Week Twenty-Four - 2026 StatChat Power Rankings After Richmond
- Adam Carabine
- 4 minutes ago
- 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:
Tyler Reddick – This week: 10 – Last week: 17
Reddick being on a cooler this summer has been well-documented. After having a commanding lead over the rest of the field, he now sits 4th in points. However, Richmond might have been a sign of things turning around for the 45 team. While they wound up on the wrong tire strategy, they still pulled off a P11 finish. Reddick also had the best pass differential of any driver on Saturday evening.
William Byron – This week: 9 – Last week: 7
Byron continues to baffle me, but he still manages to be in the Top 10 of the Power Rankings. He has been pretty under the radar, he hasn’t won all year, and yet he sits comfortably above the cutline for The Chase (+113 pts). He earned two additional stage points at Richmond, and finished in the Top 10.
Bubba Wallace – This week: 8 – Last week: 8
Bubba Wallace looked to have a pretty good car earlier on in the race at Richmond, but things didn’t stay that way. Whether it was some bad adjustments on pit road, or difficulty managing tire wear, Bubba fell back and eventually ended the race in 20th. He did score points in Stage One, and led three laps, which probably helped him to stay in the same position as last week in our Power Rankings.
SVG – This week: 7 – Last week: 10
I had originally pencilled in Richmond as SVG’s best shot at a win on an oval this year. While that didn’t happen, he continues to show more and more growth on the left-turn-only tracks. He didn’t get any help in our Power Rankings from his impressive run in the Truck race, but he clearly is focused on improving this part of his NASCAR career and it really is only a matter of time.
Christopher Bell – This week: 6 – Last week: 4
Is Bell sad he didn’t win at Richmond? Or happy that he didn’t finish 2nd again. Like Reddick, Bell was on the wrong tire strategy at the end, and was easily passed for the lead by other cars who had newer tires. P7 is nothing to scoff at, but he still falls a few spots in our Power Rankings.
Chase Briscoe – This week: 5 – Last week: 6
Since Atlanta, Briscoe has moved up an impressive five positions in the overall points standings. His P2 at Richmond helped him to clinch a spot in The Chase, and gave him a 20-pt gap over 6th-placed Chase Elliott. Briscoe might be a bit annoyed to have had the win slip out of his hands at Richmond, as he was likely the better car in the final run, but the 19 team is in good form heading to The Chase.
Ty Gibbs – This week: 4 – Last week: 3
It was a solid effort at Richmond for Ty Gibbs. Coming off his second win of the season last week in Iowa, Gibbs was looking good early. A speeding penalty on pit road derailed his day a bit, but he still managed to rally back to an impressive P15 finish. He’s also clinched into The Chase, and he’s a legitimate contender for the Championship.
Denny Hamlin – This week: 3 – Last week: 1
Hamlin had another solid outing at Richmond, and yet somehow tumbles two spots in the Power Rankings. The scoring metric is very tight at the top of our rankings, and Hamlin’s fall is more likely related to the good performance of the other two drivers who moved up. Denny led some laps, scored points in both stages, and finished P4, as he continues to lead the regular season scoring title.
Joey Logano – This week: 2 – Last week: 5
Good old “even-year-Logano” is at it again. Weeks ago he wasn’t even in the Top 16 in points, and now he’s won twice and looks like he could be a title contender after all. He’s certainly got his work cut out for him, since he did dig himself a bit of a hole through the first half of the season, but he looks strong. Penske has looked good at these flatter ovals, and so we’ll see how he fares when The Chase starts, and we start returning to some heavier banking, but regardless, Logano will still be happy with a win at Richmond this weekend.
Ryan Blaney – This week: 1 – Last week: 2
Ryan Blaney had the car to beat at Richmond… if the race had ended at Stage One. Unfortunately for Blaney, they weren’t able to keep up with the adjustments in the same way the other teams did, and he wound up fading back to finish 13th. However, he did win Stage One, led 88 laps, and also scored the point for the fastest lap of the race. He moves back to the top of our Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
Chris Buescher – This week: 16 – Last week: 12
Falls 4 places
Todd Gilliland – This week: 19 – Last week: 15
Falls 4 places
Tyler Reddick – This week: 10 – Last week: 17
Gains 7 places
Rest of the List
11. | Carson Hocevar | LW: 9 | -2 |
12. | Ross Chastain | LW: 11 | -1 |
13. | Austin Cindric | LW: 14 | +1 |
14. | Chase Elliott | LW: 16 | +2 |
15. | Daniel Suarez | LW: 13 | -2 |
16. | Chris Buescher | LW: 12 | -4 |
17. | Ryan Preece | LW: 18 | +1 |
18. | Kyle Larson | LW: 19 | +1 |
19. | Todd Gilliland | LW: 15 | -4 |
20. | Brad Keselowski | LW: 21 | +1 |
21. | Josh Berry | LW: 27 | +6 |
22. | Austin Dillon | LW: 22 | -- |
23. | Zane Smith | LW: 20 | -3 |
24. | Michael McDowell | LW: 24 | -- |
25. | Noah Gragson | LW: 29 | +4 |
26. | Riley Herbst | LW: 23 | -3 |
27. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | LW: 26 | -1 |
28. | Erik Jones | LW: 25 | -3 |
29. | Alex Bowman | LW: 28 | -1 |
30. | JH Nemechek | LW: 31 | +1 |
31. | Ty Dillon | LW: 32 | +1 |
32. | AJ Allmendinger | LW: 30 | -2 |
33. | Cole Custer | LW: 33 | -- |
34. | Cody Ware | LW: 34 | -- |
35. | Connor Zilisch | LW: 35 | -- |
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