Matt Johnson
Who is the best NASCAR driver right now? Tyler Reddick just made NASCAR Cup Series history by becoming the first driver ever to win the first three races of the season. Reddick’s dominance is the biggest story in NASCAR right now, while a few of the other top drivers are either off to hot starts or trying to dig out of a points hole as we head to Phoenix.
Let’s dive into our latest NASCAR power rankings, evaluating the 10 best NASCAR drivers after COTA. Of note, these rankings focus on overall performance in the last three races in addition to other factors. These are not considered season-long rankings of the best NASCAR drivers.
1. Tyler Reddick
It needs to be put into perspective just how much of an advantage Tyler Reddick has in points right now after COTA. The second-closest driver behind him is teammate Bubba Wallace, who is 70 points back of the Cup Series leader. That’s the same points gap as the one between Wallace and Chase Briscoe (46 points) in 27th place. Reddick (112 laps led) is the only Cup Series driver with 100-plus laps led this season and he has nearly as many laps led as Briscoe (58, third-most) and Kyle Larson (55, fourth-most) combined. Two more stats for good measure: no other driver has multiple top-5 finishes this year and Reddick has as many wins this season as he did in the last two years combined. There’s a long season ahead, but Reddick has put himself in a fantastic position to win the regular-season title.
Related: Insider Sheds Light on Tyler Reddick’s Future with 23XI Racing
2. Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott didn’t have a particularly great car at Circuit of the Americas, with speeds in the No. 9 that realistically gave him no shot at a win. It’s a credit to one of the best NASCAR drivers that he still wound up finishing the day seventh, netting 33 points on a day when the likes of William Byron (26 points), Joey Logano (22), Chris Buescher (19) and Chase Briscoe (1) fared far worse. Elliott hasn’t led many laps this year (13, T-13th most), but he’s one of just six drivers with multiple top-10 finishes. He currently ranks second in average finishing position (7.3) and first in average starting position (4.3), too. A victory is coming for Elliott this season, and with the way he’s been driving, it’ll likely be multiple wins.
Related: NASCAR Points Leaders Today after Circuit of the Americas
3. Ryan Blaney
Early in the DuraMax Texas Grand Prix, it certainly looked like Ryan Blaney had the fastest car. He blew past pole-sitter Tyler Reddick and the rest of the field, getting out to a huge lead before strategically pitting before the end of Stage 1. The No. 12 team played for the win on Sunday, resulting in him snagging just 4 stage points by finishing seventh in Stage 2. Unfortunately for Blaney, the pit strategy in the final stage backfired. Not only did he fall behind Reddick and Shane van Gisbergen, but he later got passed by Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and Michael McDowell, too. He finished with a modest 33 points and left with some frustration over the team’s strategy. Still, Blaney will head to Phoenix fourth in points, tied for the second-most top 10s with two, and he now gets to race at one of his best tracks.
Related: Winners, Losers from the NASCAR Race Today at COTA
4. Bubba Wallace
How can you ignore the numbers at this point? Bubba Wallace ranks second in NASCAR in points (116) and laps led (86) while in a tie for the most top-10 finishes. The No. 23 car’s worst finish of the season? It came on Sunday at COTA, when they went for points in Stage 2 (5 points) and then had to start near the back of the field for the final stage. Still, he navigated his way through wrecks and other drivers to finish 11th on the day, coming out of COTA tied with Kyle Larson for the ninth-most points (33). Wallace will almost certainly get overtaken in our NASCAR power rankings in the weeks to come by Larson and William Byron, but he’s firmly established himself as one of the 10 best NASCAR drivers since last summer, and his torrid start is impossible to look past as a credit to him.
Related: NASCAR O’Reilly Series Results from COTA
5. Kyle Larson
It’s a testament to Kyle Larson that he finished sixth in the DuraMax Texas Grand Prix considering the issues with the No. 5 car. Before the race, per Jeff Gluck, the computer showed abnormal readings related to Larson’s engine. However, Hendrick Motorsports had to roll the dice since NASCAR’s rules meant plugging it in for further evaluation would drop him to the rear. Once in the car, Larson’s cool suit soon malfunctioned with track temperatures over 100 degrees, and he then had issues getting water. While he didn’t get any stage points, he still got out of the No. 5 with his best finish of the season (sixth), and he racked up nearly as many points (31) as he had in the previous two races combined (34).
Related: NASCAR Results Today COTA, NASCAR Cup Series Stage Results
6. William Byron
It certainly hasn’t been a banner start to the season for William Byron, who still hasn’t scored even 28 points in a race this year. The driver of the No. 24 car also doesn’t have a top-10 finish in 2026 after having a victory (Daytona 500) and a second-place finish (COTA) through three races a year ago. With that said, Byron had to use his backup car this season at Daytona, and then the No. 24 seemingly broke down in the final laps at Atlanta when he had a shot at a top-five finish. On Sunday in Austin, he hung around the top 10 for most of the day and even led a lap before falling to 13th. Things will eventually go right for the No. 24 team and we’re confident Byron will win multiple races this season, but he is currently 110 points back of Reddick.
7. Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin finally secured a top-10 finish at COTA. It wasn’t exactly a pretty day for the No. 11 team and Joe Gibbs Racing’s top drivers, but Hamlin salvaged it with a stage point (10th in Stage 1) and then working his way past some of the field to finish 10th in the Texas Grand Prix. Hamlin has honestly been running well this season through three races, but he’s then been involved in wrecks in the final stage when he’s been in the top 10, and each time they’ve been caused by another driver (Justin Allgaier then Joey Logano). The top-five finishes are coming, but Hamlin is in a bit of a tricky spot for The Chase considering he is 54 points behind the third-place bonus points and 126 back of the big advantage for the regular-season title points.
Related: Denny Hamlin Shares When NASCAR Drivers Should Be Concerned About Points, Results
8. Shane van Gisbergen
This is about more than just his finish at COTA on Sunday. Shane van Gisbergen comes out of the first three races of the season with the fifth-most points (90) in the Cup Series, and he’s in rare company with two top-10 finishes this season. SVG demonstrated at Daytona and Atlanta that he now has a much better handling of how to drive on ovals—enough so that more top-10 finishes are coming. Now combine that with the fact that he finished second at COTA despite having an inferior car that started 13th; he’s got a great shot at making The Chase this season.
9. Christopher Bell
Kudos to crew chief Adam Stevens for the unique pit strategy used by the No. 20 team in the final stage. It allowed Christopher Bell to work his way from 12th with 25 laps to go into a third-place finish, driving past the likes of Larson, Elliott and Blaney. It marked Bell’s first finish inside the top 20 this season. Getting 34 points was particularly crucial considering a wreck at Daytona (3 points, 35th place) and an awful starting position at Atlanta (16 points, 21st place) had him well outside the top 16 entering March.
10. Joey Logano
Joey Logano was largely a non-factor at COTA. He struggled in qualifying, resulting in a 20th starting position after being in the first two rows at Daytona and Atlanta. Logano fell back to 29th at the end of Stage 1 and had to fight just to finish 18th in Stage 2. Considering where he was at Stage 1, finishing 15th is frankly an accomplishment for the No. 22 team. Logano’s great day at Daytona – third-place finish and 36 points – is really doing the heavy lifting for him right now, as he’s finished 15th or worse with 22 points in each of the last two races. Fortunately for Team Penske, Phoenix is up next and that’s an opportunity to push Logano into the top three for points.
