NASCAR Power Rankings: Kyle Larson heats up, Denny Hamlin cools off
By Asher Fair
How did Erik Jones’s first victory of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season and the rest of the action from Darlington Raceway affect the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings?
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones ended his 43-race win drought by getting to victory lane in his 100th career NASCAR Cup Series start. He secured the second victory of his career by winning the 2019 regular season’s penultimate race, the Bojangles’ Southern 500, at Darlington Raceway.
How did Jones’s victory in this 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) Darlington Raceway oval in Darlington, South Carolina affect the NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings?
These NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings were calculated using a formula, which you can see here. But before they are revealed, take a look below at some of the highlights of this edition of these rankings.
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NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings Analysis
Following a six-race streak of top five finishes during which his average finish was 2.33 and a five-race streak of top three finishes during which his average finish was 1.80, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was involved in an accident during the Bojangles’ Southern 500 that ended his hot streak.
He still finished this race, but he finished in 29th place, his second worst result of the season. As a result, he dropped from the top spot in these rankings and relinquished that spot to a familiar face.
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson replaced Hamlin as the driver with the best average finish in the last five races. His second place finish in this race replaced his 33rd place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the calculation for this average, and as a result, this average dropped by 6.20 from 11.00 to 4.80.
Larson made the biggest move up these rankings this week because of his hot streak. But how high did he ascend?