Driver Ratings | Standings | Stage Points
Pete Pistone’s updated NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings after the Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
1. Denny Hamlin – A second-place finish behind Elliott on Sunday while Hamlin also led 16 laps on the Daytona road course. Hamlin has finished in the top-two in 10 of the 23 races run so far in the 2020 season.
Driver Rating: 101.9
Point Standings: 2nd
Previous Ranking: 2nd
2. Kevin Harvick – Spun out to lose spots and track position, something Harvick was not able to recover from the rest of Sunday’s race. He ended up with a 17th-place finish one of the the poorest performances for Harvick this season.
Driver Rating: 110.4
Point Standings: 1st
Previous Ranking: 1st
3. Martin Truex Jr. – Another day riddles with pit road challenges and mistakes but Truex Jr. was still able to rally back for a third-place finish his fifth straight finish in that position. That’s the longest stretch of thirds in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Driver Rating: 96.6
Point Standings: 7th
Previous Ranking: 4th
4. Chase Elliott – Three straight road race wins for Elliott, who put his second victory of 2020 on the board in his historic Daytona road course drive. Elliott is the first driver to win three consecutive road races since Tony Stewart did it in 2004-2005. He led three times Sunday for 34 laps, including never relinquishing the top spot over the last 13 circuits.
Driver Rating: 101.8
Point Standings: 4th
Previous Ranking: 6th
5. Brad Keselowski – Not a factor Sunday in the least and Keselowski’s 13th-place finish pretty much tells the story. But he remained third on the Playoff grid with just three races remaining in the regular season.
Driver Rating: 100.7
Point Standings: 3rd
Previous Ranking: 3rd
6. Joey Logano – A decision late for fresh tires didn’t quite pan out the way Logano and his team had figured when so many others did the same strategy. It added up to a top 10 for Logano but he had his sights set on something much better at Daytona.
Driver Rating: 97.1
Point Standings: 6th
Previous Ranking: 7th
7. Aric Almirola – He’s been a bit off the last couple weeks from the consistency Almirola has shown for so much of the 2020 season. A very disappointing 24th-place run for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver, who is looking for better things when the series returns to Daytona in two weeks to run the superspeedway.
Driver Rating: 90.2
Point Standings: 8th
Previous Ranking: 5th
8. Alex Bowman – Showed signs of his road racing prowess Sunday but finished just outside the top-10 with a 12th-place performance after battling back from a flat left-rear tire. Bowman is looking to gain some late regular season momentum to enter the Playoff race.
Driver Rating: 88.6
Point Standings: 12th
Previous Ranking: NR
9. Kurt Busch – A better day than recent weeks for Busch but not a spectacular outing by any means at Daytona. Busch posted a 14th-place finish on Sunday as the Chip Ganassi Racing team continues its search to find ways to get better as the Playoffs near.
Driver Rating: 87.8
Point Standings: 9th
Previous Ranking: NR
10. Ryan Blaney – Miserable day for Blaney, who was not competitive on the Daytona road course much to the surprise of many including the entire Team Penske organization. A 31st-place finish was a day Blaney would like to forget at “The World Center of Racing.”
Driver Rating: 96.5
Point Standings: 5th
Previous Ranking: 8th
Dropped Out: Kyle Busch, Matt DiBenedetto
