Week Twelve - 2026 StatChat Power Rankings After Watkins Glen
- Adam Carabine
- May 12
- 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:
Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 10
It was a solid day at the track for Ty Gibbs at Watkins Glen. Unfortunately, no one was a match for SVG and his road course prowess, but Gibbs led a bunch of laps (17), ran up front most of the day, and earned some stage points. He stays in the Top 10 this week.
Shane Van Gisbergen – This week: 9 – Last week: 20
One of this week’s biggest movers, SVG put on an absolute clinic at Watkins Glen. He was in 26th place at one point after his final pit stop, and drove back to the front to win in a very convincing fashion. He led 74 of 100 laps, and earned points in both stages. Watch for SVG to make his way back into the Top 10 of the Power Rankings after road courses. Can he make The Chase though?
Ryan Preece – This week: 8 – Last week: 8
A solid day for Ryan Preece at Watkins Glen – a driver not necessarily noted for his road course performance. He started pretty far back in 30th, but managed to battle all day and finished with a very respectable 14th. Nothing flashy, but enough to keep him in the Top 10 of the Power Rankings this week.
Kyle Larson – This week: 7 – Last week: 6
It wasn’t Larson’s best week at the track, as he both started and finished in 23rd place. He ran most of the day around that position, and had 0 quality passes by the end of the race. He falls a spot in the Power Rankings, but had enough cache to stay within the Top 10 for now.
Carson Hocevar – This week: 6 – Last week: 5
Hocevar has been on a bit of a hot streak as of late, but this weekend at Watkins Glen wasn’t his finest outing. He qualified just outside of the Top 10, which isn’t bad at all, but he lost 29 more spots than he gained all race, and wound up finishing 28th. His first career win at Talladega is still within the more heavily weighted previous five races, so he stays in the Top 5 for now.
Chris Buescher – This week: 5 – Last week: 7
Chris Buescher’s most recent Cup Series win was when he held off SVG at Watkins Glen two years ago (well, okay – a year and a half ago, since Watkins Glen moved to the spring this year). He’s great at this track, and while his P12 finish didn’t necessarily show it, he was solid all day long. He scored stage points, had top-five numbers in Quality Passes, and stayed out of trouble all day.
Chase Elliott – This week: 4 – Last week: 3
It seemed like Hendrick Motorsports had an issue at Watkins Glen, as most of their drivers had rough days. Elliott, once noted as a road course specialist, was underwhelming. He finished P24, ran most of the day outside of the Top 25, and did not live up to his road course reputation – though that has been suffering since the introduction of the next-gen car. He’s fresh off a win last week in Texas, and he’s still third in the Points Standings, so he still is in the Top 5 of the Power Rankings, but this one will hurt.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 3 – Last week: 4
Ryan Blaney is putting together a fairly consistent season this year, showcased by a very respectable P11 finish at Watkins Glen. He earned an additional 8 stage points, and had the highest Pass Differential (+31) of any driver on the track. His underlying numbers are always solid, even if his pit crew doesn’t tend to do him many favours.
Denny Hamlin – This week: 2 – Last week: 1
Once again we have a tight battle for the top spot in our Power Rankings. Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick have been trading it back and forth for weeks now – and again Hamlin dropped after just a week on top. Hamlin isn’t the most amazing at road courses, though he’s not terrible. He finished P16 at Watkins Glen, and didn’t have much flash. Not awful, but Reddick was better this week.
Tyler Reddick – This week: 1 – Last week: 2
Tyler Reddick was on a similar strategy to SVG, though not so much by choice. He and his team took a gamble and pitted thinking a caution was about to come out when there was some contact between two backmarkers. The race stayed green, and suddenly Reddick was forced to fight his way back through the field – like SVG did. He made a valiant effort, finishing Watkins Glen in P5 – enough to send him back into the top spot of our Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
Joey Logano – This week: 30 – Last week: 19
Falls 11 places
William Byron – This week: 22 – Last week: 11
Falls 11 places
SVG – This week: 9 – Last week: 20
Gains 11 places
Rest of the List
11. | Austin Cindric | LW: 13 | +2 |
12. | Brad Keselowski | LW: 9 | -3 |
13. | Chase Briscoe | LW: 14 | +1 |
14. | Bubba Wallace | LW: 16 | +2 |
15. | Christopher Bell | LW: 12 | -3 |
16. | Daniel Suarez | LW: 15 | -1 |
17. | Austin Dillon | LW: 22 | +5 |
18. | Ross Chastain | LW: 18 | -- |
19. | AJ Allmendinger | LW: 25 | +6 |
20. | Todd Gilliland | LW: 17 | -3 |
21. | Kyle Busch | LW: 24 | +3 |
22. | William Byron | LW: 11 | -11 |
23. | Erik Jones | LW: 21 | -2 |
24. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | LW: 23 | -1 |
25. | Zane Smith | LW: 26 | +1 |
26. | Riley Herbst | LW: 28 | +2 |
27. | Noah Gragson | LW: 29 | +2 |
28. | Michael McDowell | LW: 30 | +2 |
29. | Alex Bowman | LW: 27 | -2 |
30. | Joey Logano | LW: 19 | -11 |
31. | Connor Zilisch | LW: 32 | +1 |
32. | Ty Dillon | LW: 33 | +1 |
33. | JH Nemechek | LW: 34 | +1 |
34. | Cody Ware | LW: 35 | +1 |
35. | Josh Berry | LW: 31 | -4 |
36. | Cole Custer | LW: 36 | -- |
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