Longtime NASCAR fans are accustomed to the No. 24 car winning, and winning a lot. They got used to it when Jeff Gordon was its driver, and they were well used to it by the time William Byron was born on Nov. 29, 1997 -- by the time Byron was born, Gordon had 29 career wins in five seasons and had just won his second Winston Cup championship.
Through five full seasons so far, Byron hasn't reached that standard yet, but his Cup career entering this year -- four wins and a career-best sixth in the championship standings in 2022 -- was nothing to sniff at. Now, the opening of the 2023 season suggests that Byron is on his way to taking the next step toward being a driver who contends for wins week-in and week-out.
After his second win in a row at Phoenix, where he yet again capitalized on a two-tire call on his final pit stop to take the lead and win in overtime, William Byron now leads a Hendrick Motorsports trio at the top of the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings. Byron ranks atop Kyle Larson, who could just as easily have a two-race winning streak had circumstances gone his way, and Alex Bowman who has been the most consistent driver in Cup to start the year.
Larson was the biggest mover in this week's Power Rankings, gaining 10 spots as the early season standings begin to take shape. Aric Almirola was the biggest loser, plummeting eight spots to 28th after yet another accident.
Here's a look at our updated Power Rankings:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Byron | William Byron's back-to-back wins are the first for Hendrick's No. 24 car since all the way back in the fall of 2007. That year, Jeff Gordon went back-to-back at Talladega and Charlotte. | ||
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Kyle Larson is starting to resemble a mix of his pre-2021 form, where he'd always lead a bunch of laps without sealing the deal at the end, and his 2021 form where he dominated the entire season. Larson has led 264 laps the past two weeks. | ||
| 3 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman hasn't quite had the pace of his two Hendrick teammates, but he's the only driver this season to have top-10 finishes in every race so far. That level of consistency has helped make him the Cup Series point leader. | ||
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | If it hadn't been for that late caution, Kevin Harvick was set to join a very select group of drivers to have won 10 or more races at one racetrack. That group includes names like Petty, Pearson, Waltrip and Earnhardt. | ||
| 5 | Christopher Bell | Christopher Bell's crash at Fontana is really weighing down his average finish this season. If we take Fontana out of the equation, Bell's average finish when running at the checkered flag this year is a remarkable 4.6. | ||
| 6 | Kyle Busch | Runs like the one that Kyle Busch had at Phoenix tend to be the backbone of good seasons. Busch wasn't a factor at the very front, but he was in and around the top 10 all day before finishing eighth. | ||
| 7 | Ross Chastain | After getting put in the wall by Denny Hamlin on the final lap, Ross Chastain was left with a 24th-place finish at Phoenix. In fairness, Hamlin probably owed him one for all their run-ins last year, including at Martinsville. | ||
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | Daniel Suarez's streak of top-10 finishes to start the 2023 season was snapped when he incurred a pit road speeding penalty on the final round of green flag stops. Suarez would finish 22nd. | ||
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski did not get a finish indicative of where he ran. Keselowski was up inside the top five and top 10 throughout the day, but ended up 18th after the final two restarts. | ||
| 10 | Joey Logano | Given how dominant Joey Logano was at Phoenix in the fall, it was surprising to see him just hanging onto a top 20 spot on Sunday. Still, Logano was able to salvage an 11th-place finish on a day in which he had far from the fastest car. | ||
| 11 | Martin Truex Jr. | Despite having won at Phoenix just two years ago, Martin Truex Jr. was a complete non-factor in Sunday's race and was lucky to have finished on the lead lap. Harrison Burton's spin saved Truex from going a lap down, but he would only muster a 17th-place finish out of that break. | ||
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | If Ryan Blaney had just been able to get his nose under Kyle Larson before getting cut off on a late restart, he may finally have snapped his winless streak. Instead, Blaney scored his second straight second-place finish in Phoenix. | ||
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | -- | Denny Hamlin forced Ross Chastain into the wall on the final lap at Phoenix, and Hamlin said the move was intentional on his "Actions Detrimental" podcast. It's yet to be determined if a fine is coming Hamlin's way. | |
| 14 | Bubba Wallace | -- | Bubba Wallace was on the outskirts of the top 10 by the end of Stage 2, but lost track position due to a problem on pit road and could not regain it. But timely late-race cautions allowed Wallace to salvage his day in 14th. | |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | For the second week in a row, Chris Buescher ended up in a tight squeeze on the exit of Turn 2 while racing with Daniel Suarez. It worked out better for Buescher this time, as he ran up inside the top 15 all day and finished there. | ||
| 16 | Tyler Reddick | Tyler Reddick takes another leap in the Power Rankings after finishing third at Phoenix on a four-tire call at the end of the race. Reddick was the one who pushed Byron clear to the lead, and they might have decided the race among themselves had Reddick also been able to clear the battle for second. | ||
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ricky Stenhouse's post-Daytona performance has represented a regression to the mean, but the mean hasn't been a bad place to be. Stenhouse finished 19th at Phoenix to score his third top-20 finish already this year. | ||
| 18 | Austin Dillon | -- | If there's anything that Austin Dillon is really good at, it's grinding out solid finishes on days where he doesn't have a good car. Dillon capitalized on getting the free pass late in the race and finished 16th despite hardly running there. | |
| 19 | Corey LaJoie | If Corey LaJoie's team has been able to get a good handle on their speedway package, it looks like shorter ovals are an area that need to be improved. LaJoie was never a factor despite some strong recent runs and finished a lap down in 26th. | ||
| 20 | Erik Jones | Generally if a race has a green flag bent to it, it's not a good idea to try a strategy that depends on a caution coming out. But credit to Erik Jones and crew chief Dave Elenz for trying, as Jones led 14 laps that he wouldn't have had he not tried staying out longer than anyone else on a cycle of green flag stops. | ||
| 21 | Chase Briscoe | Chase Briscoe finally got the rest of Stewart-Haas Racing off the schnide on Sunday. He followed up his first career win at Phoenix a season ago with his first top 10 of the year in seventh. | ||
| 22 | Ryan Preece | It took him four tires, but Ryan Preece finally finished a race without getting wrecked and finished 12th. That's his best finish in any Cup race since he had the same finish in the 2021 Southern 500. | ||
| 23 | Justin Haley | The most notable thing that happened to Justin Haley all weekend was that in addition to the Hendrick Motorsports cars, his team also had their hood louvers confiscated by NASCAR. Haley didn't have the pace to make up for that, as he finished a lap down in 27th. | ||
| 24 | Austin Cindric | If it weren't for a sixth at Las Vegas, Austin Cindric would be at serious risk of a sophomore slump. Outside of his Vegas run, Cindric's finishes this year are 23rd, 28th and 25th. | ||
| 25 | Michael McDowell | A homecoming trip was just what Phoenix native Michael McDowell needed to jumpstart his season. McDowell started seventh, stayed in the top 15 all day and finished 13th. | ||
| 26 | Ty Gibbs | Ty Gibbs had the pace to run up in the top 10 early, but he would fade later in the race before getting torn up in the crash that sent Sunday's race to overtime. Gibbs finished 28th, but he was still the highest finishing rookie. | ||
| 27 | AJ Allmendinger | That's three out of four races this year in which AJ Allmendinger has been involved in an accident. But for the second week in a row, The Dinger finished inside the top 20 despite a late-race crash. | ||
| 28 | Aric Almirola | After being coaxed out of his plans to retire at the end of 2022, Aric Almirola has now been involved in a crash in all four races to start 2023. A wheel failure was the culprit this time, sending Almirola into the outside wall and ruining his day. | ||
| 29 | Todd Gilliland | Todd Gilliland was displaced from his Front Row No. 38 for the first time this season, instead driving Rick Ware's No. 15 while Zane Smith drove his usual car. Gilliland would finish just behind Smith in 32nd. | ||
| 30 | Noah Gragson | Noah Gragson cracks the Power Rankings once again, but it's been a disappointing start to his rookie year in Cup. Legacy Motor Club's No. 42 doesn't look much further ahead as a program than it did in 2022 when Ty Dillon was its driver. |
