By Adam Carabine
After a brief hiatus, the Power Rankings are back. We took some time to reconfigure the way the rankings are tabulated, with a heavier focus on the most recent 5 races.
We've ranked all 34 full-time drivers in the Cup Series (there are 36 charters, but the Rick Ware 15 and Kaulig 16 have rotating drivers, so they're excluded).
Rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs.
Austin Dillon – This week: 34th – Last week: --
His best finish in the last five races was 19th, both at Chicago and Sonoma. I wouldn’t call him a road course ringer, but his other finishes were worse than 30th.
Zane Smith – This week: 33rd – Last week: --
Things have been getting better for Zane Smith over the last little while, but it will take a while to dig out of the hole he dug in the first half of the season. P2 at Nashville the week before last is a great place to turn things around.
Harrison Burton – This week: 32nd – Last week: --
This week he learned that he’d be out of the 21 car next season, but I can’t say I’m surprised. This is Burton’s third year in Cup, and it’s also statistically his worst. He’s in danger of being relegated to Xfinity if he doesn’t turn it around in this second half of the season.
John Hunter Nemechek – This week: 31st – Last week: --
This week’s P35 at Chicago was not indicative of how well he ran on the street course, but let’s not pretend it hasn’t been a disappointing year for the young driver of the 42. His best finish on the year was all the way back at COTA, and Legacy hasn’t looked like they’re gaining much ground.
Chase Briscoe – This week: 30th – Last week: --
Since the official announcement that Briscoe would be taking over the 19 in 2025, he’s finished 21st and 32nd. Not great, but I suppose the pressure is off. Yes, Briscoe is low in the Power Rankings after a rough couple of weeks, but he’s actually having his best statistical Cup Series season this year at Stewart Haas Racing.
Erik Jones – This week: 29th – Last week: --
For a minute there it looked like Jones was finding his form again after a broken back, but it hasn’t been sustained. Three of his last five finishes have been outside of the Top 25.
Austin Cindric – This week: 28th – Last week: --
So his win came 6 races ago, and since then his average finish has been around 20th. The win is huge, and he’ll happily take a spot in the playoffs as a result, but he hasn’t been super impressive.
Corey LaJoie – This week: 27th – Last week: --
I feel like I’ve seen a record number of LaJoie spins in the last few weeks. He might be the new Wrecky Spinhouse, though I’ve yet to come up with a good nickname for him.
Kyle Busch – This week: 26th – Last week: --
His 4 DNFs this season are tied for 4th amongst the Cup Series drivers. You can tell he’s frustrated. But might a P9 at Chicago be a stepping stone to right the ship?
Daniel Hemric – This week: 25th – Last week: --
Hemric is actually on the rise recently, though whether we chalk that up to him or Kaulig finding some footing is hard to tell just yet. His last two races were inside the Top 15, so that should be celebrated.
Carson Hocevar – This week: 24th – Last week: --
Considering that Hocevar is right now the points leader of his two teammates, (and that he’s still 183 points out of a playoff spot), it’s been a sorry season for Spire Motorsports, at least in the Cup Series. Hocevar seems to be able to outperform his equipment though.
Michael McDowell – This week: 23rd – Last week: --
It’s actually been a pretty productive 5 race stretch for McDowell. A few pitfalls along the way, but there’s also a P2 and a P5 in there. He’s probably unable to point his way into the playoffs, so a win will have to do it, and they seemed to think Chicago was their best chance. We’ll see!
Bubba Wallace – This week: 22nd – Last week: --
It’s feast or famine for Bubba Wallace this year. He’s got a respectable 6 Top 10s, but also 5 finishes outside the Top 25. Road Courses haven’t been his forte, but he pulled out a P13 despite being dumped by Alex Bowman early on in Chicago.
Ryan Preece – This week: 21st – Last week: --
Preece has been largely invisible this season, though he’s strangely having his best career year by average finish. The potential momentum from his P4 in Nashville was unfortunately wiped out by a P34 in Chicago.
Daniel Suarez – This week: 20th – Last week: --
His average finish in the past five races is 3 spots better than his entire season average. Does this mean he’s trending in the right direction? Possibly.
Noah Gragson – This week: 19th – Last week: --
Gragson was on an impressive run for a bit there, mid-regular season, but things have plateaued. His P14 at the Chicago Street Course was decent, but he’ll need to find another gear soon, especially as he searches for a ride for next year.
Josh Berry – This week: 18th – Last week: --
Speaking of next year’s rides, it was announced that Berry is landing at Wood Bros. in 2025 after the closure of SHR. It’s clear that Berry excels on the shorter tracks, but he’ll want to branch out into the other disciplines of Cup Series racing.
Justin Haley – This week: 17th – Last week: --
Haley isn’t going anywhere next year, or so he says, despite vastly outperforming his equipment in recent weeks. He’s only had one finish outside of the Top 16 in the last five races.
Denny Hamlin – This week: 16th – Last week: --
His three wins have him locked into the playoffs again, but these past five races have been rough. After his engine blew on Lap 2 at Sonoma, he only has one finish inside the Top 15.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 15th – Last week: --
On the flipside, Stenhouse has had a great five week stretch here, with three Top 10s. Iowa was good to him, and maybe he’s got a knack for racing in the rain after good finishes at both New Hampshire and Chicago Street.
Alex Bowman – This week: 14th – Last week: --
After winning in Chicago, Bowman felt the need to address his haters. It’s got to be tough being guy number four at Hendrick Motorsports. He’s got the 5th best average finish this year (still worst of the Hendrick crew). He’s having a career year (so is Chase Elliott). This win should quiet them for a while.
Ty Gibbs – This week: 13th – Last week: --
It’s weird to say that after a P3 in Chicago, Ty Gibbs has been underperforming in these last five races. An early issue in Sonoma knocked him out of the race, and he’s struggled to find his way since then. Chicago was a good turning point for the 54 team, and unless there are some wild winners, he should make the playoffs.
William Byron – This week: 12th – Last week: --
There’ve been a few hiccups this season for Byron and his team, but his three wins are quick to wash away any doubts. P2 at Iowa, P8 at Chicago, he’s looking really good if you ignore some of his other results in between.
Joey Logano – This week: 11th – Last week: --
It’s been a weirdly inconsistent season for Logano this year. He’s finally gotten his win to lock himself into the post-season, but without that he’d really only be 8 points above the playoff line. Yes he won in Nashville running on fumes, but 32nd at New Hampshire and 23rd in Chicago have him just outside the Top 10 in the Power Rankings.
Brad Keselowski – This week: 10th – Last week: --
Speaking of other rough stretches, Brad Keselowski has had a rough go these last five races. He’s got his win to lock him into the playoffs too, and he hasn’t had as many struggles as Logano, so he could likely have pointed his way in, but he’ll want to up his consistency in the coming weeks to prep for the post-season.
Ross Chastain – This week: 9th – Last week: --
Whether it’s a Trackhouse issue or a Chastain issue, the results haven’t quite been there this year for the Melon Man. He’s still winless on the season, and only has two Top 5s to his name just yet, but his average finish is still under 15. He’s likely to make the playoffs on points assuming no outside winners.
Todd Gilliland – This week: 8th – Last week: --
Does he belong in the Top 10? Maybe not forever, but his past five races have been stellar. His worst finish was Nashville where he was P17. He found his way into the Top 10 of the Power Rankings with a P7 in Chicago. He’s not going to make the playoffs, but he’s justifying that contract extension with FRM, that’s for sure.
Martin Truex Jr. – This week: 7th – Last week: --
Only two Top 15s in the last five races? Not great. If his luck were any worse, he’d be dead. There have been quite a few mishaps with the 19 team this season. Despite Truex routinely running near the front, the results haven’t always mirrored that.
Chris Buescher – This week: 6th – Last week: --
He’s currently sitting on the playoff line. He’s in by 45 points, but any outer winners and he’ll be in trouble. He’s likely not happy to not be able to build on his three wins in 2023, but his results have been solid. He’s had three Top 5s in the last 5 races.
Chase Elliott – This week: 5th – Last week: --
Chase is currently rocking the best average finish in the Cup Series, and has his path to the playoffs cemented by a win earlier this year at Texas. Two P18s and a P21 in the last five aren’t great, but he’ll be fine.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 4th – Last week: --
Reddick’s been a force lately. While he hasn’t won since Talladega this year, he’s consistently been in the conversation. Four of his last five finishes have been Top 10s, including a P2 from Chicago this week.
Kyle Larson – This week: 3rd – Last week: --
Larson has really run the gamut these past five weeks. He’s got his win at Sonoma (which was his third this season), and he’s also got a P34 and P39. Larson seems to be gifted at making big mistakes in key moments (as the Turn 6 tire barrier shivers in fear), but when he’s on, he’s a threat. Every. Time.
Christopher Bell – This week: 2nd – Last week: --
Somehow despite two bad finishes in a row, (36th and 37th) in the last two races, he’s still number 2 in the Power Rankings. The previous three races were all in the Top 10, including his third win of the season in New Hampshire.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 1st – Last week: --
Blaney got off the schneid in front of his entire extended family in Iowa, and has been a consistent front-runner week in and week out. If you remove his P25 in New Hampshire, the rest of this five-race stretch is filled with Top 10s. Can he hold onto the crown though?
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