NASCAR Cup Series: Driver Power Rankings after 2018 Auto Club 400 at Fontana
By Asher Fair
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer | Last Rank | Trend |
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota | 3 | +2 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford | 9 | +6 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet | 10 | +5 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 4 | -2 |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford | 6 | -1 |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 1 | -7 |
| 9 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 12 | +3 |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 8 | -2 |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 7 | -4 |
| 12 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet | 15 | +3 |
| 13 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 13 | 0 |
| 14 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 18 | +4 |
| 15 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford | 16 | +1 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet | 14 | -2 |
| 17 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 20 | +3 |
| 18 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 19 | +1 |
| 19 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 11 | -8 |
| 20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford | 21 | +1 |
| 21 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet | 23 | +2 |
| 22 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 17 | -5 |
| 23 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet | 28 | +5 |
| 24 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet | 25 | +1 |
| 25 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford | 26 | +1 |
| 26 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet | 22 | -4 |
| 27 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet | 29 | +2 |
| 28 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford | 27 | -1 |
| 29 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford | 24 | -5 |
| 30 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet | 31 | +1 |
| 31 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford | 30 | -1 |
| 32 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota | 33 | +1 |
| 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet | 32 | -1 |
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With the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway having been the fifth race of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, there is no longer a guarantee that the “average finish” and “average finish in last five races” categories will match for each driver. Seeing as how these two factors are extremely important in the calculation of the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings, it will be interesting to see if the overall complexion of these rankings is changed in a significant way as the series moves to its sixth race of the 2018 season and beyond.
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Be sure not to miss the next NASCAR Cup Series race, which is the sixth race on the 2018 season’s 36-race schedule. That race, the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, is set to take place on Sunday, March 25th, and it is set to be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 on that date starting at 2:00 pm ET.