It isn't completely unfair or inaccurate to say that the 2023 season has been framed as something of a "bounce back" campaign for Martin Truex Jr. But it isn't necessarily as though the 2017 Cup Series champion was bouncing back from a particularly low point.
Statistically speaking, Truex's 2022 season was hardly terrible, and he was fourth in the Cup Series points standings at the end of the regular season. The problem was that Truex had the misfortune of not having won a race in a year where 15 different drivers won during the regular season, leaving him on the outside looking in as he narrowly missed the final playoff spot and also kept missing opportunities to get in the win column.
Truex won't have to sweat out the summer months this year, as he's already won twice and currently leads the regular season standings by 18 points over William Byron and Ross Chastain heading into the Chicago street race. That and Truex's recent streak of top five finishes have gone a long way towards making him the new leader in the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.
Here's a look at our updated Power Rankings:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | No driver in NASCAR has been better than Martin Truex Jr. has been in the past month. Truex has four top five finishes in a row, three of which have been inside the top three. | ||
| 2 | William Byron | After finishing sixth at Nashville, William Byron only needs one more top 10 finish to match the total he had (11) in all of 2022. For what it's worth, his career high in that category is 20 in 2021. | ||
| 3 | Kyle Busch | It was a long night chock full of adversity for Kyle Busch in Nashville. He had to come back from a tire going down in the opening laps, a pit road speeding penalty, and a mid-race spin to earn a ninth-place finish. | ||
| 4 | Kyle Larson | -- | Kyle Larson's reputation of racing anything, anywhere is now taking him back to the ranks of big-time late model racing. Wednesday night, Larson will make his first ever start in the CARS Tour at Caraway Speedway. | |
| 5 | Ross Chastain | By taking the checkered flag in Nashville, Ross Chastain became just one of 16 drivers in NASCAR history to ever win a race from their first career pole. That feat hadn't happened since 1990, when Kyle Petty won his first pole and then dominated to win at Rockingham. | ||
| 6 | Christopher Bell | Christopher Bell was able to earn multiple stage points at Nashville on his way to a seventh place finish that now puts him fourth in the points standings. A 45 point gap now stands between him and the points lead with nine races to go in the regular season. | ||
| 7 | AJ Allmendinger | A.J. Allmendinger is on a hot streak, as two top 10 finishes in a row and five finishes of 14th or better since Kansas have put him closer to the playoff cut line. Arguably no driver stands more to gain from Chicago than The Dinger, who's much more familiar with street courses than many of his competitors. | ||
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | The problems that Tyler Reddick had during green flag pit stops were to the benefit of 23XI car owner Denny Hamlin, who got to lead a significant chunk of the race after the ensuing caution put him out front. Hamlin led 81 laps and won a stage on his way to finishing third. | ||
| 9 | Joey Logano | Virtually all of the Ford teams were a step behind at Nashville, and Joey Logano was hardly spared. Logano fell back from fourth starting spot all the way to 19th without any stage points to soften the blow. | ||
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | -- | By all measures, Kevin Harvick should have been a threat for the win at Nashville as he had one of the fastest cars once nighttime came and was making up chunks of ground on the leaders. However, a flat tire would spoil his night and relegate him to 24th. | |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | Brad Keselowski's first NASCAR win came at Nashville back in 2008 when he got his maiden win in the Xfinity Series. Keselowski finished 11th this go-round at Nashville as he continues to look for his first win with RFK Racing. | ||
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | In fairness to Nashville Superspeedway, the chances of a car hitting the wall that Ryan Blaney hit seemed to be very low given the normal expected trajectory of a spinning car. The fact that Blaney's accident happened on a restart likely created the right circumstance for that inadequacy to be exposed. | ||
| 13 | Bubba Wallace | We were ever so close to having Michael Jordan celebrate winning a pole at a NASCAR racetrack. With Jordan and his entourage looking on during qualifying, Wallace pushed a potential pole run just a little too far and spun out coming to take the checkered flag. | ||
| 14 | Chase Elliott | Despite everything he's been through this year, it feels like Chase Elliott is going to be a weekly threat to make the playoffs either by winning -- or by pointing his way in -- from here on out. Elliott finished fourth at Nashville, his third top five in the last four races. | ||
| 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Just in time for the start of summer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. featured Ball Park hot dog buns on the side of his No. 47 at Nashville. Not so hot was Stenhouse's performance, as he ran a disappointing 22nd. | ||
| 16 | Chris Buescher | Chris Buescher's streak of seven top 10 finishes on a row at road courses is on the line this week during NASCAR's first ever street course race. Should Buescher thrive in Chicago, it'll go a long way towards building on his 96 point advantage over the playoff cut line. | ||
| 17 | Daniel Suarez | Hardest working crew of the week award undoubtedly goes to Daniel Suarez's team. After Suarez crashed in qualifying, the Travis Mack-led No. 99 crew spent late Saturday and early Sunday preparing the backup car that Suarez finished 12th with. | ||
| 18 | Ryan Preece | -- | Somewhat quietly, Ryan Preece's No. 41 team has become a stabilizing force in an otherwise difficult year at Stewart-Haas Racing. Preece's 16th place finish at Nashville continued a recent stretch where he's finished no worse than 17th in the past five races. | |
| 19 | Tyler Reddick | Standing on pit road during qualifying, it was jarring to see the difference in size and height between 5"5' Tyler Reddick and 6"6' Michael Jordan. Reddick would qualify second and lead 33 laps, but his team would be left feeling quite small after a loose wheel spoiled their drivers' night. | ||
| 20 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman's team took a calculated risk during the final cycle of green flag stops, leaving Bowman out on track for as long as possible hoping to catch a caution. The yellow flag they needed never came, and it arguably cost Bowman a place on the playoff grid as he's now two points behind Daniel Suarez for 16th. | ||
| 21 | Austin Dillon | A 13th place finish at Nashville was a necessary one for Austin Dillon, as it snapped a two-race skid of finishes outside the top 15. But considering his points penalty from earlier this year, solid finishes aren't going to be enough for Dillon to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. | ||
| 22 | Corey LaJoie | Much like Daniel Suarez, Corey LaJoie also rebounded nicely from crashing in qualifying at Nashville. LaJoie started shotgun on the field in 36th, but worked his way up to a 20th place finish. | ||
| 23 | Ty Gibbs | -- | After finishing 14th at Nashville, Ty Gibbs is only 10 points back of the playoff cut line entering the second half of his rookie year. Considering the flashes he's shown, he may be as big a breakout candidate as there is as the summer months begin. | |
| 24 | Michael McDowell | Michael McDowell had a terrible, horrible no good, very bad night at Nashville between pit road penalties and other issues. McDowell's 28th place finish completely zapped the good vibes from before the off week, and what's worse is it dropped him to 27 points below the cut line. | ||
| 25 | Erik Jones | Few drivers in the garage area needed a strong run more than Erik Jones, and the No. 43 would end up delivering in the Music City. Jones had a fast car all weekend and got his third top 10 finish of the season in eighth. | ||
| 26 | Justin Haley | Before AJ Allmendinger took control, it looked as though Justin Haley had a great chance to carry the banner for Kaulig Racing. Haley had an outstanding qualifying effort in third and ran in the top 10 early, but a tight condition over long runs led to him fading back to 23rd. | ||
| 27 | Harrison Burton | The problems that the Ford teams had at Nashville ended up making a somewhat modest evening for Harrison Burton look like much more. Burton finished 21st, but that was good enough to be the fifth-highest finisher among the Ford teams. | ||
| 28 | Todd Gilliland | However poorly Michael McDowell's night went in Nashville, Front Row Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland's went even worse. Gilliland finished four laps down in 35th, the last car running in a race that saw only one driver fail to finish. | ||
| 29 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric has much to gain from Chicago and the other road course races coming up, but we said the same thing before Sonoma where he finished 25th. Some right turns may not be enough to address what ails the No. 2 team. | ||
| 30 | Ty Dillon | Even if it was just on strategy, it had to feel nice for Ty DIllon to lead a Cup Series race again. Nashville marked the first time Dillon has led multiple laps in a Cup race since the Charlotte Roval in 2020. |
