One of the more interesting (and welcome) developments in NASCAR over the past several years is the increased spotlight on individual pit crews and their performance.
If William Byron's No. 24 crew hasn't earned that spotlight after their Coca-Cola 600 performance, no one deserves it.
Byron led nine times for 91 laps and finished second in NASCAR's longest race of the year thanks to a pit crew that, time and again, had such fast stops that they allowed Byron to use the launch out of the No. 1 pit stall to win the race off pit road. Late in the race, it was mentioned on the Fox Sports broadcast that Byron's crew had three of their fastest stops of the entire season and gained their driver a total of 18 spots on pit road during the course of the race.
Of course, Byron backed up his crew's performance with a runner-up in the Coke 600, continuing what has been the best year of his career. Byron is now just four points back of the Cup Series points lead in third, and he's the new leader in the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings. Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson also capitalized on an off day for points leader Ross Chastain.
Here's a look at our updated Power Rankings:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Byron | Early in the Coke 600, William Byron became the first driver this season to have led 600 or more laps. He now has 687 laps led on the season, more than 100 over Kyle Larson in second. | ||
| 2 | Bubba Wallace | Bubba Wallace has had an edge to him for a long time, and that edge was on display in his mid-race tiff with Aric Almirola. Now, he's supplementing that edge with the best streak of on-track success in his Cup career. | ||
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | -- | At the end of last year's regular season, winless Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney were duking it out for what ended up being just one spot available on points for the playoffs. This year, both Truex and Blaney can feel secure in having won a race. | |
| 4 | Kyle Larson | -- | Kyle Larson's 2023 season has been colored by a bit of a Checkers or Wreckers streak. He has two wins and five top fives, but he also now has five DNFs due to crashes after wrecking out of the Coke 600. | |
| 5 | Ross Chastain | Speaking of drivers with an edge, I hope the post-Darlington talking to he got hasn't caused Ross Chastain to lose his. Chastain was a non-factor in the Coke 600 and finished 22nd. | ||
| 6 | Ryan Blaney | It was nice to hear Ryan Blaney mention his Dad after winning the Coke 600, particularly because Charlotte is a special track for the Blaney family. The only win of Dave Blaney's NASCAR career came in the fall of 2006 in a Busch Series race at Charlotte. | ||
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | -- | As a writer by trade, I guess it falls on people like me to give Tyler Reddick's "Pass in the Grass"-esque excursion its own name. May I suggest the "Surf through the Turf"? | |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | There's only one qualm I have with Kyle Busch driving in reverse to pit road at Charlotte: When Tim Richmond did it at Pocono in 1986, he won. When Cole Trickle did it in Days of Thunder, he won the Daytona 500. Busch did it and finished sixth. | ||
| 9 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | If he keeps this up, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is going to be just fine as far as points for the playoffs go. Stenhouse currently sits 13th in points after his fifth top 10 of the season. | ||
| 10 | Christopher Bell | -- | It would've been interesting to see what Christopher Bell could have done had he not lost and spun off Turn 4. In the first half of the Coke 600, Bell was the class of the field by far on long runs. | |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick deserves a lot of credit for battling back in the Coke 600, as he was way off on handling to begin the night and nearly fell outside the top 30. He recovered to lead 19 laps and finish 11th. | ||
| 12 | Chris Buescher | It might not be enough to outrun his barrel roll in 2022, but Chris Buescher was able to make the highlight reels for the right reason this year. Buescher won Stage 2, led 12 laps overall and finished 8th. | ||
| 13 | Brad Keselowski | Brad Keselowski had a strong car in the Coke 600, but it came undone when he had a wheel issue that took him out of the top five. Things got worse when he got sideways off Turn 2, taking out Todd Gilliland and damaging his own car in the process. | ||
| 14 | Denny Hamlin | I may have said this a couple of times before, but I can't wait to see what the metrics will be on the newest episode of Denny Hamlin's podcast. I'm sure it'll be fire and brimstone. | ||
| 15 | Joey Logano | -- | Another week, another tough break late in the going for Joey Logano. Just like at Darlington, Logano was in position for a top five finish late when he got collected in Kyle Larson's spin. | |
| 16 | Ty Gibbs | Until he got collected in a wreck not of his own making, Ty Gibbs was in contention for a top five finish in his first Coke 600. And that was after running a bunch of laps in the Xfinity Series race earlier in the day. That's one of the perks of being 20 and full of youthful vigor. | ||
| 17 | Austin Dillon | Speaking to Austin Dillon this week, he mentioned that he has a skillset that's well suited for good performances in NASCAR's biggest races. That came in handy in the Coke 600, as he earned a top 10 finish. | ||
| 18 | Justin Haley | After being tabbed at the last minute to run the Xfinity race, Justin Haley did the most racing of any driver on Memorial Day. Haley completed all but one lap on Monday, which included a 15th place run in the Coke 600. | ||
| 19 | Ryan Preece | Ryan Preece was among the SHR drivers that went from completely out to lunch to the front late in the Coke 600, and he ended up with a good, solid finish. Preece ran as high as up in the top 10 before settling for 13th. | ||
| 20 | Chase Elliott | For what my opinion is worth, I agree with Denny Hamlin's assessment that Chase Elliott right hooked him, and I agree that Elliott should be parked a week. We'll see if NASCAR has the stones to make their most popular driver sit out a week. | ||
| 21 | AJ Allmendinger | A.J. Allmendinger deserves a bunch of credit for the recovery he was able to make late in the going at Charlotte. He went from more or less getting wrecked to finishing 14th. | ||
| 22 | Corey LaJoie | Sometimes, it doesn't take flashy runs to get a team where they want to go Corey LaJoie didn't make a ton of noise on his way to finishing 17th in the Coke 600, but that finish gained him three spots in the points standings and moved him up to 20th. | ||
| 23 | Harrison Burton | In the same vein as A.J. Allmendinger, Harrison Burton also deserves credit for his late race recovery. He had nowhere to go but into Allmendinger's car, but he was still able to get a respectable finish in 18th. | ||
| 24 | Aric Almirola | I may be missing a moment of two, but Aric Almirola's shove of Bubba Wallace was one of the very few times I can remember him putting his foot down on another driver. The only other time I remember was when he ripped Brian Scott following a crash at Fontana in 2014. | ||
| 25 | Daniel Suarez | After having an extremely strong car in last year's Coke 600, Daniel Suarez was nowhere to be found on his way to a 23rd place finish in this year's race. The only person at Trackhouse who had a good Monday was car owner Justin Marks, who won a Trans-Am race up at Lime Rock Park. | ||
| 26 | Todd Gilliland | Some step back in performance could have been expected for Todd Gilliland running for Rick Ware Racing this week instead of Front Row Motorsports. But it had to sting for Gilliland to have a rough race and a DNF while Zane Smith finished 10th in his usual car. | ||
| 27 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman chose a heck of a race to come back from injury, as he ran all 400 laps in the Coke 600 and had an eventful evening before finishing 12th. That's no small feat not long after suffering a fractured vertebra that he admits is still painful. | ||
| 28 | Chase Briscoe | Chase Briscoe was faring the worst out of all the SHR cars early in the Coke 600, and things got so bad that Briscoe fell a lap down. With that considered, even a 20th place finish seems like a relative accomplishment. | ||
| 29 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric became the star of the Drivers Only broadcast of the Xfinity Series rainout, as his performance as a pit reporter proved very popular. Cindric almost recovered from mid-race wall contact for a respectable Coke 600 finish, but he ended up getting spun into the inside wall and failed to finish. | ||
| 30 | Michael McDowell | Michael McDowell looked to be on his way to a top 20 run -- and potentially more -- when he had a right front wheel fall off following a pit stop. That'll be a two week vacation for two of his crewmembers. |
