Three Up, Three Down: Drivers in focus leaving EchoPark

Sunday's Autotrader 400 from EchoPark Speedway made for high-banked high drama, but with a familiar race winner in Daytona 500 champ Tyler Reddick. The 23XI Racing driver is now 2-for-2 to open the NASCAR Cup Series season with a chance to make it three straight in Sunday's road-course show at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Below Reddick and 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace, the Cup Series standings look like they've been through a rock tumbler after two consecutive drafting-track events. Here's a look at three drivers on the right side of the early season momentum wave and three more in need of a boost after leaving the Atlanta-area track. RELATED: Race results | At-track photos THREE UP ⬆️ 1. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Started: 34th Finished: 2nd What happened: Briscoe made a nearly complete flip-flop of his starting and finishing positions from Daytona, where he set off from the outside of the front row and ended up 36th with a damaged race car. A qualifying washout at EchoPark left him mired deep in the field for Sunday's start, but he methodically worked his way into contention, even netting stage points with a third-place result after the second stanza. "Even all of the situations that happened," Briscoe said, "everything kind of worked out in my favor." What's next: Sunday's outcome provided Briscoe and the No. 19 team with a 22-spot jump to 15th in the Cup Series standings -- the largest points leap of any driver leaving the EchoPark track. Briscoe has won twice on road courses in his O'Reilly Auto Parts Series career, but he's seeking his first top-five finish at the Austin circuit. [caption id="attachment_501886" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] 2. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Started: 15th Finished: 4th What happened: Hocevar's late-race effort to increase the intensity level at EchoPark grabbed its share of the headlines, but an impressive rally put his No. 77 Chevy in that position. Hocevar recovered after a flat tire at the midpoint of Stage 1, losing two laps and dropping to the back of the pack. Two free passes placed him back in the thick of it, and the 23-year-old talent did the rest. What's next: Sunday marked two consecutive events where Hocevar contended late, fueling the thought that a breakthrough Cup win may not be far away for the series' 2024 Rookie of the Year. If it happens at COTA, it would reverse some recent road-course rough patches; his last six road-racing finishes have been outside the top 10. [caption id="attachment_501884" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] 3. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Started: 6th Finished: 7th What happened: The 26-year-old driver has launched a steady start to his third full season in the Cup Series, opening with results of (ahem) sixth and seventh. At EchoPark, his No. 38 Mustang caught a piece of a pileup in the 103rd of 271 laps, but went relatively unscathed -- more than many could say on such a chaotic day -- the rest of the way. What's next: Sunday marked the first time Smith has notched top-10 finishes in consecutive Cup Series races, and it leaves him as the only driver outside of the 23XI family with two top 10s this year. At COTA, he has just two Cup Series starts, but ranks as a two-time winner there in Craftsman Truck Series competition. [caption id="attachment_501890" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Ethan Smith | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] THREE DOWN ⬇️ 1. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Started: 16th Finished: 32nd What happened: A rare unforced error brought an end to the day for the defending Cup Series champion, who dove low into the path of Shane van Gisbergen's No. 97 Chevrolet on the last lap of Stage 2. SVG went on to rally for a sixth-place result on the 1.54-mile track, but the heavy damage to Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet ended up being terminal. What's next: Larson's first DNF since last May's Coca-Cola 600 netted him a six-place drop in the Cup Series standings just two races into the year. Six of Larson's 32 Cup wins have come on road courses, but Circuit of The Americas has presented more challenges for him than others, with four straight finishes outside the top 10 there heading into Sunday's race. [caption id="attachment_501887" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Ethan Smith | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet Started: 3rd Finished: 36th What happened: The tables turned in a two-week hurry for Stenhouse, who just last week finished one position short of becoming a two-time Daytona 500 winner. That result gave him a prime third-place starting spot for Sunday at EchoPark after a qualifying cancellation, but he washed out in Stage 2 after his No. 47 Chevy was collected in a multicar thicket. What's next: With a small sample size this season, Stenhouse plummeted from fifth to 22nd in the standings after his third DNF in the last four drafting-style races. Strikingly, he has just one top-10 finish in 45 Cup Series road-course starts, and that came at COTA with a seventh-place day in 2023. [caption id="attachment_501888" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Ethan Smith | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption] 3. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Started: 25th Finished: 37th What happened: Gibbs' No. 54 was left with little place to go after a four-wide squeeze caused a Stage 2 calamity at the end of the backstretch. The crash meant an early exit for both the 23-year-old driver and Josh Berry, who was also sidelined after completing just 81 laps in the Autotrader 400. What's next: Gibbs has solid road-racing chops, and four of his 12 victories in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series came on twisty-type layouts. Summoning some of that road-course savvy will be key to pulling himself out of an early deficit in the Cup Series standings, where he ranks 33rd after two wrecks in two races to start the year. [caption id="attachment_501889" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Ethan Smith | NASCAR Digital Media[/caption]