NASCAR Cup Series: Driver Power Rankings after 2018 Food City 500 at Bristol
By Asher Fair
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer | Last Rank | Trend |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford | 4 | +1 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford | 3 | -2 |
| 6 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet | 11 | +5 |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 10 | +3 |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford | 9 | +1 |
| 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota | 6 | -3 |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 12 | +2 |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 8 | -3 |
| 12 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 7 | -5 |
| 13 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 17 | +4 |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet | 19 | +5 |
| 15 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 21 | +6 |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford | 25 | +9 |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet | 16 | -1 |
| 18 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford | 20 | +2 |
| 19 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 13 | -6 |
| 20 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet | 18 | -2 |
| 21 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet | 24 | +3 |
| 22 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 15 | -7 |
| 23 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet | 14 | -9 |
| 24 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 26 | +2 |
| 25 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford | 30 | +5 |
| 26 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford | 27 | +1 |
| 27 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet | 23 | -4 |
| 28 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford | 22 | -6 |
| 29 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford | 31 | +2 |
| 30 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet | 29 | -1 |
| 31 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet | 28 | -3 |
| 32 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota | 32 | 0 |
Biggest Movers
Up: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+9)
Down: Jamie McMurray (-9)
Conclusion
With eight races down and 28 to go in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, we are really starting to see the effects of the separate categories for drivers’ average finishes overall and their average finishes in the last five races in the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings.
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A great example of this is the fact that Kevin Harvick finished in 7th place in Bristol while his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer finished in 8th. However, Bowyer was able to pass Harvick in the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings as a result of the fact that his 8th place finished essentially replaced an 18th place finish in Las Vegas in his last five races, while Harvick’s 7th place finish replaced a win in Las Vegas.
As a result of this, Bowyer’s average finish in the last five races went up while Harvick’s dropped, so even though Harvick’s overall average finish was helped more than Bowyer’s was as a result of the Bristol race, the difference in their average finishes in the last five races caused Bowyer to jump ahead of Harvick in this edition of the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings.
Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time
With the Food City 500 at Bristol having been a Monday race, there are just five days to wait until the next NASCAR Cup Series race, which is the ninth of 36 races this season, as it is set to take place on Saturday, April 21st. That race, the Toyota Owners 400, is set to be held at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox starting at 6:30 pm ET on that date.