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.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 10 – Last week: 7
Reddick actually had quite a fast car at Atlanta, but was never able to get to the front to show it off. He tied for the most quality passes (308), had an average running position of 10th, and earned 10 stage points. The P19 finish was worse than his day showed.
Carson Hocevar – This week: 9 – Last week: 28
He might have had some people mad at him, but Hocevar earned himself a P2 at Atlanta. He’s the other driver who had 308 quality passes, and he was essentially a wild-man all race long. I’m not sure it’s sustainable, but he’s made his way into the Top Ten for now.
Alex Bowman – This week: 8 – Last week: 1
Bowman’s another driver who’s finishing position doesn’t necessarily match his effort on the day. Last week’s number one falls a few positions, partly because of a P26 finish, one lap down, but he also led a few laps and spent most of the day in the Top 15.
Kyle Larson – This week: 7 – Last week: 21
Larson’s super speedway woes may have come to an end at Atlanta this weekend. He led 12 laps, finished P3, and even won Stage Two. It’s early, but look to see this name in the Top Ten of our Power Rankings for weeks to come.
Joey Logano – This week: 6 – Last week: 11
Logano led the most laps of anyone at Atlanta, with 83. His P12 finish was respectable, and his average running position of 7th was near the top of all drivers. Throw in 9 stage points, and you can understand why Logano cracked our Top Ten this week.
Christopher Bell – This week: 5 – Last week: 15
Sure, a race win doesn’t hurt! It was a solid day for Bell, though with 0 stage points and a mediocre quality pass count, it’s easy to see why he didn’t make it further up the Power Rankings. But I’m sure he doesn’t care – he’s in the playoffs now.
William Byron – This week: 4 – Last week: 4
Last week’s winner holds serve and stays exactly where he was last week in the Power Rankings. Byron had some unfortunate luck and wound up finishing P27 at Atlanta, but he was up front most of the day, led some laps, and scored 15 stage points.
Austin Cindric – This week: 3 – Last week: 3
Cindric is showing that he’s a force to be reckoned with at these drafting tracks. He had the best average running position – 5th, which is really quite something at a track with so much attrition. Unfortunately Cindric fell victim to that attrition as well, finishing 28th, but he was in the hunt for a good portion of the race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 2 – Last week: 5
Speaking of drivers who are threats at drafting tracks, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has shown that he can wheel with the best of them at Super Speedways. He had the most fast laps of anyone on track Sunday (13), and he had the highest pass differential of anyone too (+59). I’m not sure it’s a sustainable run for Stenhouse, though, as we visit a Road Course next weekend.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 1 – Last week: 2
Blaney is currently your Cup Series points leader, despite no win yet. He’s got the best average finish of anyone in any of the top three series, and his underlying numbers have been great too. Blaney will be in victory lane soon, take that to the bank.
Biggest Movers
Daniel Suarez – This week: 22 – Last week: 6
Falls 16 places
Carson Hocevar – This week: 9 – Last week: 28
Gains 19 places
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