Week Eight - 2026 StatChat Power Rankings After Bristol
- Adam Carabine
- Apr 14
- 4 min read
By Adam Carabine
The StatChat Power Rankings return in 2026! 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. Let's look at the Top 10:
Bubba Wallace – This week: 10 – Last week: 9
Despite losing another spot in the Power Rankings, this was a nice bounce-back race for Bubba Wallace after a bad one in Martinsville a few weeks ago. Tempers maybe got the best of him, and he got into it with Carson Hocevar. He ran a clean race at Bristol this week, and finished P11.
Chase Elliott – This week: 9 – Last week: 7
Elliott was actually running a decent race at Bristol until a late caution where he spun out. To make matters worse, he then sped on pit road, and wound up finishing the day P22, down a lap. This gave him the worst pass differential of any driver in the field, but a solid average running position.
Brad Keselowski – This week: 8 – Last week: 8
Keselowski holds serve again at Bristol, he’s been remarkably consistent for a guy recovering from a broken leg. P14, but he was in the conversation for good parts of the day.
William Byron – This week: 7 – Last week: 5
A week to forget for Byron at Bristol. After a change in the steering that sent him back to the rear at the start of the race, things just continued to get worse from there. It wasn’t long before he was laps down, and wound up finishing the day 5 laps down total. He’ll look to bounce back in Kansas next week.
Christopher Bell – This week: 6 – Last week: 4
Bell was also a victim of his own bad circumstances this weekend in Bristol. He got a speeding violation on pit road, and then due to being farther back in the pack, he wound up getting into the wall, which really derailed his day. He finished 4 laps down at the end of the day.
Kyle Larson – This week: 5 – Last week: 10
Larson seems to (unfortunately for him) be the king of dominating races and not winning them. He led 284 laps at Bristol, had a field-best average running position of 2nd, and also swept both stages. Thwarted by both Ryan Blaney and eventual winner Ty Gibbs, he had to settle for 3rd, but the underlying stats gave him a big boost in the Power Rankings.
Ty Gibbs – This week: 4 – Last week: 6
It seems almost a shame that a win doesn’t push Ty Gibbs further up the Power Rankings, but he’ll have to settle with the Top 5 for now. Because there are many other underlying stats that factor into Power Rankings, and Gibbs didn’t necessarily dominate the race like Blaney or Larson did. However, I’m sure he doesn’t care, as he’s celebrating his first win in the Cup Series. He held on when it mattered and got it done! Also, check out what I said in last week’s Power Rankings, where I said I’d stop predicting a win for Gibbs. Should’ve waited one more week!
Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 3
It’s harder to stay at the top of the Power Rankings because it requires a ton of consistency. Blaney manages to keep fighting despite his pit crew seemingly messing him up week-in and week-out. He was probably the fastest car at Bristol, but couldn’t get past Ty Gibbs in the final moments of the race. P2 is still good enough, along with 190 laps led, and an extra 17 stage points to boot.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 2 – Last week: 1
Reddick falls from the top spot in the Power Rankings for the first time this season! He had a nice rebound coming off of his worst finish of the season in Martinsville (which was still P15), and finished 4th at Bristol. There was talk on the TV broadcast that there has been an increased focus on Reddick and his short track program, as that was a weak point of the team. P4 is certainly an improvement, and that’s including an early speeding penalty which put him to the rear.
Denny Hamlin – This week: 1 – Last week: 2
It’s been a consistent few weeks for Hamlin, and after a dominant performance at Martinsville last week, and a solid P9 at Bristol, he takes the top spot in our Power Rankings! He earned points in both stages, ran inside the Top 10 nearly all day, and scored 70 quality passes, fourth-best of any driver in the field. He now sits third in the Points Standings as well.
Biggest Movers
SVG – This week: 17 – Last week: 12
Falls 5 places
Kyle Larson – This week: 5 – Last week: 10
Gains 5 places
Chase Briscoe – This week: 16 – Last week: 21
Gains 5 places
Rest of the List
11. | Chris Buescher | LW: 11 | -- |
12. | Ryan Preece | LW: 13 | +1 |
13. | Joey Logano | LW: 14 | +1 |
14. | Carson Hocevar | LW: 15 | +1 |
15. | Austin Cindric | LW: 16 | +1 |
16. | Chase Briscoe | LW: 21 | +5 |
17. | SVG | LW: 12 | -5 |
18. | Daniel Suarez | LW: 19 | +1 |
19. | Ross Chastain | LW: 17 | -2 |
20. | AJ Allmendinger | LW: 20 | -- |
21. | Todd Gilliland | LW: 25 | +4 |
22. | Michael McDowell | LW: 18 | -4 |
23. | Erik Jones | LW: 24 | +1 |
24. | Zane Smith | LW: 23 | -1 |
25. | Kyle Busch | LW: 22 | -3 |
26. | Austin Dillon | LW: 26 | -- |
27. | Josh Berry | LW: 28 | +1 |
28. | Riley Herbst | LW: 31 | +3 |
29. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | LW: 33 | +4 |
30. | Ty Dillon | LW: 27 | -3 |
31. | Connor Zilisch | LW: 30 | -1 |
32. | JH Nemechek | LW: 29 | -3 |
33. | Noah Gragson | LW: 32 | -1 |
34. | Cody Ware | LW: 34 | -- |
35. | Cole Custer | LW: 35 | -- |
36. | Alex Bowman | LW: INJ | -- |
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