Driver Ratings | Standings | Stage Points
Pete Pistone’s updated NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings after the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
1. Kevin Harvick – Kicked off the playoffs in the best possible fashion with a trip to Victory Lane at Darlington. Harvick’s eighth win of the season moved him into the Round of 12 and his 57 career Cup wins ranks him ninth on the all-time victory list.
Driver Rating: 110.3
Playoff Grid: 1st
Previous Ranking: 1st
2. Denny Hamlin – Could not get to pit road on Lap 309 and that slid Hamlin back in the field. He wasn’t able to rebound from the circumstances that took him out of contention and ended up outside the top-10 on Sunday night.
Driver Rating: 103.2
Playoff Grid: 2nd
Previous Ranking: 2nd
3. Martin Truex Jr. – He won the first two stages and led 196 laps before getting into the wall while battling Elliott for the lead. Truex Jr.’s 22nd-place finish breaks a streak of eight straight top four finishes he carried into the Cook Out Southern 500.
Driver Rating: 99.4
Playoff Grid: 6th
Previous Ranking: 3rd
4. Chase Elliott – He led 114 laps but got in the wall battling for the lead with Martin Truex Jr. on lap 353 to take him out of contention to start the playoffs off with a win. Elliott’s 644 laps led in 2020 are his most ever in a season.
Driver Rating: 98.7
Playoff Grid: 7th
Previous Ranking: 4th
5. Joey Logano – A third-place effort for Logano at Darlington continued his recent streak of solid outings. He’s finished top 10 in seven of the last eight races of the 2020 season.
Driver Rating: 98.1
Playoff Grid: 3rd
Previous Ranking: 6th
6. Brad Keselowski – His Southern 500 got off to a rocky start with some damage to the Team Penske No. 2 Ford early in the race. But Keselowski and company soldiered on and at night’s end finished 11th when things could have been much worse.
Driver Rating: 99.0
Playoff Grid: 4th
Previous Ranking: 5th
7. Aric Almirola – A much-needed top-10 finish for Almirola, who has been searching for the kinds of finishes he knocked down earlier this season that put him into the playoffs. A good start for the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 team.
Driver Rating: 88.8
Playoff Grid: 12th
Previous Ranking: 7th
8. Alex Bowman – The Hendrick Motorsports driver is finding the consistency that eluded Bowman during the mid-summer stretch. He’s finished top 10 in the last three races the best streak this season for Bowman.
Driver Rating: 88.7
Playoff Grid: 5th
Previous Ranking: 8th
9. Kyle Busch – A better day for Busch at Darlington than he’s had in recent weeks. A top-10 finish still kept the defending series champion winless in 2020. However, Busch needed a complete race without incident and got one in the Southern 500.
Driver Rating: 91.6
Playoff Grid: 10th
Previous Ranking: NR
10. Austin Dillon – Started the race in the rear but got his best Darlington finish and his third top-five finish of 2020 after having none in 2019.
Driver Rating: 75.0
Playoff Grid: 8th
Previous Ranking: NR
Dropped Out: Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto
