Week 13 - StatChat Power Rankings

Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine

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.

Zane Smith – This week: 34th – Last week: 34th

P29 at Kansas – it’s going to take more than that to move up the Power Rankings.

Harrison Burton – This week: 33rd – Last week: 33rd

He was the final car still running at the end of the Kansas race.  P36, 6 laps down.

Michael McDowell – This week: 32nd – Last week: 32nd

A P10 at Kansas is the right direction to be headed, but he’ll need to show that it’s not a one-off before moving up the rankings.

Austin Dillon – This week: 31st – Last week: 31st

Another finish outside of the top 20 this weekend – especially when his teammate came 8th.

Austin Cindric – This week: 30th – Last week: 28th

Another DNF in Kansas after qualifying in the Top 10.  They’re going to need some results very soon.

Corey LaJoie – This week: 29th – Last week: 29th

P26 at Kansas is not nearly good enough for this team. 

Carson Hocevar– This week: 28th – Last week: 27th

A stellar campaign for All-Star votes, but a P24 at Kansas is not an all-star worthy result.

Justin Haley – This week: 27th – Last week: 30th

P18 in the Rick Ware Racing equipment isn’t too shabby at all. 

Josh Berry – This week: 26th – Last week: 25th

A 15th placed finish at Kansas is a step in the right direction.  He falls one spot in the Power Rankings because of others doing better around him.

Erik Jones – This week: 25th – Last week: 24th

He only falls back because he wasn’t racing.  He’ll be able to make up some ground next week when he returns at Darlington.

Todd Gilliland – This week: 24th – Last week: 26th

A P14 at Kansas, plus some laps led? That’s a solid week for Todd Gilliland, so he moves up two spots.

Daniel Hemric – This week: 23rd – Last week: 21st

Did we see Hemric on TV once this past weekend?  P30 means a two-spot slide.

Ryan Preece – This week: 22nd – Last week: 20th

Preece ran in the back all day at Kansas, was passed multiple times, and came home P28.  He might want in on that study group after all.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – This week: 21st – Last week: 23rd

Fresh off of a 2-year extension with JTG-Daugherty, Stenhouse had some positive passing numbers and finished a respectable 16th at Kansas.

John Hunter Nemechek – This week: 20th – Last week: 22nd

Suddenly the veteran driver of the two Legacy Cars (with Corey Heim filling in for an injured Erik Jones), Nemecheck was solid all day.  Some savvy strategy at the end got him a P13 after riding around in the mid 20s most of the day.

Noah Gragson – This week: 19th – Last week: 19th

Another week down, and another Top 10 for Noah.  Had it not been for the 35-pt penalty the team got early in the season, he’d be creeping up on the playoff bar.

Bubba Wallace – This week: 18th – Last week: 18th

Not much to write home about this weekend for Bubba Wallace.  A P17 for this team isn’t good enough to move the needle.

Daniel Suarez – This week: 17th – Last week: 15th

Rough day in Kansas for Suarez, and he falls out of the Top 16 of our Power Rankings.  His finish of 27th was actually better than his average running position all day.  (Don’t forget that Kansas is in the playoffs…)

Chase Briscoe – This week: 16th – Last week: 14th

The leader of SHR had an extremely forgettable day in Kansas.  He came home 21st, and actually had a field-worst -31 passing differential. 

Joey Logano – This week: 15th – Last week: 12th

What has happened to Logano? We know he tends to take the ‘odd’ years off, but 2024 is an even number!  Luckily his tow truck driver etiquette has improved.  P34 in Kansas.

Christopher Bell – This week: 14th – Last week: 16th

Bell’s season has been off to a shaky start, but he won the pole at Kansas and finished P6.  He’s on the upswing.

Chris Buescher – This week: 13th – Last week: 17th

In possibly the most heartbreaking 2nd place finish of all time, Buescher showed that he’s getting some of his 2023 mojo back.  RFK is just knocking at the door.

Alex Bowman – This week: 12th – Last week: 13th

It was another quietly good day at Kansas for Bowman.  He’s now got the 5th best average finish in the Cup Series.  The only problem is that Elliott, Larson and Byron are all 2, 3 and 4.

Kyle Busch – This week: 11th – Last week: 11th

Another week, another Top 10 for Kyle Busch.  He led 14 laps too.  I’m sure he wishes he was doing better, but considering how his teammate Austin Dillon is fairing in the same equipment, he can’t complain.

Ross Chastain – This week: 10th – Last week: 9th

The Kansas race started strong for Chastain.  He was up front, battling for the lead, scored points in each stage break, and even led 43 laps.  But he finished P19, which should be a disappointment for this team.

Brad Keselowski – This week: 9th – Last week: 10th

Keselowski is the owner of the strangest outlier stat from Kansas.  His pass differential of +59 was so much higher than anyone else – Byron’s was the next highest at +27.

Ty Gibbs – This week: 8th – Last week: 8th

Some unfortunate pit strategy ended up ruining what looked to be a good day at Kansas for Ty.  He earned points in each stage break, but finished a lap down, P32.  His underlying stats kept him at 8th this week.

Ryan Blaney – This week: 7th – Last week: 7th

It was a quiet, effective day for Blaney in Kansas – P12 for the number 12 car.  He’ll likely not be happy with it, but Team Penske had a rough day overall.

Tyler Reddick – This week: 6th – Last week: 6th

An uncharacteristically slower day for Reddick this past weekend, he finished 20th.  He earned a few points in Stage 2, and was running in the Top 15 most of the day.  His 62 quality passes (green flag passes in the Top 15) was third highest on the day, too.  He’ll bounce back.

Chase Elliott – This week: 5th – Last week: 5th

It was the kind of race that builds more momentum for Elliott in Kansas.  He had the most quality passes of anyone all day, positive pass differentials, the works, etc.  But it was all topped off with a P3 finish.

William Byron – This week: 4th – Last week: 4th

Kansas wasn’t so kind to William Byron.  He finished 23rd, though his underlying stats showed a better day in the works.  He’s built up enough cache to not fall in the standings… yet.

Martin Truex Jr. – This week: 3rd – Last week: 2nd

Another solid day for Truex, without a win to show for it.  He looked primed to take the victory up until Kyle Busch spun on his own with a handful of laps remaining, bringing out the caution.  If he can channel that frustration, he’ll be in victory lane soon.

Denny Hamlin – This week: 2nd – Last week: 3rd

He led the most laps at Kansas, and earned the most stage points of anyone on the day.  The two-tire strategy at the end burned him, but he brought home a respectable P5.

Kyle Larson – This week: 1st – Last week: 1st

Larson stuck his tongue out at the start/finish line to beat Buescher at Kansas, but it wasn’t even the win that kept him in the top spot of the Power Rankings.  His average position was 3rd all day, and he earned the 2nd most Stage Points of any driver.  He should scare the other drivers right now, he’s ramping up.