Power Rankings: Don’t forget what Ross Chastain is capable of

NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the Cup Series Playoffs drivers after the Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway and before Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

12. Kyle Busch (-4)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 12

Comment: Richard Childress Racing won last year's Texas playoff race despite having no playoff drivers in the race at the time. It sure makes Sunday's result, where a two-time champ in contention for his third was in last year's race-winning car ... and wrecked out for a 34th-place finish to walk away at the bottom of the standings, all the more disappointing. (Not to mention Austin Dillon's last-place showing after a wreck of his own.) The good news for Busch is that he's the most recent winner at Talladega, capturing the spring win earlier this year. The bad news? It's still Talladega, and literally anything could happen.

11. Tyler Reddick (-7)

Season-high: 2
Season-low: 15

Comment: Reddick was the driver who scored the aforementioned RCR Texas win last year, so he certainly isn't thrilled (he's "gutted," in fact) he landed 25th on the results sheet after leading 25 laps in pursuit of his second 2023 playoff win. To put into perspective how fickle Talladega can be, it looked early on that Reddick might be a stud there, with a pair of top-seven finishes in his first three Alabama starts. He's averaged a finish of 30.5 in the four races since.

10. Ryan Blaney (+1)

Season-high: 3
Season-low: 15

Comment: Blaney got caught up in the late wreck at Texas, relegating him to a back-of-the-field finish after picking up points in each stage. That'll happen — and can certainly happen this weekend — but there's still things to be encouraged by. After all, he's the only playoff driver to win at each of the remaining tracks in this round. 

9. Bubba Wallace (+3)

Season-high: 9
Season-low: Out

Comment: Man, it really looked for a while there that Wallace might be the first driver to lock himself into the Round of 8, but alas. It was still one of the best runs of his career, and the finish could've been much worse (see Larson, Kyle) but it'll still sting. That said, anybody happen to know who won the 2021 fall race at Talladega?

8. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14

Comment: Texas was likely a missed opportunity for the 1.5-mile master, but it could've been way worse after Truex was inadvertently rear-ended during a stage caution. He recovered to finish 17th, but it's not the result he was looking for a week ahead of heading to maybe his worst track.

7. Brad Keselowski (+2)

Season-high: 4
Season-low: Out

Comment: There's no denying Keselowski is still an elite driver, finally back in contending race cars and making the most of them, with five straight top 10s after Texas. Considering he's perhaps the best driver in the field at Talladega historically, it would be a fitting conclusion if all the pieces finally clicked into place for his first win since 2021 this weekend.

6. Ross Chastain (+4)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10

Comment: Chastain is doing exactly what he should be doing. After dialing back the aggression in the late spring, we've seen a recalibration of sorts in the No. 1 driver where he's not forcing his way to the front of the field as much (laps led in just three races since his Nashville win in June) but instead focusing on maximizing points, and it's working — he's currently plus-12 to the elimination line. This weekend is a situation where it can be both, and we'll likely see last year's spring 'Dega winner lead laps on Sunday. And maybe punch a Round of 8 ticket.

5. Chris Buescher (+1)

Season-high: 2
Season-low: Out

Comment: Buescher was headed toward a top 10 in his home state but got shuffled back to 14th in the final laps. He still picked up 38 points, however (as many as second-place finisher Chastain) and leaves the weekend third in the standings. His superspeedway and road-course skills are often heralded, so on paper, he's kind of a lock to advance at this point. On paper.

4. Christopher Bell (+1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 15

Comment: Bell didn't manage to land a fourth straight pole but did turn in a third straight finish of eighth or better to prop himself up with a decent margin to the good heading into 'Dega. He won the pole for last year's playoff race at the Alabama track as well but landed 17th after leading no laps.

3. Kyle Larson (-1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11

Comment: Larson was absolutely in control of the Texas race late, but, well, he got loose with 19 laps to go and took too much damage in the ensuing wreck. Still, he's been among the guys to beat every week and — though Talladega may not go so well for him, based on his history — he's looking like a surefire driver to advance. 

2. Denny Hamlin (-1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 12

Comment: A week after leaving Bristol Motor Speedway with one of the most infamous mic drops NASCAR has ever seen, Hamlin didn't lead a lap at Texas — but still picked up the second-most points in the race with a P5. He's not going anywhere, and the two-time Talladega winner should find his way to the front at some point on Sunday.

1. William Byron (+2)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14

Comment: This is anecdotal, but it hasn't felt like — until now — Byron has received as much championship attention as the Hamlin, Larson and Truexes of the world. It's kind of wild, considering the Texas victory was his sixth of the season, with no other driver having more than three. Sunday could be interesting, though — Byron has just one top-10 finish in the fall race at Talladega in his career.