NASCAR Power Rankings: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the field to start 2023 after his Daytona 500 win

Of all those drivers who throughout history have been able to call themselves a champion of the Daytona 500, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has perhaps one of the more fascinating and compelling narratives surrounding his victory.

Designated as a rising star out of Jack Roush’s highly successful development program in the late 2000s, Stenhouse struggled so greatly in his first half of his rookie year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series that he was pulled from his ride after a spin in qualifying caused him to fail to make the grid for a race at Nashville. He then had a massive turnaround the second half of the year to win Rookie of the Year honors, then won the series championship each of the next two years on his way to Cup.

By the time Stenhouse won Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 2013, it looked like he had it made and would be a contender for years to come. But Roush then went into decline, Stenhouse only won twice in seven seasons, and he was cast off to JTG Daugherty Racing by 2020 — Where he had seemingly settled into a reputation as an occasional overachiever with a penchant for being overaggressive and causing crashes.

Now, Stenhouse’s Daytona 500 victory gives him a permanent place in NASCAR history. And in the 2023 season, it gives him the first berth in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as well as the top spot in the very first edition of CBS Sports’ NASCAR Power Rankings for the new season.

RankDriverChangeComment1Ricky Stenhouse Jr.indicator_neutralRicky Stenhouse Jr. finally broke through in the Daytona 500 after coming close to winning several times before. He was the polesitter in 2020 and was extremely fast with a chance to win in 2022.2Joey Loganoindicator_neutralBy half a carlength, Joey Logano missed out on becoming the first defending Cup champion to win the Daytona 500 in over 20 years. That hasn’t happened since 2000, when Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500 after winning the Cup title the previous year.3Brad Keselowskiindicator_neutralFor the second straight year, Brad Keselowski led the most laps in the Daytona 500. For the third-straight year, he would see his dreams of winning dashed in the final laps.4Christopher Bellindicator_neutralFor someone who doesn’t see themselves as a good speedway racer, Christopher Bell had performed well during Speedweeks. He was second in his Duel qualifying race and then proceeded to finish third in the Daytona 500.5Kyle Buschindicator_neutralIn almost 20 years of trying, Kyle Busch has had opportunities to win the Daytona 500 that went haywire. This time around, where he led at Lap 200 but couldn’t hold the lead in overtime, might be the most painful.6Chris Buescherindicator_neutralRFK Racing drivers combined to lead 74 laps in the Daytona 500. 32 of those were led by Chris Buescher, who ended up with a top five Daytona 500 finish for the third time in his career.7Alex Bowmanindicator_neutralAlex Bowman broke a surprisingly long 0-for streak with a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500. Doing so, he became the first Daytona 500 polesitter to finish in the top five since Bill Elliott did it in 2001.8Martin Truex Jr.indicator_neutralOvershadowed by Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski’s efforts to win the Daytona 500 has been Martin Truex’s struggles to win. Truex led 13 laps in this year’s 500, but his chances to win ended with a late-race accident.9Ross Chastainindicator_neutralRoss Chastain signed a long-term contract extension with Trackhouse Racing, won a stage, and then finished ninth in the Daytona 500. Not a bad Speedweeks at all.10Kyle Larsonindicator_neutralRicky Stenhouse’s Daytona 500-winning move was made possible by the fact that Kyle Larson went with him to push him by Joey Logano. That sort of thing is currency among drivers, meaning Stenhouse now owes Larson in a big way.11Daniel Suarezindicator_neutralThe sequence of events that created the longest Daytona 500 in history was triggered when Daniel Suarez spun off Turn 4 coming to two laps to go. He was none the worse for wear, as he would make it through double overtime with a seventh-place finish.12Denny Hamlinindicator_neutralThe trend towards unpredictable Daytona 500 winners has made Denny Hamlin’s feat of three wins in a five year period that much more impressive. Hamlin led six laps in this year’s 500 before getting wrecked on the final lap.13Aric Almirolaindicator_neutralAric Almirola left Speedweeks with a trophy from his Duel win, and he also led 16 laps in the Daytona 500. Unfortunately, he also triggered the race-deciding crash on the final lap and finished 21st.14Ryan Blaneyindicator_neutralRyan Blaney’s Daytona 500 will be worth a lot in the grand scheme of NASCAR’s regular season. Though he crashed and went laps down, he recovered to finish eighth and set a baseline for his pursuit of a regular season championship.15A.J. Allmendingerindicator_neutralAJ Allmendinger’s decision to block a line of traffic as he was going a lap down near the end of stage one was a risky maneuver that breached racing etiquette and could have caused a huge crash. But it had the intended effect for him, as he was able to get the free pass when the caution came out and he went on to finish sixth.16Kevin Harvickindicator_neutralThat’ll do it for Kevin Harvick’s career in the Daytona 500. The 2007 champion of The Great American Race battled through crash damage in his final 500 appearance and finished 12th.17Corey LaJoieindicator_neutralCorey LaJoie started his season with a 16th place finish in the Daytona 500, but his Speedweeks before that likely left him wanting more. LaJoie was fifth in his Duel race and then led the most laps in the Truck Series race.18Chase Briscoeindicator_neutralChase Briscoe was among several strong Fords in the Daytona 500, as he led a total of five laps while running in a group with them. But he and several other Fords would crash out together as well, leaving Briscoe 35th.19Ryan Preeceindicator_neutralRyan Preece played a big factor in Fords controlling the middle portion of the Daytona 500, and he himself would lead four laps. It was as strong a performance as we’ve seen in some time from a No. 41 team that has struggled the past two seasons.20Cody Wareindicator_neutralDaytona has become Cody Ware’s very best racetrack in Cup. Since the start of 2022, Ware has had 17th, sixth, and 14th place finishes at the World Center of Racing.21Austin Dillonindicator_neutralIn a perfect world for RCR, Austin Dillon would have played good teammate for Kyle Busch the final two laps and been resolved to push him to a 1-2 finish for the company. It would have been the reverse of last summer’s Daytona race, where Dillon was pushed to victory by then-teammate Tyler Reddick.22William Byronindicator_neutralWilliam Byron gave Hendrick Motorsports their best opportunity to win the Daytona 500, something they haven’t done in almost a decade. The last Hendrick driver to win the Daytona 500 was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014.23Bubba Wallaceindicator_neutralIt would have been fascinating to see what kind of Daytona 500 Bubba Wallace would have had if he hadn’t hit the wall after taking the lead. Wallace’s car was clearly very fast in the draft, but it had too much drag to lead effectively.24Harrison Burtonindicator_neutralHarrison Burton almost had a golden opportunity to win the Daytona 500 fall right into his lap when the caution came out after a cycle of green flag stops. Unfortunately, the field quickly ganged up on the still-inexperienced Burton after he led on the ensuing restart.25Austin Cindricindicator_neutralWhere Austin Cindric’s 2022 Daytona 500 was charmed, his defense of Daytona in 2023 was decidedly less so. Cindric had issues with a loose hood and then was eliminated in a crash in overtime.26Noah Gragsonindicator_neutralMajor bag alert: The highlight of Noah Gragson’s Daytona 500 had to be him sporting a big Wendy’s hat and big Wendy’s bag in pre-race. He finished 24th.27Ty Gibbsindicator_neutralWhile Ty Gibbs has been outstanding since entering NASCAR in 2021, his record on superspeedways has been quite uneven to date. That continued in the Daytona 500, as Gibbs had a challenging race on his way to 25th at the finish.28Chase Elliottindicator_neutralOf all the contenders to see their Daytona 500 hopes be dashed in crashes, Chase Elliott had to be the most prominent. Elliott was eliminated in the first big wreck of the day on Lap 117.29Todd Gillilandindicator_neutralTodd Gilliland was outstanding in his Duel race and had a chance to win, and he was also able to score a stage point in the Daytona 500 itself. But late race crashes would leave him a disappointing 27th.30Erik Jonesindicator_neutralBased on his record on superspeedways in 2022, Erik Jones seemed like a comfortable sleeper pick in the Daytona 500. It was not to be, as Jones crashed out on Lap 117 and finished 37th.