One year ago, it was announced that Tyler Reddick would become the newest addition to 23XI Racing, but that he would do so in 2024 due to the fact that his contract with Richard Childress Racing ran through the 2023 season. Then, at Pocono, a twist of fate would accelerate those plans.
When a crash in qualifying led to concussion symptoms that would eventually end Kurt Busch's full-time career in NASCAR, 23XI's No. 45 was left open for the 2023 season, and Reddick was allowed to leave RCR to take over the seat left vacant by Busch. He's made the most of the opportunity he's been given since then, winning at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year and earning six top-five and nine top-10 finishes to go with it -- with the latest coming at Pocono, where he finished second.
On a weekend where there wasn't much movement at the top of the Power Rankings with all four of the leaders holding serve, Reddick was one of the most consequential movers with six spots gained to move him up to the doorstep of the top five. However, Reddick was not the biggest overall gainer, as that mark belonged to Kevin Harvick by virtue of nine spots gained following two fourth-place finishes in a row.
Here's a look at our updated Power Rankings:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | -- | Martin Truex came up just short of his third Pocono win, finishing third in the run to the checkered flag. But he does have three career wins at the next stop on the circuit in Richmond, all of which have come during the track's second race date. | |
| 2 | William Byron | -- | While his strategy ended up taking him out of a chance to win, William Byron had one of the strongest cars at Pocono. Byron led three different times for a race-high 60 laps but finished 13th. | |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | -- | Personal thoughts on the Hamlin/Larson thing: I think there's a fine line between driving someone dirty and driving someone like a dirtbag. I wouldn't call Hamlin's move clean, but it's not like he dumped Larson or anything more egregious. | |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | -- | Christopher Bell has always had a knack for Pocono, which helped him rebound from some mid-race adversity. Bell lost it and spun by himself at the end of stage two, but he recovered to finish sixth. | |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | It's not easy for a driver to change his tendencies, but Sunday was hardly the first time Kyle Larson has gotten used up by another driver. When it comes to the more physical brand of racing, Larson has to be more willing to dish out the punishment rather than just taking it. | ||
| 6 | Tyler Reddick | If it hadn't been for the start/stop nature of the final three restarts, Tyler Reddick may have been in the best position of any driver in the top 10 to challenge Hamlin. Reddick had the freshest tires of any of the leaders and ended up using them to finish second. | ||
| 7 | Brad Keselowski | Brad Keselowski ran up inside the top 10 and even the top five at Pocono, but he eventually finished 16th. He now turns his attention to Richmond, where RFK Racing last won with Carl Edwards in the fall of 2013. | ||
| 8 | Joey Logano | Joey Logano's in-car audio caught a conversation that sounds like everyone who's ever been unhappy with a tow truck driver. At least Logano got a stage win out of the whole ordeal, meaning his day wasn't a total loss. | ||
| 9 | Kevin Harvick | The Closer almost entered the building in Pocono, as Kevin Harvick lined up second for the final restart before settling for fourth. Still, that gives Harvick his second top-five finish in a row. | ||
| 10 | Chase Elliott | If Chase Elliott doesn't make the playoffs, this year could mark a huge what-if for NASCAR's most popular driver. Even though he's only run 14 races, Elliott has finished in the top 10 eight times, including at Pocono where he finished 10th. | ||
| 11 | Kyle Busch | Another week, another instance where the No. 8 team seemingly just missed on the setup. Kyle Busch never sounded pleased with his car's handling at all, and he went on to finish a meager 21st. | ||
| 12 | Chris Buescher | The way everyone's strategies played out at the end was not to the benefit of Chris Buescher. Instead of a potential top-10 run like what looked to be in store, Buescher was instead shuffled out and left with an 18th-place finish at Pocono. | ||
| 13 | Erik Jones | It may be far too late to make the playoffs on points, but Erik Jones and his team have completely turned their season around. Jones has now finished 11th or better in four of the last five races, with Pocono marking his second top 10 in that span. | ||
| 14 | Bubba Wallace | Bubba Wallace pushed his car too hard trying to get the pole at Pocono, but he would earn six stage points and finish 11th on Sunday. That's a nice rebound, but more importantly it now puts Wallace 26 points above the playoff cut line. | ||
| 15 | Michael McDowell | A 19th-place finish at Pocono doesn't exactly move the needle for Michael McDowell, but that coupled with Daniel Suarez's crash has put him 17 points above the playoff cut line. Now McDowell heads back to Richmond, where he finished sixth back in the springtime. | ||
| 16 | Ross Chastain | On another day where he didn't have the fastest car, Ross Chastain and his team managed to persevere and get a respectable 13th-place finish. That was enough to move Chastain back up to fifth in the Cup points standings, though his chances of a regular-season championship are dwindling at 98 points back. | ||
| 17 | AJ Allmendinger | AJ Allmendinger was among the drivers who earned the most stage points at Pocono, gaining six after a strategy play in stage one. That's left him as the first car below the cut line, 17 points back of Michael McDowell. | ||
| 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | A strategy that paid off and some nifty moves by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. over the final few restarts gave him a seventh-place run at Pocono, his first ever top-10 finish at that track. Stenhouse's career year continues with his seventh top-10 of the season. | ||
| 19 | Ryan Blaney | Another tough development for Ryan Blaney on a day where he had a fast car. Blaney was leading when his car suddenly went down on power, as a valve issue developed that kept his car from reaching full song. With the motor not making enough power, Blaney would limp home in 30th. | ||
| 20 | Ty Gibbs | From start to finish, Sunday at Pocono may have marked Ty Gibbs' best and most complete race of his young Cup career. A fifth-place run marked Gibbs' best finish ever in a Cup race, and it came one year to the weekend he made his Cup debut in 2022. | ||
| 21 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman was looking at a third-place run and potentially more when he lost it in turn three and spun, backing into the wall and finishing 24th. The incident left him and his team angry with recurring antagonist Denny Hamlin, but replay showed that Hamlin never touched Bowman's rear bumper nor initiated him getting sideways. | ||
| 22 | Aric Almirola | Much like Erik Jones, Aric Almirola is starting to show signs of life after what's been a tough 2023 season. One week after wrecking a potential top-five car at Loudon, Almirola entered the picture on strategy and just missed out on a top 10 in 12th at Pocono. | ||
| 23 | Daniel Suarez | Only two weeks after a second-place finish at Atlanta, Daniel Suarez went from being a single point below the playoff cut line to 23 below after an early crash at Pocono. It's disheartening for Suarez's team to now have that big a gap to make up, but it's hardly insurmountable in five races either. | ||
| 24 | Todd Gilliland | Todd Gilliland recovered from a spin in qualifying to finish 15th at Pocono, but not without creating a little awkwardness when he spun JJ Yeley in the opening laps. That awkwardness comes from the fact that Gilliland has made and will make select starts for Rick Ware Racing this season. | ||
| 25 | Corey LaJoie | Corey LaJoie should have left Pocono with a top-15 finish or better, but he lost a lap late in the race when NASCAR called him for pulling up to pit and passing the pace car under a late yellow. For the life of me, I cannot remember the last time that got called. | ||
| 26 | Austin Dillon | Maybe when he looks back at it, Austin Dillon will be embarrassed with his helmet toss given that it wasn't a great throw for a former baseball player. Granted, it was no worse than what the New York Yankees have been doing lately -- he could do about as well as the roster Brian Cashman has put together. | ||
| 27 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric's team has begun to use setups much closer to what Joey Logano runs, and it seemed to pay dividends with a top-10 qualifying run and some good pace early at Pocono. That wouldn't last, but a 23rd-place finish by Cindric still made him the highest finishing Penske car. | ||
| 28 | Justin Haley | Justin Haley spent the week on a high in the headlines, as it was announced that he'll be headed to Rick Ware Racing in 2024 in what's a huge coup for that company. But the week ended on a low note with a vicious driver's side impact entering the tunnel turn late in Sunday's race at Pocono. | ||
| 29 | Ty Dillon | Ty Dillon has won a couple of stages during his Cup career by virtue of strategies that worked out, and he almost did it again at Pocono. Dillon was able to putter to the end of stage two on fumes in second, giving him and his team a nine-point payoff for playing their cards right. | ||
| 30 | Noah Gragson | I thought Noah Gragson would spend much more time in this year's Power Rankings than he has, but it's good to see him here. A 22nd-place finish at Pocono marked Gragson's first finish better than 25th since all the way back in March. |
