NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series drivers competing for the 2026 championship after Tyler Reddick’s win at EchoPark Speedway and before Sunday’s DuraMax Texas Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell enters as the defending winner.
Analysis: Reddick banked a statement win at EchoPark, backing up his massive Daytona 500 victory to become the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to open the season 2-0 and putting last year’s 0-fer long in the rearview. Everything is clearly clicking to open the year and he‘s showing stellar late-race decision-making under chaos, which could translate to COTA, where he‘s already proven he can live at the front — and win.
Analysis: Elliott was unable to rebound from a near Daytona 500 triumph and back up his Georgia win last summer on Sunday at EchoPark, but he remains third in the standings after being a points machine through two weeks. He‘ll now get to take on another track that he‘s won at out in Austin, and a return to his road-course form could certainly start this weekend. Either way, it’s evident Elliott will be a major, major player in 2026.
Analysis: Blaney was in the mix at the front of the field midway through the final stage, but was still able to convert for a top 10 despite fading toward the end. The 2023 champ has a high ceiling just about everywhere, but it‘s yet to fully materialize in Austin, where he has just one top 10 and one lap led through five appearances.
Analysis: Briscoe had a bit of an up-and-down, wild ride on Sunday afternoon that, as the race‘s P2 finisher, landed on an “up.” He‘s been known to be competitive on road courses on occasion, but he hasn‘t found any sort of success at COTA since his first start there in 2021, when he finished sixth for his only top 10.
Analysis: Hamlin had the speed to contend at EchoPark and looked set to be part of the conclusion before a crash derailed his path, and he finished 13th. Not typically a road-course standout over his long and prosperous career, that has tended to be the case at COTA in its five-year run as well, with no finishes higher than 14th there.
Analysis: Byron still scored a decent 25 points despite the P28, thanks to a Stage 2 runner-up, but it‘s a far cry from a race he certainly had plans to win. Thankfully for him, another winning opportunity is right around the corner, as his last three COTA starts have yielded finishes of fifth, first and second.
Analysis: Larson had a similar story to Byron; dominant (48 laps led) but walked away with a dismal finish (32nd). He didn‘t quite have the points haul Byron did, though, nor does he go into COTA with a strong history — Larson was the inaugural runner-up there but has averaged a 23.0 finish at the track since.
Analysis: As frustrating as the first two results have probably been for Wallace, it‘s hard not to think we‘ll see him in Victory Lane quite soon as well, to match his teammate, because he‘s arguably been the stronger of the two overall for full races. Reddick will likely still have the edge this weekend, though — Wallace has a rough 29.8 average finish at COTA with no top 10s.
Analysis: Few know how to create chaos like Ross Chastain, but it‘s clear he can maneuver within it as well, never finding the exact front of the field at EchoPark nor banking any stage points, yet still finding a way to finish third as the race descended into frenzy. All the road-course focus this weekend will center around his Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen, but don‘t forget the former COTA winner could be in contention again. (And shout out to their rookie pal Connor Zilisch as well, who will likely re-enter these Power Rankings next week and quite possibly may never fall out of them again the rest of the season. Or ever.)
Analysis: Logano was not immune to the EchoPark volatility, and several incidents could have relegated him to a finish much worse than his P18 (though, with 26 laps led, he was surely hoping for more). He‘s another veteran who started off hot at COTA (P3 in 2021), but it hasn‘t clicked for him since, with no top 10s since the debut race there.
Analysis: Bell was in excellent position to battle for the win until overtime restart contact, so to walk away with 16 points while seeing race winner Reddick net 67 in this revamped format has to be a bit disheartening for him — but it showcases how crucial every race is to the rest of us. Thankfully for Bell, we‘re still in the window where he was unbelievably dominant last year, and there‘s a strong chance he‘ll be battling on Sunday to make it two in a row at COTA.
Analysis: Buescher has had a decent start to the year thus far, but hasn‘t quite been able to make his mark in either race for various reasons despite apparent speed. There‘s an excellent chance he could convert on at least a strong points day this weekend, however, as he‘s ripped off three straight top-eight finishes at COTA the past three seasons.
Analysis: Preece climbed from P26 to P9 at EchoPark, avoiding both major wreck windows and making zero pit-road mistakes in a race that punished almost everyone who did. COTA hasn‘t been a strength, though — P32 in 2023, P23 in ’24 and P33 in ’25 — and he‘s yet to show true road-course upside there. The early 2026 execution suggests his baseline is improving, but history says the ceiling at this track still needs to be proven.
Analysis: We‘re but two races into the 2026 schedule thus far and SVG already has done plenty to show that he means business and fully intends to flex that he‘s more than a one-trick specialist. After an impressive display at EchoPark, he now gets to build some serious momentum as the favorite entering the weekend at COTA. If he converts, this team could catch fire and shift the narrative.
Analysis: Hocevar is gonna Hocevar, and eventually that‘s gonna lead to the 23-year-old collecting a list of race wins as long as his rundown of enemies in the garage, but we‘re guessing that won‘t bother him one bit. Expect more aggression out of the young upstart this weekend at COTA, which has a history of rewarding rabble-rousers with their first Cup win.
Analysis: It‘s fair to wonder if Suárez has sneakily become one of the more underrated drafting-track racers in the series — and if that‘ll perhaps become even more apparent as his ties with his new Daytona 500-winning teammate (Michael McDowell) deepen — but the early 2026 results are more than promising here. We typically see him excel on road courses; however, it has oddly yet to fully show up in his Austin results (no finishes better than 24th), though he did lead 15 of 69 laps after starting on the front row there in 2022.
Analysis: Is Zane Smith as a Cup Series factor finally happening? It sure looks like it could be. After walking out of Daytona second in the standings, Smith backed it up at Atlanta with another strong showing, and it‘s possible he and Front Row Motorsports have the pieces in place to take the next leap forward. If the two-time COTA Truck Series winner keeps it rolling again this weekend, he should be firmly on everyone‘s radar.
Analysis: Though it resulted in a P17, Keselowski once again had a car more than capable of getting the job done in the draft, and RFK Racing continues its trend of bringing speed to all superspeedways of late. Where the 2012 champ hasn‘t quite found the speed necessary, however, is COTA, as Keselowski has never led a lap there or finished better than 14th.
Analysis: In a race that saw a sea of lead changes, Allmendinger was one of just four drivers to finish in the top 12 and not lead a lap. Don‘t expect that to be the case this weekend, as the road-course maven is always a threat on the twisty tracks, even if his results there have been hit — fifth, sixth in 2021, ’24 — or miss — 33rd, 34th, 30th in ’22, ’23, ’25.
Analysis: It‘s largely a product of the nature of superspeedway-style racing, but Bowman‘s first two races — where he netted just 18 points combined — probably weren‘t how he was hoping to get the ball rolling on a pivotal campaign for him. Of course, it‘s early, but No. 48 would love to get things turned around quickly before the hole deepens. Austin couldn‘t come at a better time for Bowman — he‘s been arguably the most consistent driver there so far, averaging a 5.2 finish with no results worse than ninth.