190
0
5
15
5
178
15
17
Chris Buescher
Ford
2166
-204
0
2
11
2
81
16
60
Ryan Preece
Ford
2159
-211
1
1
10
3
55
Top 16 drivers competing in The Chase • 10-race championship battle • 3 races remaining • ▲/▼ = position change from previous race. Chev = Chevrolet. Source: NASCAR.com, after Phoenix Raceway Race 33.
Kyle Larson’s Phoenix Collapse Reshapes the Chase
Larson qualified poorly, according to the Associated Press qualifying report, and the race never improved. Pockrass wrote that Larson ran somewhere between 20th and 25th for much of the afternoon before his tire failed.
“I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad either,” Larson said, as quoted by NBC Sports.
Phoenix had been friendly territory for the defending NASCAR champion. Seven days earlier, Pockrass noted Larson had six finishes of third or fourth in his last seven starts there, according to the Fox Sports Oct. 12 rankings. That ranking had Denny Hamlin second, 49 points back, with Chase Briscoe third and Christopher Bell fourth.
Now Bell is the closest anyone has been to Larson in weeks, according to Kelly Crandall of RACER.
Contender Rankings Versus the Points Standings
GettyTyler Reddick, driver of the #45 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway on October 18, 2026 in Avondale, Arizona.
Pockrass’s top seven track the standings closely. Larson, Bell and Briscoe hold identical spots in both, and the lone swap comes in the middle. Pockrass has Ryan Blaney fourth and Hamlin fifth, while the points put Hamlin 31 back and Blaney 40 back. The order comes after Race 33 of 36, according to NASCAR’s official Cup Series standings.
Denny Hamlin held his place in Pockrass’s rankings even after a flat tire and a speeding penalty left him 28th, because he still gained 18 points on Larson. Briscoe, meanwhile, trailed by 123 points after Kansas Speedway and has cut that to 24 by winning two of the last three races.
Tyler Reddick ended a 23-race winless streak at Phoenix and now sits seventh, 56 back. Blaney finished second at a track where he had won the last two Cup races, and now trails by 40. Joey Logano swept both stages, finished sixth and trails by 44.
“I felt like we were a long shot before this, but still could do it,” Logano said. “I don’t feel like so much of a long shot anymore,” as quoted by RACER’s Kelly Crandall.
“Teams crack during this time of year. We’ve seen it over and over again,” Logano said, as quoted by RACER.
Christopher Bell led the most laps at Phoenix before finishing fourth.
“It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure. We’re right there in it,” Bell said, as quoted by NBC Sports.
Larson looks ahead to Talladega.
“We’ve done well at the superspeedways, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt,” he said, as quoted by NBC Sports. Briscoe, the defending winner there, finished 29th in the spring race, according to Pockrass.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin