By Adam Carabine
We’re finally back after the Olympic break. Let’s take a look at where the drivers stand currently in the Power Rankings after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.
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, with most emphasis on the last 5 races
Harrison Burton – This week: 34th – Last week: 31st
Burton has had a slow season, and a P36 at Indianapolis sends him to the very back of the pack.
Austin Dillon – This week: 33rd – Last week: 33rd
Dillon’s 2024 season has been rough too, and while a P13 at Indy helps, it’s too little, too late. RCR seems on the brink of an implosion.
Zane Smith – This week: 32nd – Last week: 34th
Zane Smith has been on the upswing lately, with an average finish of 19th over the last 5 races. (His average finish in the previous 17 races was a measly 28th). At this point it’s about building some positive momentum for next season.
John Hunter Nemechek – This week: 31st – Last week: 30th
Things at Legacy Motor Club have been a little lacking all season, but particularly for Nemechek in the last five races. His average finish has gone down 3 spots, and is fresh off of a P29 at Indy.
Josh Berry – This week: 30th – Last week: 20th
Berry was off to a decent start at the beginning of the year, but things have slid in the last little while. Whether you chalk that up to the news of SHR shutting down, or a lack of experience with the grind of the Cup Series schedule, Berry’s lost his lead in the Rookie of the Year battle – he’s only 5 points up on Hocevar at the moment.
Michael McDowell – This week: 29th – Last week: 28th
It wasn’t a terrible race for McDowell at Indianapolis, he scored some stage points, and finished 16th. However, his underlying numbers showed he had a car that could have contended for a Top 10.
Noah Gragson – This week: 28th – Last week: 27th
It seems strange that Gragson would lose a spot after a P9 at Indianapolis, but the competition is tough throughout the Cup Series field. He’s putting together a solid season in the 10 car, but he’s been hurt by some inconsistency.
Ryan Preece – This week: 27th – Last week: 25th
Preece has been up and down all year – a few weeks ago he followed up a P4 at Nashville with a P34 at the Chicago Street Course. He’s trending in the wrong direction at the moment, but he’s the last SHR driver looking for a job, so he’ll have some pressure.
Kyle Busch – This week: 26th – Last week: 32nd
It’s been a really rough season at RCR for Kyle Busch, but there are some signs of it turning around. While his finishing position at Indianapolis doesn’t show it (P25), his underlying numbers are indicative of a motivated man.
Corey LaJoie – This week: 25th – Last week: 26th
Since Indianapolis a few weeks ago, news has come out that Lajoie has lost his ride at Spire next year. He’s up one spot in the Power Rankings after a P14 at Indy, but it’s been a disappointing year for Lajoie.
Ross Chastain – This week: 24th – Last week: 22nd
It’s been a quiet year for Chastain. He’s still looking for his first win of the season, and he’s losing his gap to the playoff line. He’s only +7 to the good at the moment, and if there’s an outside winner he’ll be in even more trouble.
Daniel Hemric – This week: 23rd – Last week: 23rd
Speaking of quiet seasons, Hemric might be having the quietest of them all. His highest finish on the year is P9 three times. He’s 223 points out of the playoffs right now, and his first Cup win does not look like it’s coming anytime soon.
Erik Jones – This week: 22nd – Last week: 24th
Jones has shown that he’s got talent, but it’s not been an easy year at LMC. It’s been 67 races since his last win, and while there have been some good moments, a win doesn’t look likely this year.
Austin Cindric – This week: 21st – Last week: 29th
With Cindric’s spot in the playoffs officially secured, he’s been ramping up his results over the last five races. A P7 finish at Indy tops off a run of five races where his average finish is 6 positions better than he’s had all season. I’m not hopeful for him to make it out of the first round, but he has been doing better lately.
Joey Logano – This week: 20th – Last week: 12th
It’s a weird year for Logano. He’s now got a win and has secured his spot in the playoffs, but he seems to follow up every good performance with a real stinker. After his P5 at Pocono showed some promise, he had a DNF and P34 at Indianapolis.
Daniel Suarez – This week: 19th – Last week: 17th
News just broke of Suarez resigning for next year with Trackhouse, and it’s likely his P8 at Indianapolis helped with that decision. While his win at Atlanta earned him a playoff spot early on, he’s had an inconsistent season. It’s time to build momentum to head to the playoffs.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 18th – Last week: 16th
Stenhouse is coming off of a P11 at Indianapolis, which gives him four Top 15s within his last six races. It’s a solid run for a smaller team with less funding. But he’s not making the playoffs unless there’s a miracle at Daytona in a few weeks.
Justin Haley – This week: 17th – Last week: 14th
How about that Justin Haley, right? The 51 car hasn’t looked like a playoff car for years, but Haley has brought a new level of respect to the ride. He’s not making the playoffs this year, but it’s the most optimism that a Rick Ware Racing driver has had in a long time.
Carson Hocevar – This week: 16th – Last week: 21st
As mentioned above, he’s only 5 points behind Josh Berry in the Rookie of the Year race, which is impressive. He’s got the most points of any of his Spire teammates, and has put together a respectable few races. P12 at Indy.
William Byron – This week: 15th – Last week: 8th
It seems weird that a three-time winner this season can fall out of the Top 10, but it hasn’t been very smooth lately for Byron and the 24 team. He finished dead last at Indianapolis, completing only 73 of the eventual 167 laps.
Alex Bowman – This week: 14th – Last week: 13th
Bowman’s resurgence here has been buoyed by his win at the Chicago Street Course. He followed that up with a P3, but unfortunately had a DNF at Indianapolis and finished 31st. He’s finding some momentum at the right time, but is it enough for a deep run into the playoffs?
Todd Gilliland – This week: 13th – Last week: 15th
Is Todd Gilliland the unsung hero of this year’s Cup Series season so far? Poised to be the leader of Front Row Motorsports next year, he’s had an impressive run lately. P6 at Indy was his best finish of the year so far, and he continues to rise in the power rankings.
Chase Briscoe – This week: 12th – Last week: 19th
Briscoe looked to be finding an extra gear when he finished P2 at New Hampshire five races ago, but that’s proven to be the outlier ever since. Some solid underlying numbers send him up the Power Rankings this week, but he’ll need to be more consistent to stay here.
Bubba Wallace – This week: 11th – Last week: 18th
Wallace has three Top 10s in the last four races, and has been looking pretty solid lately. He’s the one pressuring Chastain from outside the playoff line – he’s only 7 points out, and that gap has been quickly decreasing. I think he has the equipment to do it, but does he have the mental fortitude?
Ty Gibbs – This week: 10th – Last week: 11th
Gibbs breaks into the Top 10 this week despite a P23 finish at Indianapolis. His finishing position was worse than his day, though. He earned some stage points and ran in the Top 15 for most of the day.
Chris Buescher – This week: 9th – Last week: 9th
Buescher’s also in a bit of danger around the playoff bubble at the moment, as currently he’s +17 points to the good. His results haven’t been amazing the last few weeks, but he’s been fairly consistently around the Top 15 most weeks.
Brad Keselowski – This week: 8th – Last week: 10th
Keselowski leapfrogs his teammate this week and moves further closer to the top of the Power Rankings. While his results have also been lacking over the last little while, he’s putting up consistently decent underlying stats, and is prepping for what he hopes is a deep playoff run.
Martin Truex Jr. – This week: 7th – Last week: 7th
We talked in the last Power Rankings article about how Truex looks safe in his playoff position despite being winless this season. However, in the course of one race at Indianapolis, he lost 29 points to the playoff line. There’s probably not enough races left for him to fully fall out of a playoff spot, but the momentum isn’t great at the moment.
Chase Elliott – This week: 6th – Last week: 5th
With his playoff spot also safe due to his win at Texas, Elliott is working on getting ready for the post-season. He just lost the regular season points lead to Indy winner Kyle Larson, but he’s still in the midst of his best career year, and just had two Top 10s in a row.
Kyle Larson – This week: 5th – Last week: 6th
Larson now has 4 wins on the season after his Indianapolis win – the most of anyone in the field. If it weren’t for the P39 at the Chicago Street Course, he’d probably be the Power Rankings leader, on top of already having earned the regular season points lead.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 4th – Last week: 1st
Blaney falls out of the top Power Rankings spot despite a P3 finish at Indianapolis. It was another solid outing for the 12 team, putting his Top 10 streak at four races. If he can do it again in Richmond, he’ll likely retake the lead.
Denny Hamlin – This week: 3rd – Last week: 4th
Hamlin had a bad finish at Indianapolis, but he may have had one of the best cars there. He won the most stage points of anyone, he was running in the Top 10 all day, but unfortunately had a DNF and finished 32nd after getting taken out in the first overtime attempt.
Christopher Bell – This week: 2nd – Last week: 2nd
A win in his last five races continues to keep him near the top of the Power Rankings. Again, he’s had two DNFs in the same span, but his underlying numbers show that he’s a contender every week. He finished P4 at Indianapolis.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 1st – Last week: 3rd
Reddick has the second-best average finish of any Cup driver on the season, and he hasn’t finished outside of the Top 6 in the last five races. At this point, he’s peaking at the right time, and he looks like a lock for the Championship Four in Phoenix.
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