Week Twenty-One - StatChat Power Rankings After Dover

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

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.

Ty Gibbs – This week: 10 – Last week: 7

Unfortunately for Ty Gibbs, a P5 finish at Dover still wasn’t good enough to maintain his spot in the Power Rankings, though he still clings onto the Top 10.  He was actually quite solid at Dover, but was bullied out of his spot by a hard-charging Kyle Busch.

Chris Buescher – This week: 9 – Last week: 6

Another victim of Kyle Busch’s surge this week, Buescher falls a few spots, despite a solid P9 finish in Dover.  He currently sits +44 to the playoff cutline, and that can’t feel all that safe at the moment.  He’d certainly like a win to put him into the playoffs for sure, and to help him move up our Power Rankings.

Kyle Busch – This week: 8 – Last week: 17

The biggest mover of the week, Kyle Busch gains 9 spots, even with a simple P11 finish in Dover.  This is also the first week that his DNF in Mexico City was no longer weighted as heavily (as it was now over five weeks ago), so that helped him charge up the standings.

Chase Briscoe – This week: 7 – Last week: 8

For a minute it looked like Briscoe might win in Dover last week on the freshest tires of the leaders, but he was unable to pass veteran Denny Hamlin for the lead in the closing laps.  He’ll settle for a P2 and a solid day at the races. 

Kyle Larson – This week: 6 – Last week: 13

After three down weeks, by Kyle Larson standards, he jumps back into the Top 10 of the Power Rankings with a P4 finish at Dover.  While Larson isn’t traditionally seen as a slouch on road courses, this last run of lefts and rights left him a little lower than he’d like. 

Alex Bowman – This week: 5 – Last week: 4

Bowman has been on a tear lately, with an average finish of 8.8 in his last 5 races.  It’s impressive given the variety in the type of tracks we’ve had in those same races.  You’ve got two road courses in Chicago Street and Sonoma, a super speedway-esque Atlanta, shorter track Dover, and the complete anomaly that is Pocono.  Bowman’s showing he’s a well-rounded driver.

Tyler Reddick – This week: 4 – Last week: 3

Week after week, it seems Reddick finishes just a bit lower than expectations might dictate for this 45 team. Reddick is still comfortably above the playoff bar, but a few new winners might upset that.  Last year’s Regular Season Champ is still looking for that first win of the season.

Denny Hamlin – This week: 3 – Last week: 5

Hamlin returns to victory lane this week in Dover, and also finally gets past the hump of missing Mexico City, as that no longer factors into the more-heavily-weighted most recent 5 races.  With a rough finish in Atlanta probably holding him back from the top spot in our Power Rankings, Hamlin is still hot – fresh off a new multi-year contract extension too.

Shane Van Gisbergen – This week: 2 – Last week: 1

While last week SVG had three wins in his last five races, he’s now just down to two in his last five.  Obviously ovals are a work in progress for the driver of the 88, but his poor performance at Dover (P30) was mostly out of his hands, with a flat tire early setting him back multiple laps.  Watch out for him at Watkins Glen.

Chase Elliott – This week: 1 – Last week: 2

It’s now 21 straight weeks where Chase Elliott hasn’t finished outside of the Top 20.  That’s a crazy stat considering how unpredictable NASCAR can be on any given week.  Mr. Consistent finds his way back to the top of our Power Rankings after a solid P6 at Dover. 

Biggest Movers

AJ Allmendinger – This week: 22 – Last week: 9

Falls 13 places

Kyle Busch – This week: 8 – Last week: 17

Gains 9 places

Rest of the List

11.	Christopher Bell	LW: 10	-1
12.	Ryan Preece	LW: 11	-1
13.	Erik Jones	LW: 12	-1
14.	Ryan Blaney	LW: 14	--
15.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	LW: 16	+1
16.	Ty Dillon	LW: 19	+3
17.	Brad Keselowski	LW: 25	+8
18.	Bubba Wallace	LW: 22	+4
19.	William Byron	LW: 15	-4
20.	Joey Logano	LW: 24	+4
21.	Justin Haley	LW: 21	--
22.	AJ Allmendinger	LW: 9	-13
23.	Zane Smith	LW: 26	+3
24.	JH Nemechek	LW: 23	-1
25.	Ross Chastain	LW: 20	-5
26.	Michael McDowell	LW: 18	-8
27.	Austin Cindric	LW: 27	--
28.	Noah Gragson	LW: 31	+3
29.	Todd Gilliland	LW: 29	--
30.	Cody Ware	LW: 28	-2
31.	Daniel Suarez	LW: 30	-1
32.	Austin Dillon	LW: 35	+3
33.	Carson Hocevar	LW: 32	-1
34.	Riley Herbst	LW: 36	+2
35.	Josh Berry	LW: 33	-2
36.	Cole Custer	LW: 34	-2