NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings after 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
By Asher Fair
Conclusion
For the first time since Joey Logano was in the third position of the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings following the 14th race of the season, the Pocono 400, at Pocono Raceway back in early June, a non-“big three” driver is in the top three in the formulated set of rankings.
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Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch swapped the first and second positions, as Harvick took the lead while Busch full to second, but instead of Martin Truex Jr. staying in the third position for the second consecutive week, he fell down to the fifth position.
This opened the door for Chase Elliott to move into the third position, and Kurt Busch, who won the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, to move into the fourth position.
Elliott and Busch were able to take advantage of Truex Jr.’s crash and subsequent 30th place finish in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race and move up in these rankings largely due to the fact that they are the only two drivers who have both finished in the top nine in each of the last five races, so their average finishes in the last five races are among the best among all drivers in the sport right now.
In fact, Elliott’s average finish of 5.00 in the last five races is the best among all Cup Series drivers, and Busch has finished in the top nine in each of the last six races. Busch’s average finish in the last five races of 6.60 trails the average finishes in the last five races of only Elliott, Harvick (5.20) and Kyle Busch (5.80).
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The next race on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. That race is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 2, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network. There is no Cup Series race next weekend, making next weekend just the third off weekend of the season so far.