Kyle Larson explains what happened in the accident with Ryan Blaney after a terribble..

It’s great to make it to the Championship 4 the way that Christopher Bell did it in 2022. It’s even better to do it the way he’s managed to this year.

In last year’s NASCAR playoffs, Bell faced two do-or-die scenarios in a row as he entered both the final race of the Round of 12 and the Round of 8 needing to win to advance to the next round. He did just that at the Charlotte Roval, then did it again at Martinsville on his way to a third-place finish in the final championship standings. This year, though, has been a different story for Bell and his team — especially in the Round of 8.

After missing out on a win at Las Vegas by only a car-length, Bell came right back at Homestead-Miami Speedway to charge to the front late and take the win, putting him in the Championship 4 for the second year in a row and making next weekend’s elimination race at Martinsville a non-issue. That’s earned Bell the top spot over several of his other playoff rivals in this week’s CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.

Here’s a look at our updated Power Rankings:

RANK	DRIVER	CHANGE	COMMENT
1	Christopher Bell		Of Christopher Bell’s six career victories in Cup, three of them have now come in the final five races of both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Winning at the most opportune of occasions is a special quality in a driver, and it’s why Bell will be in the Championship 4 for the second straight year.
2	William Byron	—	William Byron should sleep the easiest of any playoff driver not yet locked into the Championship 4 entering Martinsville. He has a 30-point cushion on the cut line, and some more stage points — barring a complete disaster — should be enough to get him to the Championship 4 on at least his point total.
3	Kyle Larson		It’s been a long time since we’ve seen one of the race leaders make as big a gaffe coming to pit road during green flag stops as Kyle Larson did at Homestead. The last similar incident I can remember came back at Dover in 2004, when Matt Kenseth spun entering pit road and ended up perched on a guardrail after hitting a tire barrier.
4	Ryan Blaney		The one knock on Ryan Blaney in the playoffs is that he’s never made it to the Championship 4, but it’s important to note he’s never entered the final race of the Round of 8 above the cut line. He doesn’t have to play catchup this time, as he’s 10 points to the good on Tyler Reddick to make the Championship 4 for the first time.
5	Tyler Reddick	—	Tyler Reddick finished third at Homestead, but it wasn’t the finish he needed, nor is Martinsville the racetrack he needs to see to try and make the Championship 4. An eighth-place run in spring 2021 is Reddick’s only Martinsville finish better than 16th.
6	Denny Hamlin		Contrasted with Tyler Reddick, Martinsville is just the place for Denny Hamlin to undo the damage a steering failure at Homestead did to his championship hopes. Hamlin excels at Martinsville, as evidenced by his five career wins there.
7	Bubba Wallace		Next weekend at Martinsville will mark 10 years since Bubba Wallace earned his first career Truck Series win at Martinsville, a career milestone for him and also the first win by a Black driver in NASCAR’s modern era. Wallace also won the next year in 2014 driving a tribute to Wendell Scott, the only other Black driver to have won a Cup race.
8	Joey Logano		Sunday at Homestead was a testament to the team crew chief Paul Wolfe has put together, as Joey Logano was able to drive a backup car to an eighth-place finish after crashing in practice on Saturday. Logano will now try to play spoiler at Martinsville, where he finished second back in the springtime.
9	Ross Chastain		Ross Chastain’s race was the one most adversely effected by Kyle Larson’s pit road accident, as Chastain went from on his way to a top-10 run to being trapped a lap down and having to take the wave around. An accident shortly afterward would end Chastain’s day.
10	Kyle Busch		Homestead marked a step back for Kyle Busch, who really wasn’t heard from on his way to an 18th-place finish. That comes after three-straight third-place finishes, but it’s at least better than the two-race stretch of finishes outside the top 20 that knocked him out of the Round of 12.
11	Kevin Harvick		Next weekend, Kevin Harvick will make his final start at NASCAR’s oldest track as the oldest driver in the field. His lone Martinsville win came in spring 2011, when he passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with four laps to go for his second of four wins that season.
12	Chris Buescher		Chris Buescher and his team picked a really bad time to have a complete off day, as Buescher never really sniffed relevance before finishing 21st at Homestead. His playoff hopes come down to how he runs at Martinsville, where he only has one top-10 finish in his Cup career.
13	Brad Keselowski		Kyle Larson’s pit road accident also spoiled Brad Keselowski’s day, as he would go from top-five pace and a likely top-10 day to finishing laps down in 28th following an accident and broken toe link. Keselowski had a top-five finish at Martinsville last fall, but he ended up failing post-race tech inspection and was disqualified.
14	AJ Allmendinger		A fifth-place finish at Homestead marked the 20th top-five finish in AJ Allmendinger’s Cup Series career. Two of those top fives have come at Martinsville, where Dinger ran second in the spring of 2012 and 2016.
15	Chase Elliott	—	Chase Elliott made his return from injury at Martinsville back in the springtime, finishing 10th and offering some hope that his 2023 wouldn’t be the lost season it’s become. Elliott’s lone Martinsville win in fall 2020 was a walk-off victory that set up his Cup championship triumph that year.
16	Martin Truex Jr.		Much like his teammate, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. will be glad Martinsville is the place where he can erase the ill effects of a DNF at Homestead. Truex has won three times at Martinsville, all of which have come since fall 2019.
17	Aric Almirola		A ninth-place finish at Homestead marked Almirola’s fourth top-10 finish of the 2023 season. The first of those came right at Martinsville in the springtime, where Almirola ran sixth.
18	Daniel Suarez		It’s always good to have a decent day in front of your celebrity boss. Trackhouse Racing co-owner Pitbull made it out to Homestead, and Suarez ended up leading the way for Trackhouse with a 16th-place finish.
19	Ryan Preece		Given the way he’s run over the past six races and the way he ran at Martinsville in the spring, don’t be surprised if Ryan Preece contends for the win next week. In the springtime, Preece won the pole and led the opening 135 laps before a pit road speeding penalty set him back in the field.
20	Ty Gibbs		Martinsville will mark the one-year anniversary of a major turning point in Ty Gibbs’ young career. A dump-and-run of teammate Brandon Jones ensured Gibbs a win in the Xfinity race, but it was an enormously unpopular move that Gibbs is still working to earn respect back after.
21	Corey LaJoie		Martinsville Speedway is the site of Corey LaJoie’s most recent NASCAR victory. Last fall, LaJoie entered and won the Whelen Modified Tour race at Martinsville driving for NASCAR mainstay Mike Curb.
22	Alex Bowman		It’s been two years since Alex Bowman got called a hack at Martinsville, and somehow that feels like sweeter and happier times for the driver of the No. 48. Since then, Bowman has had only a single win early in the 2022 season.
23	Austin Dillon		Homestead was as good a run as Austin Dillon has had all season, as he threatened for a top-five run at one point before earning a 10th-place finish. The biggest setback of Dillon’s 2023 season was Martinsville in the springtime, as his team received an L1-level penalty for an illegal underwing assembly following that race.
24	Erik Jones		Erik Jones picked himself and Legacy Motor Club back up off the mat at Homestead after a series of poor finishes interrupted the improvement the team showed in September. Jones’ 14th-place finish was his first better than 24th since he finished third at Kansas.
25	Michael McDowell		Unfortunately for Michael McDowell and his team, their performance has continued to tail off since their exit from the playoffs in the Round of 16. McDowell’s 22nd-place finish at Homestead was his third outside the top 20 in the last four races.
26	Justin Haley		Unfortunately for Justin Haley, Martinsville week might be something he has to suffer through. In five career Cup starts there, he’s never finished any better than 27th.
27	Austin Cindric		Team Penske’s improved performance the past several weeks has started to rub off a bit on Austin Cindric. A 12th-place run at Homestead marked Cindric’s best finish on a non-superspeedway oval since the same finish back at Michigan.
28	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Much like Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has had a rough go of things since being bou