Week Eleven - 2026 StatChat Power Rankings After Texas

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine

The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs. Let's look at the Top 10:

Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 6

It was a rough week at the track for Ty Gibbs in Texas.  While the driver is still buoyed up into the Top 10 by his first career win a few weeks ago, he had a race to forget this past weekend.  He spun on his own and got into the wall, causing him to earn his third DNF of the year.

Brad Keselowski – This week: 9 – Last week: 5

Keselowski had a solid day in Texas, in what has been a fairly successful season for the veteran driver/owner.  The P13 finish wasn’t indicative of how well he ran during the race, and with an emphasis on the most recent five races, this was the first week that his P2 finish at Darlington wasn’t weighted as heavily, which is why he falls four spots this week.

Ryan Preece – This week: 8 – Last week: 11

Ryan Preece wasn’t a major factor in Texas this past weekend, but he still manages to claw his way up into the Power Rankings Top 10.  He has been very consistently in the Top 15 all season, and has a very real shot at getting into The Chase this year if he can keep it up.  He’s currently +63 to the cutline.

Chris Buescher – This week: 7 – Last week: 8

We may be a few years removed from Chris Buescher’s breakout 3-win season, but he’s shown up pretty consistently this season.  The fact that all three RFK cars are in the Power Rankings Top 10 is impressive, as they’re not necessarily seen as the premiere Ford team in the stable.  A P5 finish for Buescher at Texas put a nice bow on a good day, and he continues to move slowly up the chart.

Kyle Larson – This week: 6 – Last week: 4

As usual, it appears that Kyle Larson’s worst enemy is, in fact, Kyle Larson.  Larson spun on his own, losing control of his car, and it cost him his day.  He did make his way back out on track much later in the race to try and gain some positions, but there wasn’t much to get, and he finished P34, over 80 laps down. 

Carson Hocevar – This week: 5 – Last week: 7

It was another solid outing for the polarizing driver at Texas.  Hocevar, fresh off his win the previous week in Talladega, won the pole at Texas, earned points in both stages, led 40 laps, and was a threat at certain points of the race.  He wasn’t in the mix at the very end, but still finished a respectable P7.

Ryan Blaney – This week: 4 – Last week: 3

It seemed like Team Penske didn’t bring the right stuff to Texas this weekend, as all three of their cars weren’t as good as we’re accustomed to seeing.  Blaney finished the best of all of them, P10.  Not a bad finish considering his hesitant qualifying session had him starting 31^st, but we’re accustomed to more from the 12 team.

Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 9

One of this week’s biggest movers, Chase Elliott makes his way into the Top 3 in our Power Rankings with his second win of the season.  He also scored the most stage points of anyone, had the fastest lap of the race, earning himself a whopping 69 points on the day, and moving him up to third in the points standings.  He’s a lock to make The Chase, with a 174-point gap to the cutline.

Tyler Reddick – This week: 2 – Last week: 1

Tyler Reddick gives up the top spot in the Power Rankings once again to his team owner, Denny Hamlin.  The two have been back and forth for weeks now, and seemingly just barely edging out the other.  Both drivers had great days at Texas, though Reddick’s was maybe less flashy.  Reddick didn’t lead any laps, and only got points in the second stage, but is still looking like a threat week-in and week-out.

Denny Hamlin – This week: 1 – Last week: 2

Hamlin does take the top spot away from his driver at 23XI.  He has been very consistent, and racking up a lot of the stats in the underlying categories.  He leads the field in laps led, as well as number of fastest laps on the track, and in number of stage points earned.  Both drivers are worthy of the top spot in our Power Rankings, but this week it goes to Denny.

Biggest Movers

Brad Keselowski – This week: 9 – Last week: 5

Falls 4 places

Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 6

Falls 4 places

Chase Elliott – This week: 3 – Last week: 9

Gains 6 places

Alex Bowman – This week: 27 – Last week: 33

Gains 6 places

Rest of the List

11.	William Byron	LW: 13	+2
12.	Austin Cindric	LW: 12	--
13.	Christopher Bell	LW: 10	-3
14.	Chase Briscoe	LW: 14	--
15.	Daniel Suarez	LW: 15	--
16.	Bubba Wallace	LW: 19	+3
17.	Todd Gilliland	LW: 18	+1
18.	Ross Chastain	LW: 16	-2
19.	Erik Jones	LW: 21	+2
20.	Joey Logano	LW: 17	-3
21.	SVG	LW: 20	-1
22.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	LW: 24	+2
23.	Austin Dillon	LW: 26	+3
24.	Kyle Busch	LW: 25	+1
25.	AJ Allmendinger	LW: 22	-3
26.	Zane Smith	LW: 23	-1
27.	Alex Bowman	LW: 33	+6
28.	Riley Herbst	LW: 30	+2
29.	Noah Gragson	LW: 28	-1
30.	Michael McDowell	LW: 27	-3
31.	Josh Berry	LW: 29	-2
32.	Connor Zilisch	LW: 31	-1
33.	Ty Dillon	LW: 32	-1
34.	JH Nemechek	LW: 34	--
35.	Cody Ware	LW: 35	--
36.	Cole Custer	LW: 36	--