Martin Truex Jr. keeps top spot in NASCAR Power Rankings entering..

Regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. keeps the top spot in this week’s NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings as he returns to the playoffs.

This week’s rankings also sees a Joe Gibbs Racing driver get back into the top 10 while an RFK Racing driver continues his steady rise up the rankings.

NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS

1. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 1st) — He won stage 1 at Daytona and then finished 24th. He didn’t have to battle for the win or points after clinching the regular-season championship at the end of stage 2. Now Truex takes on the playoff schedule as the co-No. 1 seed.

2. William Byron (4) — He finished eighth at Daytona and capped off a career-best regular season that featured five trips to Victory Lane. He enters the playoffs with 36 playoff points, the same number as Truex. Next up is Darlington. Byron won the spring race.

3. Denny Hamlin (2) — He was in contention for the stage 1 win. He finished second behind Truex. He was penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon on Lap 81 and then involved in a crash at the end of stage 2. He finished 26th and one lap down. He enters the playoffs as the third seed, and he faces a schedule featuring tracks where he has won a combined 26 times.

4. Chris Buescher (5) — No driver is riding more momentum entering the playoffs than Buescher. He has won three races in the past five weeks, and he has moved up to fourth in the playoff standings. He is poised to make a deep run in the playoffs in only his second appearance.

5. Kyle Larson (3) —He finished 27th and two laps down after being involved in the crash at the end of stage 2. This was the first Daytona race he has finished since the 2021 Daytona 500. Now he enters the playoffs as the sixth seed. The only tracks on the playoff schedule where Larson has not won Cup races are Talladega and Darlington.

6. Brad Keselowski (6) — He finished second after pushing Buescher to the win at Daytona. Went winless during the regular season, but he enters the playoffs as the ninth seed. He has top-10 finishes in three of the past five races as RFK Racing has peaked at the right time.

7. Bubba Wallace (7) — He finished 12th at Daytona and made the playoffs for the first time in his career. He does not have any playoff points to lean on heading to Darlington, but he faces a schedule full of tracks where he has strong performances. This includes a top five at Darlington this spring, a win at Kansas last fall and a win a Talladega in 2021.

8. Kyle Busch (8) — He finished seventh at Daytona and continued a two-week stretch of solid performances. He enters the playoffs as the fifth seed, so he has points to lean on. But the No. 8 team still seeks consistency.

9. Chase Elliott (9) — Missed the playoffs for the first time as a Cup driver after finishing fourth at Daytona. He still has wins to pursue with the No. 9 in the owner championship. He has two top-five finishes in the past three races, and he returns to Darlington where he finished third in the spring.

10. Christopher Bell (NR) — He has flown under the radar since winning the dirt race at Bristol, but he only has one fewer top-10 finish (13) and one fewer top five (six) than he had in the 2022 regular season. He is the seventh seed entering the playoffs, and he heads to the opening race with previous Championship 4 experience.