By Adam Carabine
A look at the Top Ten in our weekly Power Rankings, plus the biggest movers! While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture. StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs, with an emphasis placed on the most recent 5 races.
Austin Cindric – This week: 10 – Last week: 11
While Cindric is certainly riding high off of an impressive first two weeks, he rallies back into the Top 10 this week. His finishes over the last couple of races haven’t been fantastic, but his underlying numbers show he’s improved since last year, at least so far.
Chase Elliott – This week: 9 – Last week: 7
It didn’t seem like Elliott was discussed much on the TV broadcast this weekend at Phoenix, but he earned some stage points, brought it home P10, and finished on the lead lap. Not enough to stay in 7th from the week before, but he stays inside our Top 10.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 8 – Last week: 5
Another surprise like Cindric, he may be buoyed here by some great numbers at the first two races of the season – both of which are drafting tracks, which he excels at. He’s sliding and unless he puts up a stellar weekend in Vegas, we probably won’t be discussing him again until Talladega.
Joey Logano – This week: 7 – Last week: 9
Logano had a good run at Phoenix, partially in response to a difficult penalty. After the restart violation put him in the back of the pack, he and his team opted for the option tire, which helped him lead 81 laps. He managed a P13 after all was said and done.
Alex Bowman – This week: 6 – Last week: 8
It seems like Bowman is always quiet, but he had a good race at Phoenix. Finishing P7 after running around 15th or so the whole day means that he kicked into gear when it counted and got a solid result.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 5 – Last week: 6
Plagued by power steering issues, Reddick’s finish at Phoenix looks worse than his day. His average running position for the day was 6th, and though he surprisingly led 0 laps, he looked like he was in contention earlier on when his car was behaving.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 4 – Last week: 3
Blaney called his shot, unfortunately. Early on in the Phoenix race he said he was worried his car was going to blow up, and he was right – albeit not until quite a bit later. Despite the DNF, he had the most quality passes (green flag passes in the Top 15) of anyone in the field, and earned 13 stage points.
Kyle Busch – This week: 3 – Last week: 1
Busch was probably just outside of the true contending window at Phoenix, but he still had a solid day. P8, near the top of Quality Pass metrics – an entirely inoffensive day. He’d probably like some more top-end speed to compete with the real contenders, but it was a nice day to follow up on his COTA heartbreak.
William Byron – This week: 2 – Last week: 4
Byron scored the most stage points of anyone at Phoenix (18), led 83 laps, and ran in the Top 5 all day long. He finished P6, which I’m sure he’d like to have back, but it was a solid points day for the Hendrick No. 24.
Christopher Bell – This week: 1 – Last week: 2
Three wins in a row, and he’s not even done yet. He clearly had the best car at Phoenix – he led 105 laps, and his average running position was 3rd. His crew chief warned the world that they had Phoenix and Vegas circled on their calendars after winning at COTA. Watch out for him next weekend too.
Biggest Movers
Carson Hocevar – This week: 24 – Last week: 13
Falls 11 places
Ryan Preece – This week: 15 – Last week: 24
Gains 9 places
Rest of the List
11. John Hunter Nemechek LW: 14
12. Kyle Larson LW: 18
13. Denny Hamlin LW: 19
14. Michael McDowell LW: 15
15. Ryan Preece LW: 24
16. Bubba Wallace LW: 12
17. Todd Gilliland LW: 20
18. Chris Buescher LW: 22
19. Shane Van Gisbergen LW: 10
20. Ross Chastain LW: 25
21. Erik Jones LW: 21
22. Chase Briscoe LW: 16
23. Josh Berry LW: 31
24. Carson Hocevar LW: 13
25. Riley Herbst LW: 17
26. Ty Dillon LW: 29
27. Noah Gragson LW: 28
28. Ty Gibbs LW: 30
29. Zane Smith LW: 35
30. Daniel Suarez LW: 33
31. Austin Dillon LW: 32
32. Justin Haley LW: 23
33. Cody Ware LW: 34
34. AJ Allmendinger LW: 36
35. Brad Keselowski LW: 26
36. Cole Custer LW: 27
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