NASCAR Power Rankings: Kevin Harvick riding high heading into playoffs

Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 08: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Mobil 1 Ford, leads during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 08, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 08: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Mobil 1 Ford (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

With the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series regular season in the books following Kevin Harvick’s third victory of the year, how do the sport’s full-time drivers stack up?

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick closed out the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series regular season by securing his third victory of the season and his third victory in the last seven races in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, more commonly known as the Brickyard 400, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

How did Harvick’s victory in this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana 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.

Alternatively, click here to get started.

NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings Analysis

These NASCAR Cup Series Driver Power Rankings were somewhat shaken up this week because of the points reset for the 16 playoff drivers. While their official 2,000+ point totals are used in the “points” category, the point totals used in the “points in most recent race” category are the number of points they actually scored in the Brickyard 400.

One thing this didn’t do is prevent Kevin Harvick from shooting up the rankings, even though he is now officially in a fourth place tie in the championship standings after ending the regular season with the third highest point total.

Harvick has now won two of the last four and three of the last seven races, and he has finished lower than seventh place on one occasion during this seven-race span, and that poor result only took place as a result of a mechanical issue at Bristol Motor Speedway.

But was his Brickyard 400 victory enough to move him to #1 for the first time this season?

On the flip side, coming off of the second victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career at Darlington Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones crashed out of this race and plummeted in the rankings.

He has now recorded three finishes of 18th place or worse in the last four races, and after having been ranked as high as fourth in these rankings in recent weeks, he is now one of the lowest ranking playoff drivers.

Now let’s get started with the rankings.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 07: Ryan Preece, driver of the #47 Kroger Chevrolet (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

#31 through #26

Last Rank: 29th (-2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 1
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 26.73
Average finish in last five races: 27.00
Most recent finish: 32nd
Points in most recent race: 5
Standings position: 31st
Points: 268

Last Rank: 30th (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 1
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 25.54
Average finish in last five races: 26.80
Most recent finish: 19th
Points in most recent race: 18
Standings position: 29th
Points: 298

Last Rank: 31st (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 0
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 26.12
Average finish in last five races: 24.00
Most recent finish: 20th
Points in most recent race: 17
Standings position: 30th
Points: 285

Last Rank: 28th (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 1
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 25.23
Average finish in last five races: 26.00
Most recent finish: 17th
Points in most recent race: 20
Standings position: 28th
Points: 324

Last Rank: 25th (-2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 2
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 22.88
Average finish in last five races: 28.80
Most recent finish: 34th
Points in most recent race: 3
Standings position: 25th
Points: 373

Last Rank: 26th (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 3
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 23.46
Average finish in last five races: 19.80
Most recent finish: 16th
Points in most recent race: 21
Standings position: 26th
Points: 354

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 07: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

#25 through #21

Last Rank: 27th (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 1
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 24.15
Average finish in last five races: 19.20
Most recent finish: 3rd
Points in most recent race: 34
Standings position: 27th
Points: 351

Last Rank: 23rd (-1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 2
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 20.96
Average finish in last five races: 28.00
Most recent finish: 31st
Points in most recent race: 6
Standings position: 21st
Points: 489

Last Rank: 24th (+1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 2
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 20.85
Average finish in last five races: 18.80
Most recent finish: 13th
Points in most recent race: 24
Standings position: 24th
Points: 441

Last Rank: 22nd (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 4
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 20.50
Average finish in last five races: 20.00
Most recent finish: 12th
Points in most recent race: 25
Standings position: 23rd
Points: 479

Last Rank: 21st (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 8
Top 5 finishes: 3
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 16.92
Average finish in last five races: 24.60
Most recent finish: 35th
Points in most recent race: 10
Standings position: 18th
Points: 609

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 07: Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield/Meijer Ford (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

#20 through #16

Last Rank: 19th (-1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 4
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 17.04
Average finish in last five races: 14.20
Most recent finish: 15th
Points in most recent race: 23
Standings position: 20th
Points: 554

Last Rank: 18th (-1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 6
Top 5 finishes: 3
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 19.15
Average finish in last five races: 10.80
Most recent finish: 18th
Points in most recent race: 19
Standings position: 22nd
Points: 486

Last Rank: 20th (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 4
Top 5 finishes: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 16.27
Average finish in last five races: 15.00
Most recent finish: 10th
Points in most recent race: 27
Standings position: 19th
Points: 575

Last Rank: 13th (-4)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 9
Top 5 finishes: 3
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 14.85
Average finish in last five races: 10.40
Most recent finish: 11th
Points in most recent race: 31
Standings position: 17th
Points: 648

Last Rank: 17th (+1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 10
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 14.81
Average finish in last five races: 21.00
Most recent finish: 14th
Points in most recent race: 24
Standings position: 13th
Points: 2001

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 07: Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

#15 through #11

Last Rank: 15th (-)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 12
Top 5 finishes: 6
Podium finishes: 2
Wins: 0
Average finish: 15.69
Average finish in last five races: 15.00
Most recent finish: 5th
Points in most recent race: 38
Standings position: 15th
Points: 2000

Last Rank: 7th (-7)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 13
Top 5 finishes: 9
Podium finishes: 7
Wins: 1
Average finish: 14.42
Average finish in last five races: 16.80
Most recent finish: 39th
Points in most recent race: 1
Standings position: 9th
Points: 2005

Last Rank: 16th (+3)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 9
Top 5 finishes: 1
Podium finishes: 0
Wins: 0
Average finish: 13.96
Average finish in last five races: 15.80
Most recent finish: 8th
Points in most recent race: 35
Standings position: 15th
Points: 2000

Last Rank: 14th (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 9
Top 5 finishes: 3
Podium finishes: 1
Wins: 0
Average finish: 14.35
Average finish in last five races: 15.00
Most recent finish: 4th
Points in most recent race: 35
Standings position: 13th
Points: 2001

Last Rank: 12th (+1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 7
Top 5 finishes: 4
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 1
Average finish: 14.15
Average finish in last five races: 15.60
Most recent finish: 21st
Points in most recent race: 18
Standings position: 9th
Points: 2005

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 07: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

#10 through #6

Last Rank: 9th (-1)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 14
Top 5 finishes: 5
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 1
Average finish: 11.81
Average finish in last five races: 15.80
Most recent finish: 30th
Points in most recent race: 11
Standings position: 8th
Points: 2011

Last Rank: 11th (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 12
Top 5 finishes: 7
Podium finishes: 2
Wins: 0
Average finish: 14.62
Average finish in last five races: 11.80
Most recent finish: 7th
Points in most recent race: 45
Standings position: 12th
Points: 2004

Last Rank: 5th (-3)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 14
Top 5 finishes: 9
Podium finishes: 7
Wins: 3
Average finish: 12.54
Average finish in last five races: 14.80
Most recent finish: 38th
Points in most recent race: 1
Standings position: 6th
Points: 2024

Last Rank: 4th (-3)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 12
Top 5 finishes: 6
Podium finishes: 4
Wins: 0
Average finish: 15.23
Average finish in last five races: 10.40
Most recent finish: 33rd
Points in most recent race: 22
Standings position: 9th
Points: 2005

Last Rank: 8th (+2)
Races: 26
Top 10 finishes: 15
Top 5 finishes: 10
Podium finishes: 8
Wins: 2
Average finish: 10.35
Average finish in last five races: 14.40
Most recent finish: 2nd
Points in most recent race: 52
Standings position: 4th
Points: 2028