NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings after 2019 Auto Club 400
By Asher Fair
How were the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings affected by Kyle Busch’s victory in the fifth race of the 2019 season, the Auto Club 400, at Auto Club Speedway?
After becoming the fourth different driver to win a race in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning the season’s fourth race at ISM Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch became the first driver to win two races and to win two consecutive races in 2019 by winning the season’s fifth race, the Auto Club 400, at Auto Club Speedway.
Busch’s victory in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Auto Club Speedway oval in Fontana, California made the 2019 season the second consecutive season that did not feature five different winners in the first five races. The most recent season to feature five different winners in the first five races is the 2017 season.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are each responsible for winning one of the three races that Busch has not won so far this season, as they won the season’s first three races at Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, respectively.
How did Busch’s victory and the rest of the action at Auto Club Speedway affect the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings? Here are the non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings following the season’s fifth race.
Non-formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – [Last Rank (Trend)]
1st – Kyle Busch – #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [1st (0)]
2nd – Joey Logano – #22, Team Penske, Ford – [4th (+2)]
3rd – Kevin Harvick – #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [3rd (0)]
4th – Denny Hamlin – #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [2nd (-2)]
5th – Brad Keselowski – #2, Team Penske, Ford – [9th (+4)]
6th – Ryan Blaney – #12, Team Penske, Ford – [10th (+4)]
7th – Kurt Busch – #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [8th (+1)]
8th – Martin Truex Jr. – #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [5th (-3)]
9th – Aric Almirola – #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [6th (-3)]
10th – Kyle Larson – #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet – [7th (-3)]
11th – Chase Elliott – #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [13th (+2)]
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [12th (0)]
13th – Jimmie Johnson – #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [14th (+1)]
14th – Erik Jones – #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota – [15th (+1)]
15th – Austin Dillon – #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [22nd (+7)]
16th – Daniel Suarez – #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [23rd (+7)]
17th – William Byron – #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [19th (+2)]
18th – Alex Bowman – #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet – [17th (-1)]
19th – Ryan Newman – #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford – [16th (-3)]
20th – Clint Bowyer – #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford – [11th (-9)]
21st – Chris Buescher – #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [21st (0)]
22nd – Paul Menard – #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford – [18th (-4)]
23rd – Matt DiBenedetto – #95, Leavine Family Racing, Toyota – [25th (+2)]
24th – Ty Dillon – #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet – [20th (-4)]
25th – Ryan Preece – #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet – [29th (+4)]
26th – David Ragan – #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [26th (0)]
27th – Daniel Hemric – #8, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet – [24th (-3)]
28th – Michael McDowell – #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [31st (+3)]
29th – Matt Tifft – #36, Front Row Motorsports, Ford – [30th (+1)]
30th – Darrell Wallace Jr. – #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet – [28th (-2)]
31st – Corey LaJoie – #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford – [27th (-4)]
32nd – Landon Cassill – #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet – [32nd (0)]
Biggest Movers
Up: Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez (+7)
Down: Clint Bowyer (-9)
Here are the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings following the Auto Club 400. To see how the formulated NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.