{"id":908269,"date":"2026-09-24T20:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908269\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T20:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:26:17","slug":"nascar-cup-series-power-rankings-logano-rises-above-to-win-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908269\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings: Logano Rises Above to Win Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday night’s annual Bristol Night Race delivered the fireworks fans have come to expect from the famous high-banked short track. As they did in the spring, Ty Gibbs<\/a> and Ryan Blaney<\/a> were among the contenders and looked positioned to battle each other for the win before late-race drama changed everything. Aggressive racing opened the door for Joey Logano<\/a>, who slipped through the traffic and took the victory. The win was not undeserved for the Team Penske driver after he led early and won the first stage, but it did come against the run of play as Gibbs and Blaney appeared to be turning the final laps into a two-horse race. The drama started with Carson Hocevar<\/a>, who battled Blaney hard for second before contact sent Blaney into the outside wall and out of the race. From there, Gibbs and Hocevar went door-to-door, which ultimately cost both drivers a shot at the win as Logano took advantage of the bumping and banging to claim his third victory of the season. Somewhat lost in the late-race drama was another strong run for Kyle Larson<\/a>, who took over the championship lead with a runner-up finish that moved him one point ahead of Denny Hamlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The series now turns its attention to 1.5-mile ovals, with Kansas Speedway on deck for the next race. Toyota has been the manufacturer to beat at those tracks for much of the season, and Tyler Reddick<\/a> won at Kansas earlier this year. With Ford and<\/p>\n

Saturday night’s annual Bristol Night Race delivered the fireworks fans have come to expect from the famous high-banked short track. As they did in the spring, Ty Gibbs<\/a> and Ryan Blaney<\/a> were among the contenders and looked positioned to battle each other for the win before late-race drama changed everything. Aggressive racing opened the door for Joey Logano<\/a>, who slipped through the traffic and took the victory. The win was not undeserved for the Team Penske driver after he led early and won the first stage, but it did come against the run of play as Gibbs and Blaney appeared to be turning the final laps into a two-horse race. The drama started with Carson Hocevar<\/a>, who battled Blaney hard for second before contact sent Blaney into the outside wall and out of the race. From there, Gibbs and Hocevar went door-to-door, which ultimately cost both drivers a shot at the win as Logano took advantage of the bumping and banging to claim his third victory of the season. Somewhat lost in the late-race drama was another strong run for Kyle Larson<\/a>, who took over the championship lead with a runner-up finish that moved him one point ahead of Denny Hamlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The series now turns its attention to 1.5-mile ovals, with Kansas Speedway on deck for the next race. Toyota has been the manufacturer to beat at those tracks for much of the season, and Tyler Reddick<\/a> won at Kansas earlier this year. With Ford and Chevrolet showing recent signs of resurgence, the coming race at Kansas could go a long way toward identifying which drivers are best positioned to hoist the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy with just seven races remaining.<\/p>\n

To keep up with all your favorite drivers and get updates throughout the season, head to RotoWire’s latest NASCAR news<\/a> or follow @RotoWireNASCAR<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Power Rankings After Bristol<\/p>\n

1. Kyle Larson<\/a>, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5<\/p>\n

Last Week: 3<\/p>\n

Kyle Larson<\/a> made it three Chase races in a row with top-five finishes with a strong showing Saturday night. The Hendrick Motorsports driver continued rocketing up the standings to wrest the top spot from Denny Hamlin<\/a> by following up his win two weeks ago at Gateway with 45 laps led and a runner-up finish in a hectic night at Bristol Motor Speedway. The finish was Larson’s fourth top-five in the last five races, and it shows that the No. 5 team is unlocking their greatest potential at the perfect moment. A true test will come next week at Kansas, though. The 1.5-mile ovals have been Toyota’s domain this season and Chevrolet has been on the backfoot. However, Larson is \u00a0a three-time Kansas winner and he also finished second to a Toyota there in the spring.<\/p>\n

2. Christopher Bell<\/a>, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20<\/p>\n

Last Week: 1<\/p>\n

Bell continued to make quiet progress with a fourth-place finish at Bristol. He started the night 12th and scored points in the second stage before coming to life later in the race. Once his car was more to his liking, Bell was a top-five contender, and he kept himself out of trouble to make sure he brought the result home. While it didn’t come with the points bonus of a race win, it was still Bell’s third top-five from the last five races and his second in The Chase. The No. 20 team continues to sit on the periphery of a streak of top finishes, and there is still plenty of time for the squad to unlock that potential. Bell is positioned fourth in the standings and only 17 points out of the championship lead. Just some small adjustments could move him to the top of the order in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n

3. Denny Hamlin<\/a>, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11<\/p>\n

Last Week: 2<\/p>\n

There is no question that Hamlin has cooled off. He isn’t in a slump, but he also isn’t delivering the race-dominating performances we saw from him earlier this season. He hasn’t visited Victory Lane since Pocono, and top-10 finishes have been more of the norm. That was the result he delivered again at Bristol. His advantage in The Chase standings is gone, and for the first time in recent memory, he is not sitting atop the standings. The No. 11 team is in need of just a small spark to get back to series-leading form to grab the championship that has eluded Hamlin his entire career. Next week’s race at Kansas could help provide that spark. Hamlin is a four-time winner at the track and he led 131 laps in a fourth-place finish there earlier this year.<\/p>\n

4. Joey Logano<\/a>, Team Penske No. 22<\/p>\n

Last Week: 6<\/p>\n

Logano extended his run of good form Saturday night at Bristol. The Team Penske driver started on the front row after qualifying was cancelled, and he used that advantage to lead early, winning the first stage. As the race aged, he held station among the top runners, which gave him the track position he needed to capitalize on late-race chaos. As the leaders ahead banged fenders, Logano snuck through to grab the lead and inherit a valuable victory. It was Logano’s third trip to Victory Lane this season and it vaulted him up four places to third in the championship standings. Peaking at the right time is essential to capture NASCAR championships in The Chase era, and the No. 22 team has figured out how to do that regularly, which make them legitimate threats in the final races this season.<\/p>\n

5. Ty Gibbs<\/a>, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54<\/p>\n

Last Week: 5<\/p>\n

Gibbs nearly completed the season sweep at Bristol. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started 13th but quickly showed he had a car capable of winning. He scored stage points in the first segment and finished second in the next, setting up a late battle with Ryan Blaney<\/a> for the victory. In the final laps, Gibbs appeared positioned to be driving away with the win, but multiple restarts and rough racing among the leaders disrupted the No. 54 team’s momentum. Gibbs slipped backward and finished fifth. Despite losing a strong chance at the win, he still gained a spot in the standings and continues to make himself a fixture among the title contenders. Gibbs grabbed just his second Kansas top-10 finish in the series earlier this season, driving from third at the start to ninth at the finish.<\/p>\n

6. Ryan Blaney<\/a>, Team Penske No. 12<\/p>\n

Last Week: 4<\/p>\n

Cancellation of qualifying for Bristol put Blaney and the No. 12 team on the back foot from the start of the weekend. The team was forced to use the race’s competition caution to take a gamble on tire strategy in favor of track position. That proved to be the right move, as Blaney went on to score stage points in the first segment and win the second stage. In the closing laps, while battling for second, Blaney and Carson Hocevar<\/a> made contact, which ended with Blaney backing into the wall and out of the race. His 33rd-place finish was his second poor result of the Chase so far and his third in the last four races. After being one of the most consistent cars all season, Blaney’s trend has gone the wrong direction at the worst possible time. The No. 12 team needs to stop the bleeding before it can begin moving back up the championship standings.<\/p>\n

7. Bubba Wallace<\/a>, 23XI Racing No. 23<\/p>\n

Last Week: 9<\/p>\n

Though not every week has been good for Wallace, he has become very predictable. Since June, he has been alternating good finishes with worse finishes. That trend continued again in Bristol where he replied to his 14th-place finish at Gateway with a seventh-place run Saturday night. That alternating streak now spans 15 straight races, and has become one of the most predictable outcomes in NASCAR. Unfortunately, if that trend continues next week at Kansas, Wallace is in for a poorer result. However, continuing to land top-10 finishes is keeping him in the conversation to finish the season for the second year in a row in the top 10 in points. It would be the first time in his career he achieved it if he can do it, and it is a step closer to the consistency Wallace needs to begin seriously challenging for a championship.<\/p>\n

8. Tyler Reddick<\/a>, 23XI Racing No. 45<\/p>\n

Last Week: 7<\/p>\n

Reddick’s suspect history at Bristol persisted Saturday night. The 23XI Racing driver got off on a bad foot when qualifying was cancelled. Without the chance to start the race with positive track position, Reddick was always going to be in an underdog situation. Fighting traffic and not having the car to slice through it, Reddick spent much of the race in obscurity and never made himself a factor in the contest, finishing 18th and outside of the top 15 for the second week in a row. He slipped two positions in the standings as a result. The last time Reddick was at Kansas, he won, though. However, the Reddick fans are watching right now is not the same that last time in April when Reddick was at the top of his game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

9. Chase Briscoe<\/a>, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19<\/p>\n

Last Week: 8<\/p>\n

Saturday night was a race of problems for Briscoe. Luck was not on his side and numerous incidents curtailed his chances of finishing further up the order. Ultimately, Briscoe retired his Toyota with suspension trouble earning him his second finish outside of the top 25 in The Chase and third from the last five races. Briscoe slips down to ninth in the standings and has a lot of ground to make up once he and the team turn things around. That turnaround has to happen next week in Kansas if Briscoe hopes to keep in touch with the leaders for the title. Following Bristol, he sits 87 points behind the championship lead whereas not too long ago he looked like he could be a championship contender with just a few small improvements.<\/p>\n

10. Carson Hocevar<\/a>, Spire Motorsports No. 77<\/p>\n

Last Week: N\/A<\/p>\n

Carson Hocevar<\/a> worked his way back inside these rankings with his third finish of 11th or better in The Chase. As usual, he was at the center of a lot of the action Saturday night. While he walked away with a third-place finish, he added to his long list of enemies in the garage. While racing for second place with less than 50 laps remaining, Hocevar connected with Ryan Blaney<\/a>, sending the Team Penske driver out of the race. After that, Hocevar aggressively raced with Gibbs for the lead, ultimately resulting in both drivers losing a chance to win and opening the gate for Joey Logano<\/a> to slip through for the glory. Hocevar is on shaky ground with a growing list of drivers seeking revenge, but his aggressive style also continues to earn him a fervent fanbase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Knocking on the Door<\/p>\n

Chase Elliott<\/a>, Hendrick Motorsports No. 9<\/p>\n

Last Week: 10<\/p>\n

Elliott’s Chase effort has started like a nightmare. Despite winning two races on his way to the championship hunt, Elliott has done nothing but move backward since The Chase began. Saturday night was more trouble for the No. 9 with a 23rd-place finish, Elliott’s second in a row outside of the top 20. While teammate Kyle Larson<\/a> appears to be figuring things out, Elliott is headed the opposite direction. The coming week could be a good measure of what the No. 9 still can bring to the table, though. Elliott has won at Kansas twice in his career, including last year’s fall race. He will be the defending race winner next week and finished eighth at the oval in the spring. A top-10 finish in the coming week is almost a necessity for Elliott to resurrect his championship chances.<\/p>\n

Austin Cindric<\/a>, Team Penske No. 2<\/p>\n

Last Week: N\/A<\/p>\n

While his results haven’t been flashy, Cindric is making ground with consistent finishes. When fans digest his results, they’ll see that Cindric has only failed to finish inside the top 15 twice in the last 15 races, including his 11th-place finish Saturday at Bristol. Since The Chase began at Darlington, Cindric’s average finish is 11.3. That consistency has pushed him to 11th in the standings, and Cindric’s quiet execution is paying off. While it hasn’t been attention-getting, the team’s approach has been methodical and productive, which puts them in prime position to take advantage of opportunities that come their way. If he can come away from next week’s race at Kansas with another top-15 finish like he did in the spring, Cindric will continue building the foundation for even better results in the future.<\/p>\n

William Byron<\/a>, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24<\/p>\n

Last Week: N\/A<\/p>\n

Obscured by the action at Bristol, Byron earned some important positive momentum with a top-10 finish. The No. 24 team entered The Chase will a streak of three straight finishes outside of the top 20, but Saturday’s ninth-place finish put that trend to bed. Byron now heads to next week’s race with two top-10s from the last two races. The No. 24 has been quite good at Kansas throughout his career, too. From 17 starts, Byron finished in the top 10 there 10 times including three of the last four visits. Being 121 points behind the championship lead, Byron is still a longshot to claim his first series title, but his current trend could help him climb the order, making his presence felt amongst the competition before the season draws to a close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday night’s annual Bristol Night Race delivered the fireworks fans have come to expect from the famous high-banked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,193229,634,82],"class_list":["post-908269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-minor-league-stats","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}