NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings after 2018 First Data 500
By Asher Fair
The opening race of the third round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series is in the books. How do the sport’s 29 full-time drivers stack up?
Team Penske’s Joey Logano opened up the third round of the four-round, 10-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the round of 8, by winning the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Logano’s victory in the 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia did not come without controversy even after he led 309 of its laps, as he bumped Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. out of the way on the final lap to take the checkered flag.
As a result of his victory, Logano became the first driver to clinch a berth in the Championship 4. Over the course of the remaining two races in the round of 8, the other three drivers who will clinch berths in the Championship 4 are set to be determined.
How did the excitement from Martinsville Speedway affect the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings? Here are the non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings following Logano’s victory in the First Data 500, which was his second victory of the season.
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Joey Logano – #22, Team Penske, Ford – [5th (+4)]
2nd – Kyle Busch – #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [1st (-1)]
3rd – Martin Truex Jr. – #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota – [4th (+1)]
4th – Kevin Harvick – #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [2nd (-2)]
5th – Kurt Busch – #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [8th (+3)]
6th – Chase Elliott – #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [3rd (-3)]
7th – Aric Almirola – #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [6th (-1)]
8th – Clint Bowyer – #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [7th (-1)]
9th – Denny Hamlin – #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [13th (+4)]
10th – Brad Keselowski – #2, Team Penske, Ford – [10th (0)]
11th – Ryan Blaney – #12, Team Penske, Ford – [9th (-2)]
12th – Jimmie Johnson – #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [16th (+4)]
13th – Kyle Larson – #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [11th (-2)]
14th – Alex Bowman – #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [14th (0)]
15th – Erik Jones – #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [12th (-3)]
16th – Austin Dillon – #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [15th (-1)]
17th – Ryan Newman – #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [17th (0)]
18th – Daniel Suarez – #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [19th (+1)]
19th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [18th (-1)]
20th – Paul Menard – #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [20th (0)]
21st – Jamie McMurray – #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [21st (0)]
22nd – Chris Buescher – #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [22nd (0)]
23rd – A.J. Allmendinger – #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [23rd (0)]
24th – William Byron – #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [24th (0)]
25th – David Ragan – #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [25th (0)]
26th – Michael McDowell – #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [26th (0)]
27th – Ty Dillon – #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [27th (0)]
28th – Darrell Wallace Jr. – #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [28th (0)]
29th – Matt DiBenedetto – #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford – [29th (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson (+4)
Down: Chase Elliott, Erik Jones (-3)
Here are the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings with the first race of the round of 8 having been completed. To see how the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.