NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings after 2018 Bojangles’ Southern 500
By Asher Fair
With one race remaining in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, how do the sport’s 30 full-time drivers rank against one another?
The 25th race of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season is in the books, meaning just one race remains on the schedule before the 10-race playoffs are set to begin.
Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski earned his first victory of the season in the penultimate race of the regular season, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, at Darlington Raceway, making him the 10th driver to clinch a playoff berth by winning at least one race this year.
Keselowski had already clinched a playoff berth based on his point total.
Keselowski’s victory in the 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington Raceway oval in Darlington, South Carolina became the the third victory in the last four races that was earned by a non-“big three” driver, meaning Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. did not win it.
In fact, Keselowski’s victory gave non-“big three” drivers two consecutive victories for the first time this season, as Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch won the previous race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
How did the action from under the lights at Darlington Raceway 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 following Keselowski’s first victory of the season.
To see how the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.