NASCAR Power Rankings: Tyler Reddick takes control of regular season title fight

1 Tyler Reddick — Tyler Reddick dedicating his win to the late Scott Bloomquist was well received in the Dirt Late Model community, where Reddick cut his teeth on his road to NASCAR. Reddick has called Bloomquist, arguably the greatest Dirt Late Model racer of all time, his mentor. 2 Chase Elliott The final lap at Michigan, where Chase Elliott dropped about 10 spots after catching Ryan Blaney in the race for the top five, could have massive consequences two weeks from now and well beyond. The final lap proved to be a nearly 10-point lead for Elliott, who now trails Tyler Reddick by that amount in the battle for the regular season championship. 3 Ryan Blaney Ryan Blaney has a chance to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 again this weekend, something he hasn't done in over a decade. After Tony Stewart won the race four times from 2005 to 2012, 11 different drivers have won Daytona's summer classic since 2013. 4 Kyle Larson — Part of what makes Kyle Larson a great racer – his ability to push his car to the edge of control – can also be his downfall at times. When he lost control in Turn 4 at Michigan, it was an example of what can happen when Larson lets his car get out of control and can't get it back. 5 Christopher Bell Christopher Bell has finished third in the Daytona 500 two years in a row, but so far those two finishes are his only top-10 finishes at Daytona. Bell's best finish in the summer race is a 13th-place finish in 2020. 6 Daniel Suárez Daniel Suarez's recent resurgence after being relatively invisible for much of the season shows just how valuable an early-season win is in NASCAR's playoff format. Having already secured his playoff spot since Atlanta, Suarez enters the playoffs from a position of strength after three consecutive top-10 finishes. 7 Brad Keselowski Brad Keselowski's checkup in Turn 1 on the final restart ultimately played a major role in the decision at Michigan, as he stopped on the outside line behind William Byron and allowed Tyler Reddick to pass him. On post-race X, Kyle Busch — who has never agreed with Keselowski — openly wondered what the No. 6 driver was thinking. 8 Bubba Wallace What could have been a great day in Michigan turned into a disaster for Bubba Wallace's playoff efforts after he was involved in an accident that was not his fault, driven by a top-five race car. That puts Wallace in a difficult position for Daytona, where, despite his strengths as a superspeedway racer, he will again have a lot out of his control. 9 William Byron If William Byron's second-place finish at Michigan is a sign he's coming out of his summer slump, then watch out. It wasn't long ago that we rated Byron as a championship contender after he won three of the first nine races, including the Daytona 500. 10 Denny Hamlin Since Talladega in April, I've wondered if the Toyota teams would try again the strategy they used late in the race. The Toyotas all tried to make short pit stops together to gain enough time on the field so they could tie the race between themselves, but they ended up squeezing together and causing an accident that took out Hamlin and several others. 11 Carson Hocevar For the first time in his young career, Carson Hocevar has two straight top-10 finishes at Richmond and Michigan. He will look to add a third-place finish at Daytona, where he completed just five laps in February before crashing in his first Daytona 500. 12 Ross Chastain A few inches could have made a huge difference in Ross Chastain's season. Instead of returning to Daytona as a Daytona 500 champion, Chastain is now still winless and just trying to clinch a playoff spot after the gap to his potential victory in February closed when he crossed it. 13 Chris Buescher As far as repeat winners of the summer race at Daytona go, there hasn't been one since Tony Stewart's back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006. With Chris Buescher battling for a playoff spot, this is the best time for him to become the next to do so. 14 Joey Logano The fact that he was one corner away from winning at Richmond should be taken into account here, but Joey Logano has now crashed in three races in a row, two of which ended in a DNF. He also had a DNF at the Daytona 500, but that was a race where he had arguably the fastest car in the field after taking the pole and leading a race-high 45 laps. 15 Ty Gibbs After his third-place finish at Michigan, Ty Gibbs is an exciting driver to watch at Daytona. At this race a year ago, Gibbs was battling Ryan Blaney for the lead and was potentially on his way to the playoffs before he was passed by Blaney, sparking The Big One. 16 Kyle Busch Not only was Michigan Busch's third top-five finish of the entire season, but it was a clear sign that Busch's team and RCR as a whole have been reinvigorated after the Olympic break. Maybe, just maybe, it's not too late for Busch to win a race and salvage his season. 17 Zane Smith No team has changed its fortunes and performance more since the start of the second half of the year than Zane Smith's. After a miserable start to the year, Smith's tremendous improvement continued with a seventh-place finish at Michigan. 18 Michael McDowell Here's the driver who can really shake things up this weekend. Not only is Michael McDowell capable of fighting his way into the playoffs, but he should be considered one of the favorites considering the cars he had at the Daytona 500 before the mechanical issues and at Talladega, where he led the final corner first. 19 Austin Dillon Austin Dillon did exactly what he did when he won the summer race at Daytona two years ago, putting himself in the playoffs and knocking Martin Truex out of contention. If he can do it again this year, he can make up for the Richmond loss and win multiple races in a season for the first time in his career. 20 Martin Truex Jr. Depending on what his racing plans look like going forward, this weekend at Daytona will be a now-or-never moment for Martin Truex Jr. Despite everything he has accomplished in his career, Truex has not won a single race at Daytona. 21 Noah Gragson — A good underdog candidate for this weekend is Noah Gragson, who finished third in the last superspeedway race at Talladega and now heads into a race that has seen several first-time winners. Drivers who earned their first career win at the summer race at Daytona include AJ Foyt (1964), Sam McQuagg (1966), Greg Sacks (1985), Jimmy Spencer (1994), John Andretti (1997), Greg Biffle (2003), David Ragan (2011), Aric Almirola (2014), Erik Jones (2018), Justin Haley (2019) and William Byron (2020). 22 Josh Berry — Carson Hocevar's streak of top-10 finishes is starting to hurt Josh Berry. He has fallen to 14 points behind Hocevar in the standings, and it's starting to look like the battle for Rookie of the Year could be a lot tighter than it seemed earlier this summer when Berry was struggling for wins. 23 Todd Gilliland What I said about Michael McDowell can be said just as well about Todd Gilliland. He has led 74 laps at superspeedways this year, including 16 in the Daytona 500. 24 Alex Bowman Perhaps the biggest what-if of the season is what would have happened on the final lap of the Daytona 500 if NASCAR hadn't thrown a caution flag for the Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric crash. Even if they had, a few extra seconds would have made Bowman the Daytona 500 champion. 25 Justin Haley Looking for another underdog for this weekend? Consider Justin Haley, who is already an excellent speedway racer and ran well in the lead group at the Daytona 500. Rick Ware Racing is still looking for its first win as an organization, but two years ago both cars were in the top 10 at this race. 26 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Good news and bad news for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: He has had several good finishes over the summer months, but since New Hampshire in June he has alternated between top 10 or top 15 and dropped out of races. Stenhouse was coming off a 13th-place finish at Michigan, which could bode poorly for Daytona. 27 Austin Cindric Austin Cindric was a central figure in the Daytona 500 in February, as he was a serious contender to win his second 500 until he and Chastain collided at the white flag. Winning the 2022 Daytona 500, Cindric came back in August and nearly won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 before settling for third. 28 Daniel Hemric It will be interesting to see what strategy the Kaulig Racing cars adopt for Daytona. Their biggest interest as an organization would be to see Shane van Gisbergen try to move Daniel Hemric up front, but SVG doesn't have nearly as much experience at superspeedways as his fellow No. 16 drivers like AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon. 29 Chase Briscoe This weekend is likely Chase Briscoe's last chance to make the playoffs, but it could be a good one. Briscoe took the pole and led 67 laps in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 a year ago. 30 Ryan Preece You could call it the Preece Patch: The section of the Daytona infield where Ryan Preece's car went airborne no longer exists, because the track has replaced the grass that sent the No. 41 Ford into orbit in a rollover that made Corey LaJoie and Kyle Sieg's crashes at Michigan look like child's play.