Of the 36 races on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, 21 have been completed. How do the sport’s 30 full-time drivers stack up against one another?
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch didn’t need to bump Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick out of the way in the Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway to get revenge for Harvick bumping him out of the way to win the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Sunday.
Instead, Busch drove to victory lane for the sixth time in21 races so far in the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series in his #18 Toyota at the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Pocono Raceway triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
By winning his sixth race of the season, Busch is now tied with Harvick for the lead among all drivers. Just seven drivers have won at least one race this year. This is largely due the fact that Busch and Harvick have won 12 of the 21 races that have been held so far in 2018. Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the defending Cup Series champion, has four wins of his own in his #78 Toyota.
Busch, who has now won six of the last 15 races and has finished lower than fifth place just one in the last nine, won the race despite the fact that he started all the way back in 28th. He qualified up in second, but he failed post-qualifying inspection and was sent to the back of the field along with 12 other drivers who also failed post-qualifying inspection.
How did Busch’s sixth victory of the 2018 season affect the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings? Here are the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings and the non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings with 15 races remaining on the 2018 schedule.
To see how the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.