NASCAR Cup Series: 2019 Playoff Driver Power Rankings

By Asher Fair | Sep 10, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 08: Ryan Newman, driver of the #6 Acorns Ford, Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 McDonald's Chevrolet, Erik Jones, driver of the #20 STANLEY Wish For Our Heros Toyota, William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, Martin Truex Jr, driver of the #19 AOI Toyota, Clint Bowyer, driver of the #14 Rush/Cummins Ford, Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Wabash National Ford, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, Kurt Busch, driver of the #1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Discount Tire Ford, Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Mobil 1 Ford, Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield/Meijer Ford, pose for a photo with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy to start the playoffs following 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) /

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BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 16: Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

#15 through #13

Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford. ARIC ALMIROLA. #15. . No. 10

Like Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola recorded just one top six finish in the regular season, and his most recent top 10 finish came in the July race at Daytona International Speedway. The driver who came only a few laps from a miraculous Championship 4 run one year ago will need to step it up big-time if he has any aspirations of even making it beyond the round of 16.

#14. . No. 14. Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford. CLINT BOWYER

Inconsistency plagued Clint Bowyer throughout the entire regular season, and it nearly kept him from qualifying for the playoffs. He is set to enter the playoffs riding a three-race streak of top seven finishes, but that follows an 11-race streak during which his average finish was 21.82 and he finished in 34th place or worse on four occasions. Even one bad race in the round of 16 could make that round his last in this year’s playoffs.

#13. . No. 88. Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet. ALEX BOWMAN

Alex Bowman had a “slow” first half of the regular season. Yet despite the fact that his second half of the regular season featured his first career Cup Series victory, it was arguably even slower. His victory was his only finish higher than 10th place throughout the final 13 races of the 26-race regular season, and he has recorded just four other finishes of higher than 10th all year. That needs to change in order for him to even advance to the round of 12, which he did manage to do last year.

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