Week 1 NASCAR power rankings: William Byron climbs to No. 1, but who else is moving up?

With the Daytona 500 in the books, we have quite the shuffle in this week's edition of the power rankings. 

On Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series will be in Atlanta for the Ambetter Health 400, another drafting race. Here's how the field stacks up between now and then:

1. William Byron (Last week: 3)

The winner of the previous week's race won't always take the No. 1 spot, but because nobody else stood out with a dominant performance at Daytona, Byron gets it. He won the most races a year ago (six) and isn't a bad bet to win back-to-back races to start the season. Byron won the second Atlanta race in 2023.

2. Joey Logano (Last week: 11)

Perhaps the rumors of Logano's decline after a disappointing 2023 were greatly exaggerated. He competed for the win in the preseason Clash and led the most laps in the Daytona 500 with 45, more than twice as many as any other driver. Though he eventually crashed out and finished 32nd, he'll have a great chance to bounce back at Atlanta, where he won his only race in 2023 last spring.

3. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 1)

Like Logano, the defending Cup champion was swept up in "the big one" late in the action Monday — and for him, it wasn't even the worst hit he took at Daytona. That said, Blaney won a stage during the "Great American Race" and was in a great position to contend for the win before wrecking. He should be a factor in Atlanta, too.

4. Ross Chastain (Last week: 5)

Chastain may not have won the Dayton 500, but he sure came close, leading on the final restart before crashing with a lap to go. His aggressive style is always sure to be an adventure, sometimes paying dividends for him and other times not so much. As long as the strategy has him fighting for wins, there's no shame in that.

5. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 4)

Hamlin was one of the favorites for the 500 as a three-time winner of the race, but he didn't have the type of run fans are accustomed to seeing from him on superspeedways. Hamlin hung out toward the back for most of the race, but as he made his way to the front later on, he suffered damage in "the big one" and limped to a 19th-place finish.

6. Kyle Busch (Last week: 10)

Busch didn't lead the most laps or end up with the finish (12th) he wanted, but arguably no other driver had a more impressive race in the 500. He had to drive through the field after troubles on pit road multiple times, including overcoming a wheel that was left loose during one of his final stops. In a race where track position was hard to come by, Busch made passing look easy.

7. Chase Elliott (Last week: 9)

Early returns on whether the 2020 Cup champion and NASCAR's most popular driver is back to form are promising. He won the first stage of the 500 and led 13 laps before fading to 14th. Elliott also finished runner-up in his Duel race Thursday and was a consistent presence near the front all weekend.

8. Christopher Bell (Last week: 7)

In usual Bell fashion, nothing about his race on Monday really wowed anyone, and yet when all was said and done, he brought home a third-place finish. His single-position drop here is more about the drivers ahead of him than it is about Bell. Another strong showing this weekend may boost him into the top five.

9. Kyle Larson (Last week: 2)

Much like Bell, Larson's drop from second to ninth isn't so much because he was disappointing, but rather because the drivers who jumped him were impressive. Though he showed speed at times at Daytona, superspeedway racing is still Larson's weak spot, so it may take a few weeks into the season before he reminds us of the dominant force he can be.

10. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 6)

Reddick won his Duel race Thursday night with an exciting last-lap move, but his luck in the main event was less than ideal. Despite running near the front throughout most of the evening, he never led and finished 29th after he was taken out in "the big one."

11. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 14)

Keselowski had a roller-coaster of a day Monday, ping-ponging from the back to the front and to the back again multiple times. He was also a ping-pong ball in a more physical sense, bouncing off of other cars to cause the race's first accident on lap five and then finding himself on the receiving end of a bad push to spark "the big one." Still, he was right in the mix for the win in the closing laps. He'll probably be in the mix this weekend, too.

12. Alex Bowman (Last week: not ranked)

So close and yet so far for Bowman, who finished runner-up behind his teammate, Byron, when it was determined he was just a nose behind as the final caution flag flew. It would have been a vintage Bowman win had he been deemed ahead, as he pretty much came out of nowhere at the end.

13. Bubba Wallace (Last week: 15)

Wallace, a two-time Daytona 500 runner-up, finished fifth in the "Great American Race" after keeping his nose clean and leading three laps. After earning his first top-10 points finish in 2023, he's off to a solid start as he looks to keep the momentum going.

14. Chris Buescher (Last week: 13)

Buescher was a trendy pick to win the 500, but he didn't make much noise and finished 18th. Still, one must assume he and his Roush-Fenway-Keselowski team will be major factors at Atlanta given their recent history on drafting tracks.

15. Austin Cindric (Last week: NR)

Perhaps Cindric's performance Monday is a sign of a return to rookie form, or maybe he's just really good at Daytona. Regardless, he led 13 laps and was fighting for second with Ross Chastain when the two of them tangled coming to the white flag. He easily could have earned his second 500 win. His performance Monday is enough to move him into the top 16 ... for now.

16. Corey LaJoie (Last week: NR)

Finally, a shoutout for LaJoie, who finished fourth Monday, tying his career-best result in the Cup Series. He has quietly become one of the upper-echelon superspeedway racers in NASCAR — all four of his top-fives are on such tracks — and with another drafting race this weekend, he could end up being one of the biggest surprises of the start of this season.

Dropped out: Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones