Ross Chastain has now completely validated his rise from humble farmer to NASCAR star.
After finishing third at Las Vegas and second the following two weeks, Chastain dominated at Circuit of the Americas and sealed the deal in a dramatic finish to earn his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory. And with that win, it now feels as thought the floodgates are open for great things to come. Long regarded as a talented driver who made the most out of lesser equipment, Chastain has now finished no worse than third in the last four races as both he and Trackhouse Racing ascend together to being stock car racing power players.
The top of this week's power rankings, with Chastain first and Chase Elliott second, remain stable. The movement is behind them, with Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick all moving up spots into the Top 5 and Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr. moving into the Top 10.
Some of the notable drivers losing spots include Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, the Busch brothers, and Kyle Larson -- who's beginning to have an alarmingly poor start to 2022 despite his Fontana win.
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ross Chastain | -- | It's been a long 11 years, but those who saw his talent saw Ross Chastain becoming a star. In his NASCAR debut, an 18-year old Chastain finished 10th in his first-ever Truck Series race at IRP. | |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | -- | Despite his success on road courses, Chase Elliott did not lead a single lap on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas. But he did come home fourth, earning his first top 5 of the year and extending his points lead. | |
| 3 | Chase Briscoe | Before contact sent Briscoe off course and to a disappointing 30th, it looked as though his car was every bit as good as Chastain's was. Briscoe managed to wrestle the lead from Chastain and led two laps before things went haywire on a late restart. | ||
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | With a sixth-place finish at COTA, Ryan Blaney has now moved into second in the Cup Series standings. It helps that in all three of Blaney's top 10 finishes this season, he's come home no worse than sixth. | ||
| 5 | Tyler Reddick | With Ross Chastain breaking through to Victory Lane, all eyes are now on Tyler Reddick to become the next first-time winner in Cup. It almost happened at COTA, as Reddick led at the start of overtime before fading to fifth at the finish. | ||
| 6 | Alex Bowman | For a second, it looked as though Chastain and A.J. Allmendinger were going to be so preoccupied with each other that Bowman was going to scoot past and steal another win. Allmendinger getting sent into Bowman prevented him from backing into another win. | ||
| 7 | Aric Almriola | Aric Almirola was one of a number of drivers who ended up getting sent and spun in the late laps at COTA. It could have been worse, but Almirola's 19th-place finish marks his second straight outside the top 20. | ||
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | Daniel Suarez can skip arm day this week. He led the opening 15 laps at COTA and had a car capable of winning, but a spin and a power steering failure meant he had to wrestle it home in 24th. | ||
| 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex might have something to say about the streak of 20-somethings winning in NASCAR. Truex finished seventh at COTA, and now heads to Richmond where he's won three out of the last five races. | ||
| 10 | Joey Logano | Joey Logano led two laps at COTA, but a late-race pileup in Turn 1 meant a broken right rear toe link. That meant Logano limped home in 31st, his worst finish of the year. | ||
| 11 | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch's day at COTA was all over the place, as he went from spinning out to running in the Top 5 and back again. He wound up 28th at the end, a second-straight poor finish. | ||
| 12 | William Byron | After winning at Atlanta, William Byron wound up 12th at Circuit of the Americas. Fittingly, that's where he ends up in this week's Power Rankings. | ||
| 13 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick keeps lurking in the shadows of NASCAR's youth movement. When he hasn't been involved in an accident, Harvick has finished no worse than 12th this season. | ||
| 14 | Kurt Busch | Kurt Busch was completely AWOL Sunday at COTA, and that was before he got caught up in a late-race accident. A 32nd place finish was by far Busch's worst of the season. | ||
| 15 | Erik Jones | It's hard to have any qualms with the comeback Erik Jones had at COTA. Despite stalling on track at one point, Jones ended up in ninth at the finish, his second top 10 of the year. | ||
| 16 | Christopher Bell | Despite losing a lap due to a steering issue, Christopher Bell fought back in strong fashion and finished a season-best third at COTA. Had he not been stripped of second at Atlanta, it would be Bell's second straight finish in the top three. | ||
| 17 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric's road racing proficiency was on full display at COTA, as he led 11 laps on his way to eighth at the finish. A nice bounceback for Cindric after a three-race swoon following Fontana. | ||
| 18 | Austin Dillon | When he hasn't had some sort of issue, Austin Dillon has had a very nice start to 2022. Dillon finished 10th at COTA, his second top 10 of the year and third top 11 in races where he hasn't suffered engine trouble or crashes. | ||
| 19 | Justin Haley | Justin Haley is really starting to come on in his first full-time season for Kaulig Racing. Haley scored his second-straight Top 15 at COTA, and he's finished no worse than 17th since Las Vegas. | ||
| 20 | Ty Dillon | Excluding a crash at Atlanta, Ty Dillon's 2022 has been about as consistent as it gets. He finished 20th at COTA, his fifth top 20 in six races so far. | ||
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | After a transmission issue spoiled his chances of a top 5 in the Xfinity race, a wheel failure and suspension troubles sent Bubba Wallace from a top 20 run to the garage and a DNF. Wallace will hope to leave the mechanical gremlins far behind in Austin. | ||
| 22 | Kyle Larson | Imagine what we would be saying had Kyle Larson not won Fontana and finished second at Vegas? Larson was in yet another accident at COTA, finishing 29th and continuing as bad a stretch as Larson has seen since the start of 2021. | ||
| 23 | Chris Buescher | Chris Buescher was surely hoping for a lot more from COTA. The native Texan had an unspectacular day, finishing 21st and posting his worst finish since Fontana. | ||
| 24 | Todd Gilliland | This isn't rookie sensation material, but Todd Gilliland had three top 20s in six Cup starts and finished a career-best 16th at COTA. A nice start for the Truck Series graduate. | ||
| 25 | Brad Keselowski | A major points penalty nonwithstanding, two straight top 15 finishes seem to indicate that Brad Keselowski is starting to put things together at RFK Racing. Keselowski's 14th place run at COTA is the sort of thing a rebuilding race team needs. | ||
| 26 | Denny Hamlin | A late-race spin stymied what Denny Hamlin could have taken from COTA, but a stage win netted him some valuable points. With the start Hamlin has had to 2022, he'll gladly take those. | ||
| 27 | Cole Custer | Late in the race, Cole Custer looked to be in great position with the freshest tires of any driver in the top 10. A spin on a restart led to all that going awry, and Custer came home a disappointing 23rd. | ||
| 28 | A.J. Allmendinger | If he could have gotten away from Ross Chastain before Chastain repaid the favor, we'd be talking about A.J. Allmendinger's second Cup win in the past year. Not bad at all for a part-timer. | ||
| 29 | Corey LaJoie | Racing is a sport of highs and lows, as evidenced by Corey LaJoie. One week, he scores the first top 5 of his career. The next, he blows an engine at COTA and finishes 36th. | ||
| 30 | Harrison Burton | Harrison Burton was able to put together as good a day as he's had in his young Cup career, scoring 16 points in Stages 1 and 2 before finishing a solid 17th at COTA. |
