Photo: Peter Casey- USA Today Sports
By Ryan McCafferty | Last updated 5/14/24
Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway saw Brad Keselowski snap a winless streak of more than three seasons, as he took advantage of teammate Chris Buescher’s misfortune in the closing laps.
It was the second weekend in a row that Buescher’s race ended in heartbreak, but both he and Keselowski are surging up the power rankings.
Here are the power rankings as the Cup Series heads for the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.
1. Kyle Larson (Last week: 1)
The only way Larson doesn’t finish near the front is when he wrecks. At Darlington, he ran inside the top five all race and won the opening stage, but he hit the wall late and suffered a 34th-place DNF. Despite that, he’s still the points leader by 30 markers over Martin Truex Jr. Larson enters a highly anticipated next few weeks that will involve missing practice for the All-Star Race (which he won in 2023) as he attempts to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
2. Denny Hamlin (Last week: 4)
Hamlin had one of his more uneventful runs of 2024 and still salvaged a fourth-place finish and extended his streak of leading in every race this year on a technicality. (His only lap led occurred during a green-flag pit sequence.) Before Kansas, Hamlin’s only top-five finishes in 2024 were his three wins — he now has a fifth and a fourth in his past two races.
3. Martin Truex Jr. (Last week: 2)
Truex seemed to be having another solid run but got caught up in a restart incident that left him with a damaged nose. He never recovered and finished 25th. His hard-luck 2024 continues and yet he’s still second in points, proving just how dangerous he and his No. 19 team can be.
4. William Byron (Last week: 5)
Byron churned out a respectable day after his weekend to forget at Kansas, running in the top 10 all race and finishing sixth. He remains fairly quiet aside from his three victories this season, but perhaps he’s simply biding his time.
5. Chase Elliott (Last week: 3)
Elliott had one of his worst races all season, running outside of the top 20 throughout most of the afternoon, and yet at the end of the day, he was a respectable 12th. A track like Darlington can be about survival above all else, and that’s what the 2020 Cup Series champion did Sunday to make lemonade out of lemons.
6. Chris Buescher (Last week: 9)
In a parallel universe somewhere, Buescher is riding back-to-back wins. It’s hard to think of a more heartbreaking series of losses in consecutive weeks than being beaten by one thousandth of a second and then getting walled while leading late. His frustration was evident after the checkered flag. If it’s any solace, though, Buescher and his RFK Racing team are hot.
7. Tyler Reddick (Last week: 10)
Despite the late contact with Buescher dropping him to a disappointing 32nd-place finish in Darlington, Reddick was dominant Sunday as he led 174 laps and may have led the last one had he done a better job executing his move for the lead.
8. Brad Keselowski (Last week: 15)
Keselowski waited three years for his first win as an owner-driver, and he did it on an afternoon in which he ran inside the top three all race. He may not have had the fastest car in the field, but he drove a smart, methodical race, fitting for a driver who played the long game after he left powerhouse Team Penske to help resurrect a middling Roush-Fenway Racing team.
9. Ty Gibbs (Last week: 12)
Finishing just behind Keselowski was 21-year-old Gibbs, who earned his career-best result in the Cup Series after leading 34 laps. He has cooled off in recent weeks after his hot start to the season, so perhaps this will get him going again as he continues searching for win No. 1.
10. Ross Chastain (Last week: 7)
Chastain won Friday’s Truck Series event, but he didn’t seem to have the speed one would expect Sunday at one of his best tracks. Still, he finished just outside the top 10 (11th) as he continues his consistent 2024 form.
11. Alex Bowman (Last week: 8)
Would you believe it if you were told Bowman is tied for the Cup Series lead in top-10 finishes in 2024? Well, you’d better believe it, because he is, as he and teammate Byron both have eight. In fact, Bowman has more top-10 finishes than he has laps led this season (six), and his continued lack of eye-opening performances is why he’s down three spots in the rankings.
12. Noah Gragson (Last week: 13)
Another week, another strong performance from Gragson, this time after starting last on the grid. He and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates showed surprising speed amid rumors the team may shut down at the conclusion of 2024.
13. Ryan Blaney (Last week: 11)
Blaney was in the top 10 early on before he got put in the wall on a restart. It added to what has been a frustrating stretch of races for the defending Cup Series champion, who has three finishes of 20th or worse in the past five races. On the plus side, the first race after All-Star weekend is the Coca-Cola 600 that Blaney won in 2023 to spark his No. 12 team’s title campaign. Perhaps history could repeat itself.
14. Kyle Busch (Last week: 6)
After two strong runs entering the weekend, Busch finished 27th and didn’t really run much better than that throughout the race. He has been extremely inconsistent this season and is firmly on the playoff bubble. He might need a win to feel safe about his chances.
15. Chase Briscoe (Last week: not ranked)
Briscoe earned his first top-five finish of 2024 and helped his playoff hopes by putting a couple more points between himself and Bubba Wallace. Every single marker will matter.
16. Joey Logano (Last week: 16)
Logano had a strong run at Darlington, sitting inside the top 10 for much of the afternoon, but he didn’t get the finish he needed after a speeding penalty doomed him late. That will be costly for him in points — he’s now 30 markers behind Briscoe and 24 behind Wallace.
Dropped out: Christopher Bell
Story in Yardbarker.com
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