
Power Rankings: No. 24 Byron begins 2024 in best way possible — with a Daytona 500 win
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series contenders after the 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and before Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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20. Noah Gragson (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 20
Season-low: Out
Comment: Gragson crashed and finished dead last in his Duel race but rebounded extremely well with his first top 10 since the summer Daytona race — in 2022. All things considered, a great start to Gragson's tenure in his new Stewart-Haas Racing digs, with a shot to keep it rolling in Georgia.
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19. Corey LaJoie (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 19
Season-low: Out
Comment: Credit where it's due — LaJoie is great at maximizing his opportunities when he has them, and he turned in his fourth career top five Monday night in NASCAR's biggest race. Two of those four have come in the last two years at Atlanta alone, so there's an excellent chance he's strong again this weekend.
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18. Erik Jones (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Top five in his Duel, top 10 in the 500 itself — That Jones Boy™️ knows how to handle things at Daytona, even in his first races with his new (old) manufacturer in Toyota. He's been sneaky-good at Atlanta lately as well (7.67 average finish last three races) and could be strong once again on Sunday.
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17. Chase Briscoe (+2)
Season-high: 17
Season-low: 19
Comment: Every indication from the past few months is that Briscoe is ready to take the reins at SHR, and he backed that up at Daytona with top 10s in both his Duel and the 500 to open the year. He's a bit of an underrated superspeedway driver, and perhaps he'll get more attention after this weekend if he's able to turn in his first Atlanta top 10 in his seventh try.
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16. Chase Elliott (+1)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: 17
Comment: While Elliott didn't land in the top 10, he did earn a stage win and walked out of Daytona with the same amount of points scored as fourth-place finisher Corey LaJoie. He now gets to head home to Georgia for a weekend that shapes up quite well for him to make his long-awaited return to Victory Lane.
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15. Brad Keselowski (-4)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 15
Comment: Keselowski had a car that could compete and certainly a lot of eyes on him as one of the race favorites but ultimately was caught up in the late, big wreck and finished with just four total points. He's produced historically at Atlanta no matter the layout, so a superspeedway rebound this weekend should be in store for one of 2024's sleepers.
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14. Ross Chastain (-2)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 14
Comment: Chastain is going to do what Chastain does — aggressively try to win races — and No. 1 did just that at the end of the Daytona 500. It didn't work out, but it definitely will this year ... and why not this weekend at Atlanta?
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13. Alex Bowman (+2)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: 15
Comment: All four Hendrick drivers looked competitive at Daytona, which is pretty less-than-encouraging news for the rest of the field — there's a legit chance the Chevrolet organization comprises a quarter of the NASCAR Playoffs field. We're a ways away from that reality, but Bowman's rebound campaign is off to a great start with a Daytona 500 runner-up. He got off to a hot start last year as well; it's just a matter of if he keeps it rolling.
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12. Chris Buescher (+1)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 13
Comment: Like his boss and teammate Keselowski, Buescher is likely looking at Daytona as a missed opportunity compared to the expectations heading into it. He led 39 laps at Atlanta last year, however, and should have just as good of a shot to compete this weekend in race No. 2.
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11. Bubba Wallace (+3)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 14
Comment: If Wallace winds up finishing his career without a Daytona 500 win, just know it ain't from a lack of trying. No. 23 turned in yet another close-but-no-cigar top five in the "Great American Race," and he'll have to settle for just a strong season-starter. He'll look to carry that momentum forward and turn in his first top-10 finish at Atlanta this weekend.
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10. Tyler Reddick (-2)
Season-high: and 8
Season-low: 10
Comment: After turning in a compelling victory in his Duel race earlier in the week, Reddick lined up as a driver to watch in the 500 — before failing to lead a lap in the race and getting wrecked out on Lap 192. Tough break, but he turned in a top five last spring at Atlanta, so a quick rebound could be in order.
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9. Martin Truex Jr. (+1)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 10
Comment: Truex Jr. likely doesn't have many Daytona 500s left in him, so Monday's top 15 wasn't anything special but was a reasonable, 24-point-day to start his season in a race that saw late chaos. He doesn't have many other items left to check off his list, but a win at Atlanta actually is one of them; he's looked extremely strong there at times, especially the past decade, but Victory Lane has eluded the future Hall of Famer.
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8. Ty Gibbs (-1)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 8
Comment: Gibbs wasn't able to follow his electric performance (and post-race fireworks) on display at The Clash, winding up 17th in the 500 after a decent Duel run. He turned in a top 10 in his first Atlanta race last spring, so continue to keep an eye on him in the early going here.
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7. Joey Logano (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 7
Comment: Logano once again looked like he's going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2024, leading a race-high 45 laps in the Daytona 500 before getting caught up in the late mess and ruining his finish. He enters as the reigning Atlanta winner, and you get the feeling he's going to be one of the drivers to lock himself into the playoffs early this year.
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6. Kyle Busch (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 6
Comment: Like every year, it looked for a bit like Busch might get the Daytona 500 monkey off his back and, like every year, it wound up not happening. Still, the No. 8 team led laps and overcame several issues to land 12th and score a strong 37 points. If this team and driver keep that level of grit and speed all year, watch out.
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5. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 5
Comment: No first Daytona 500 win for the defending Cup champ and one of the heavy race favorites, and Blaney will be ready to put the weekend behind him in short order. Atlanta should offer a sigh of relief for him; No. 12 won this race in 2021 and owns a nice 6.9 average fiinsh there over the past seven races.
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4. Christopher Bell (+5)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 9
Comment: It won't be long before Bell is commonly talked about as one of the sport's superspeedway aces, and he really looked the part throughout Daytona Speedweeks. Fresh off a third-place run to open the season, No. 20 will look to match last year's spring Atlanta result (also P3). Or better it.
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3. Kyle Larson (-1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 3
Comment: Larson finished just outside the top 10 (11th), but Monday night actually marked one of his better showings at Daytona, where he's averaged a finish of 22.1. He's got two runner-ups at Atlanta (2017, '21) but has stumbled a bit there lately with a 25.6 average finish over the last five races.
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2. Denny Hamlin (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 2
Comment: It was a Daytona 500, so you knew the No. 11 would find its way to the front of the field at some point, and Hamlin did just that despite fading to 19th by the end. He'd love to win again at Atanta, where he visited Victory Lane nearly 14 years ago.
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1. William Byron (+3)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: In case there were any doubters still out there, Byron has fully arrived (honestly, well before Monday) and is a bona fide NASCAR superstar. The limit does not exist on his potential and, oh, guess what? He's the most recent Atlanta winner and went to Victory Lane in this race in 2022.