Week 3 NASCAR power rankings: Dominant win puts Kyle Larson in driver's seat

Sunday's Pennzoil 400 gave NASCAR fans the season's first glimpse at who the top dogs are on the non-drafting tracks.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Kyle Larson is the first to throw his name into that hat.

Larson led 181 laps en route to a dominant win, and he vaults to the top of the power rankings, too. Meanwhile, let's take a look at how they shake up behind him before the series heads to Avondale, Ariz., for Sunday's Shriners Children's 500. 

1. Kyle Larson (Last week: 5)

Larson is the most dominant driver in NASCAR when he is on his game, and he certainly was in Vegas on Sunday. He was the fastest driver all race and never sputtered as he held off the hard-charging Tyler Reddick in the closing laps. Larson has taken over the points lead and established himself as the season's early man to beat. Don't be surprised if he stays put in this position for a while.

2. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 1)

Blaney's third-place finish makes it back-to-back podiums for the reigning champion, who is picking up where he left off in 2023. Now he'll head to the track where he won that championship, and where he should be among the favorites for the win.

3. Ross Chastain (Last week: 3)

It wasn't a pretty race for Chastain, who started at the rear and was penalized for speeding during a green-flag pit stop, but a late strategy call for two tires earned him a fourth-place finish. Like Blaney, he now heads to a track where he's had recent success as the winner of the title race in 2023, and he should be a threat for back-to-back wins in Arizona.

4. William Byron (Last week: 4)

Byron led 15 laps early and looked like Larson's biggest challenger, but he ran into trouble when a trash bag flew into his grille and caused his car to overheat, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop. He rebounded to finish 10th, but it probably wasn't the day he was looking for. Now he'll look to defend his win in the spring race in Arizona a year ago.

5. Kyle Busch (Last week: 2)

Busch ran in the top five for most of the race at his home track, but multiple issues on pit road by driver and crew dropped him to 26th. Still, the speed Busch showed is promising given that he often lacked it toward the end of last season. "Rowdy" is still a force to be reckoned with.

6. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 7)

Hamlin briefly led for 16 laps in Sunday's race, but he never seemed to have winning speed and gradually faded to eighth at the finish. The uneventful race was probably a breath of fresh air for him after two accident-filled days to start the season, but he has yet to seriously contend for a win in a points-paying race in 2024.

7. Tyler Reddick (Last week: not ranked)

After dropping out of last week's rankings, Reddick reminded fans why he was being touted so highly before the season. He clearly had the second-best car behind only Larson and seemed even faster than him at times, particularly on the long runs. Despite running out of time Sunday, he'll have plenty more chances to assert himself at the front this season.

8. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 13)

Truex has been quiet but consistent to start 2024 as he sits third in points behind only Larson and Blaney. It's hard to say what to make of his prospects. Does he still have the ability to dominate a race or is he in for a regression once the bad luck monster inevitably bites? For now, this seems like an appropriate place to slot him.

9. Joey Logano (Last week: 6)

Logano won the pole this past weekend, proving he can still qualify fast even without his special gloves, but he slid back on race day and finished a mostly uninspiring ninth. He always seems to be a threat in Arizona, though, so his performance this weekend will tell us a lot about how his season might go.

10. Chase Elliott (Last week: 11)

Elliott's first test of the season at a non-drafting track went ... meh? He hovered around the top 10 all race, but he also didn't have the top-tier speed that his teammates in Larson and even Byron did. We know he's capable of it, but the No. 9 team still has a lot to prove to vindicate Hendrick Motorsports' decision not to make major changes last offseason.

11. Ty Gibbs (Last week: NR)

After being largely invisible during the season's first two races, he scored a top-five at Las Vegas despite losing first gear. Expect runs like those to be the norm for Gibbs in 2024.

12. Daniel Suarez (Last week: 10)

Suarez followed up his thrilling win in Atlanta with a quietly solid 11th-place result in Sin City after leading 15 laps early on pit strategy. He's eighth in points through three races and having the best start to a season of his Cup career.

13. Bubba Wallace (Last week: 8)

Wallace's quest for back-to-back-to-back top-fives to start the season ended when his pit crew had trouble getting a lug nut off the car and he ended up finishing 13 laps down due to extended repairs. Wallace had speed before that, though, so he and his fans should still be pleased with the way his season is going.

14. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 15)

Keselowski had the type of race in which you forget he's even on the track for most of the afternoon, and then suddenly you look up at the end and he's just outside the top 10. His uneventful day resulted in a 13th-place finish, a needed good points performance after accidents derailed him at Daytona and Atlanta.

15. Corey LaJoie (Last week: NR)

Now that we've seen it on a non-drafting track, we can officially say it: Spire Motorsports is legit. LaJoie and his teammate, Carson Hocevar, had impressive runs Sunday. Although Hocevar got the better finish, LaJoie was the headliner as he ran inside the top 10 for much of the afternoon. He crashed late and finished 32nd, but early indications are he's in for a career year.

16. Austin Cindric (Last week: 9)

Cindric had a great qualifying run to follow up his strong start to the season, and stayed in the top 10 throughout the first stage. But then he sped on pit road and never recovered, finishing a disappointing 29th. In Arizona, where Team Penske is always fast, we'll get a much better gauge of Cindric's season.

Dropped out: Todd Gilliland, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell