Week 6 NASCAR power rankings: Kyle Larson hangs on at No. 1 as fresh face lurks

Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, was uneventful, with no yellow flags aside from the two scheduled stage breaks and William Byron leading 42 of 68 laps en route to the win.

Many of the top drivers from last week's power rankings had less-than-stellar outings, giving us a shakeup near the front. Here's where the best stand ahead of Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

1. Kyle Larson (Last week: 1)

Larson underwhelmed in Austin, finishing 17th after he got spun early on and went on an alternate pit strategy. However, nobody else did quite enough to supplant him atop the power rankings. Larson will be one of the favorites in Richmond, where he won last spring.

2. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 4)

Gibbs was razor close to jumping to the top, but it just wouldn't have felt right to give that honor to a driver who has yet to win in the Cup Series despite a streak of five straight top-10 finishes that has moved him to second in points. After tying his career-best result of third at COTA, he'll have another great shot to finally break through with a victory at Richmond, where his Joe Gibbs Racing team is always fast.

3. Christopher Bell (Last week: 7)

On Sunday, Bell almost replicated his surge through the field at Phoenix a few weeks ago, but he came up one position — and probably one lap — short of being able to catch and pass Byron after taking fresh tires later than the other leaders. Bell had an eventful race that included dust-ups with Larson and Kyle Busch, but he remains blazing hot and has one of his best tracks next.

4. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 2)

Truex took over the points lead Sunday, but he didn't run near the front much after he was damaged on the very first lap and spent the rest of the afternoon fighting an uphill battle to finish 10th. Much like his JGR teammates, he's sure to be a threat at Richmond, where he has won three times.

5. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 6)

Reddick didn't repeat the lights-out dominant performance he put on at COTA last season, but he still was fast all day and finished fifth. He'll be looking to improve upon his rather lackluster career record at Richmond (his best finish is 11th in seven races), but he did win the pole and lead 81 laps there last summer, so perhaps he can build upon that.

6. William Byron (Last week: 12)

Byron was dominant at COTA, and his second win of the season earned him a nice bump in the power rankings after he had struggled by his standards since Daytona. Often criticized for the fortuitous nature of many of his wins, Byron raced admirably in Austin, winning the pole, leading more than half the race and holding off the hard-charging Bell.

7. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 3)

As quickly as he rose into the top three with his Bristol win, Hamlin dropped back to where he'd previously been ranked after bringing up the rear among the JGR squad in Austin. He stayed out of the pits for stage points at the end of Stage 2, but that mired him back in traffic once he made his stop and he was never able to recover, finishing 14th.

8. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 5)

It has been a rough two weeks for Blaney, who started the season so hot but finished an uneventful 12th in Austin. He'll look for a return to form in Richmond, a track that used to be one of his weaknesses but which he has significantly improved on in the Gen 7 era, leading laps in three of the past four races there.

9. Ross Chastain (Last week: 9)

Chastain put together perhaps his best full race of the season in Austin, running inside the top five nearly all race and leading 10 laps before a slow final pit stop dropped him to seventh. He has yet to dominate in 2024, but he's lurking just behind the top tier of weekly contenders.

10. Chris Buescher (Last week: 11)

For the second week in a row, Buescher had to start at the rear of the field, but it didn't matter as he scored another top-10 finish (eighth) with relative ease. He has found his uber-consistent form again after a shaky start to the season, and as the most recent winner in Richmond, he figures to be a threat for his first win of 2024.

11. Chase Elliott (Last week: 10)

Elliott had just cracked the top five Sunday before he fell victim to NASCAR's ridiculous track limits rule and was penalized for "shortcutting" despite losing time from the excursion. He finished a disappointing 16th as a result. Elliott's overall performance is closer to his forgettable 2023 than the several years before it when he was one of the sport's premier drivers. If he doesn't get hot soon, the alarm bells will begin to sound.

12. Kyle Busch (Last week: 14)

Busch bounced back nicely from his previous two races, finishing ninth despite his skirmish with Bell. Now he heads to Richmond, a track he has won at six times. Given his unpredictable performance on short tracks since moving to Richard Childress Racing, however, it's hard to know what to expect.

13. Alex Bowman (Last week: not ranked)

Don't look now, but Bowman is part of a four-way tie for the most top-five finishes in 2024, and he's riding back-to-back fourth places after backing up his impressive Bristol run with yet another solid showing in Austin. Despite usually being overshadowed by his teammates, Bowman will occasionally have a stretch of performances in which he reminds the field he's no slouch himself. He seems to be on one of those hot streaks now.

14. Chase Briscoe (Last week: 13)

Briscoe, who finished 13th in Austin, has quietly worked his way right to the doorstep of the playoffs as he sits only three points behind Brad Keselowski for the last spot. He has carried the banner for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024 and should continue his strong performance on the short tracks over the next few weeks. A year ago, they were his lone strong suit.

15. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 8)

Unsurprisingly, Keselowski slides to this spot after his latest in a long line of road-course disasters in recent years. In Austin, he spun out multiple times and finished a dismal 33rd. The good news is that much like his teammate Buescher, he should be a contender at Richmond, where he might have won last summer if not for a botched late pit stop. 

16. A.J. Allmendinger (Last week: NR)

Nobody else really deserves the final spot, so it goes to the part-time Cup driver Allmendinger, who finished sixth in Austin in his third start this season. His stay here will be short as he's not even entered in the main event at Richmond, but his business-as-usual strong road course performance is worth a shoutout.

Dropped out: Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek