NASCAR power rankings: Wild Daytona race fails to dramatically alter top of order

Always expect the unexpected when it comes to NASCAR's superspeedway tracks.

Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway proved the point, as Harrison Burton — 34th in points entering the race — won and no driver from the top six of last week's power rankings finished better than 21st.

Blame nearly all of those bad finishes from the top dogs on accidents outside of their control, and for that reason, there's surprisingly little movement at the front of the field.

Here's where things stand as the Cup Series looks ahead to Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the final race in the regular season.

1. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 1)

Reddick holds serve at the top despite seeing his streak of top-six finishes end with a 28th-place crash DNF in Daytona. It's hard to put much stock into superspeedway results in analyzing the grand scheme of things, and Reddick is still the hottest driver in the sport. He should get back on track at Darlington, where he led 174 laps and contended for a win earlier this season.

2. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 2)

Blaney was in the mix in the closing stages at Daytona before he was taken out in the same wreck as Reddick. That sequence started when Michael McDowell was spun in front of the field and caught major air . It's not fair to penalize Blaney for the random nature of superspeedway racing, especially when the drivers immediately behind him in the rankings suffered similar fates.

3. Kyle Larson (Last week: 5)

Larson gained a pair of spots despite his involvement in multiple accidents and a 21st-place finish. He fought his way back to the front after being caught up in the first "Big One" and suffered damage again later, ending his hopes for a win. He'll have a great shot this week, though, as the defending Southern 500 winner.

4. Chase Elliott (Last week: 3)

Elliott's night ended early after he was caught up in the first big accident, which was triggered by Corey LaJoie getting into the back of Noah Gragson. It was Elliott's first DNF this season, and his 36th-place finish is his first result worse than 21st in 2024. It just goes to show that nobody can avoid the bad luck monster forever.

5. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 4)

It was not the best of weeks for Hamlin, who was penalized 75 points for a technical infraction and then suffered a crash DNF from the same wreck that took out Elliott. Though many were outside of his control, Hamlin's six finishes of 24th or worse in the past 10 races are not great heading into the playoffs. He always seems to be a threat at Darlington, though, with four career wins and nearly 1,000 laps led, so he'll have one more shot to end the regular season on a high note.

6. Bubba Wallace (Last week: 7)

Wallace is on fire lately, finishing sixth at Daytona after leading 16 laps. Sadly, yet another winner from outside the playoff picture means that his task at Darlington is going to be difficult. For the final playoff spot, he sits 21 points behind Chris Buescher, who nearly won at Darlington in the spring. Still, that shouldn't take away from the roll the No. 23 team is on.

7. Christopher Bell (Last week: 9)

After a hot-and-cold season plagued by bad luck, Bell finally found some good fortune, finishing third on a night when he was hardly visible. He avoided the chaos and was in a good position at the end, but he came up just short of his fourth 2024 win.

8. William Byron (Last week: 6)

Byron was a victim of the night's most violent wreck , one in which Josh Berry flipped over and hit the inside wall while on his roof. Byron, who won the Daytona 500 in February, finished 27th and will look to regain momentum at Darlington before the playoffs begin.

9. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 11)

Keselowski was a contender late at Daytona, but he fell out of contention when he was penalized for jumping a restart in the closing laps. In a way, that ended up helping him, though — it allowed him to escape through the wrecks and finish a solid eighth. Now, he'll head to the track he won at earlier this season.

10. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 10)

Gibbs had just the night he needed in Daytona, escaping the wrecks and finishing fifth to put himself in a fairly safe position playoff-wise. He's 39 points above Wallace and 18 ahead of Buescher, so barring a disastrous night in Darlington or an unexpected winner, he should be part of the 16-man postseason grid after this weekend.

11. Joey Logano (Last week: 14)

As he always is on superspeedways, Logano was one of the primary threats in Daytona, leading a race-high 34 laps. Unfortunately for him, his night ended when he plowed into the side of a spinning McDowell in the second big accident of the race and finished 31st. That's Logano's third finish outside the top 30 in the past four races.

12. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 8)

Truex's nightmare of a farewell campaign continued Saturday, this time with a forgettable race. He suffered minor damage in the first wreck and then experienced two flat tires, causing him to finish a few laps down in 24th. No driver in NASCAR needs a "get right" race at Darlington more than Truex.

13. Kyle Busch (Last week: 15)

Busch has finally found life in 2024 these past couple of weeks, backing up his fourth-place result in Michigan with a runner-up effort at Daytona. But it's not going to be enough to save his season barring a win this weekend. Busch got passed for the lead on the final lap, a stinging occurrence for Rowdy Nation.

14. Chris Buescher (Last week: 13)

Buescher dropped down a spot this week, but of all the playoff bubble drivers, he had by far the best outcome. He finished 10th despite minor damage in one of the wrecks, and at 21 points above the playoff cutline , all he needs at Darlington is a clean, uneventful race and hope that no one behind him in points wins.

15. Ross Chastain (Last week: 12)

Chastain's season is on life support. He finished a solid 12th in Daytona, but he sits 27 points outside the playoffs . Although he can still mathematically make it, he must treat Darlington as a must-win situation. Fortunately for Chastain, Darlington is a track where he is very much capable of winning, but this is not the way he and Trackhouse Racing envisioned their season.

16. Harrison Burton (Last week: not ranked)

Sure, it's a bad look for the 34th-place driver in points to be part of the playoffs, but give Burton credit. He did everything right in Daytona, running a clean and methodical race to give himself a shot at the end, and then he outdueled one of the sport's all-time greats in Busch on the final lap. Hate the game, but don't hate the player in this instance — Saturday was a special moment for Burton.

Dropped out : Daniel Suarez