The start of the 2026 NASCAR season is less than a month away, with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray on Sunday, Feb. 2 followed by the Duel at Daytona on Feb. 13. With preparations also well underway for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, it’s time to start looking ahead to the season.
Let’s dive into our first NASCAR power rankings of 2026, evaluating the 10 best drivers ahead of February.
1. Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson is the best NASCAR driver right now. Even if not for the flat tire in the final laps of the Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix, which basically handed him the title, he finished 2025 with the second-most laps led (1,106) in the Cup Series and tied for first in both top-5s (15) and top-10s (22) while ranking fourth in average finishing position (13.2). If some of the pit road inconsistencies, which prompted in-season changes, are fixed, then Larson has a shot at five-plus wins and another title.
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2. Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin should be the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion; he delivered by far the most dominant performance at Phoenix for what should have been his seventh win of the season. He finished 2025 ranked third in laps led (1,024) and fourth in top-5s (14), finishing just behind Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Blaney. The results could have been even better if not for some engine issues midway through the year and then issues on pit road late in the season. Nothing the 45-year-old showed this past season suggests he’s about to see a dip in his excellence with age. Although, after a very difficult offseason and in what could be his penultimate season, Hamlin may need to compartmentalize more than ever before.
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3. William Byron
The back-to-back winner of the Daytona 500 is still looking for that elusive first Cup Series crown. William Byron led all drivers in laps led (1,330) this past season, and he would have had far more than 3 wins and 11 top-5 finishes if not for his car running out of fuel and experiencing other issues in the closing laps of some races he dominated. If the No. 24 team can clean just a few small things up, Byron will likely have a great shot at his first title this year and five-plus wins.
4. Ryan Blaney
For as great as Ryan Blaney performed at times this past season, luck wasn’t on his side. He finished 2025 ranked ninth in average finishing position (14.6), which truly feels like an achievement considering the No. 12 car had 8 DNFs—as many as Hamlin (four), Larson (two), Tyler Reddick (one), and Chris Buescher (two) combined. Of those eight DNFs, six were crash-related, with several being incidents where Blaney was caught up in messes created by others. Blaney will almost certainly see the number of DNFs drop in 2026, which should result in his top-5s (15, T-1st in 2025) and wins (four, T-3rd) increasing as well.
5. Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell got off to an electric start in 2025, winning three consecutive races (Atlanta, COTA, and Phoenix Raceway) before the calendar flipped to mid-March. However, he won just one of his next 32 races and ranked 12th in laps led (282), placing behind Austin Cindric (325) and Ty Gibbs (304). He also entered the Round of 8 nearly 40 points above the cutline and still didn’t advance. The dip in performance for a majority of the season and the early playoff exit are what drop him to fifth in our preseason NASCAR power rankings.
6. Chase Briscoe
Facing the pressure of being the driver to replace Martin Truex Jr. with the phenomenal support offered by Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe needed to prove himself in 2025. All he did with the opportunity was tie Larson and Byron for wins (three), finish tied for second in top-5s (15), and post the second-highest rate of top-20 finishes (80.6 percent). He also made the Championship 4 with JGR and was one of just five drivers with 800-plus laps led. The only question: How does he perform if the No. 19 is on the pole fewer times in 2026?
7. Tyler Reddick
Tyler Reddick didn’t have a 2025 campaign worthy of being this high in the NASCAR power rankings. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the uncertainty with 23XI Racing during the lawsuit hung over him, and he and Alexa’s infant son spent time in the hospital after being diagnosed with a tumor in his chest that affected his heart. We think all of that can help explain why he finished the year winless. With Rookie doing a lot better now and his future with 23XI secured, we think Reddick returns to being a multi-time winner in 2026.
8. Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott was Mr. Consistent this past season. He led the Cup Series in top-20 finishes (32), tied for third in top-10s (19), and dug out some wins later in the season after an extended drought. The consistency is great, and there’s every reason to believe the issues in qualifying the No. 9 team had in 2025 could be corrected. However, wins have been pretty few and far between for Elliott in recent years (four wins since 2023), and that holds Elliott back when ranking the best NASCAR drivers in 2026.
9. Joey Logano
It is an even year, but the new NASCAR playoff format and changes to the playoff schedule might counteract that for Joey Logano and the No. 22 team. With that said, he still finished last season with the sixth-most laps led (577), and he got his average finishing position (15.33) closer to his recent averages following a dip in 2024. We don’t necessarily view Logano as a top championship contender this season, but he remains one of the 10 best NASCAR drivers in 2026.
10. Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing secured its future with the legal victory over NASCAR, positioning the team to have another great run in 2026 with one of the best pit crews in the Cup Series. We also saw the best version of Bubba Wallace late last season, as he ended the year with the sixth-most laps led (272), the seventh-most top-10s (seven), and the ninth-best average starting position (12.3) in his final 15 races. It’s also worth keeping in mind that several of his DNFs (nine) were race-ending crashes that he was caught in the mess of. Wallace is in that tier of drivers with Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Ross Chastain where you could make a case for any of them in the 10th spot, but his second half of the season gives him the slight nod when also factoring in the supporting cast around each driver.
