We’re now 12 races into the NASCAR Cup Series regular season and coming off Shane Van Gisbergen’s road course win at Watkins Glen. With the All-Star Race coming up, it’s the perfect time to evaluate the best NASCAR drivers right now.
Let’s take a look at our latest NASCAR Power Rankings after Watkins Glen.
1. Tyler Reddick (First: 1)
Tyler Reddick is the best driver in NASCAR right now. Through 12 races, he leads the Cup Series in average starting position (6.6), wins (five), top-five finishes (eight), and average finishing position (5.7), and his worst finish was 15th. With a 129-point lead over second place and a 145-point gap between Reddick and third place, they seem destined to win the regular season title.
2. Denny Hamlin (First: 2)
Road courses have never been Denny Hamlin’s strength. He’s said that for him, finishing in the top 10 on a road course is the equivalent of finishing in the top five on an oval, so we’ll count a 16th-place finish at Watkins Glen on Sunday as a top 10 finish. Most importantly for Hamlin, he leads more than 100 laps in Cup Series laps (624), and only three drivers have led more than 600 laps. It seems like this season is their best chance to win a championship.
3. Chris Buescher (First: 4)
Chris Buescher had a slightly disappointing result by his standards, finishing 12th at Watkins Glen. What has made him third among the best NASCAR drivers at the moment is his hot streak. Over the last eight races, he has claimed an impressive 9.5 average finishing positions and over that two-month period he has scored an average of 33 points per race. That’s far more consistency than guys like Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Kyle Larson.
4. Ryan Blaney (First: 6)
Ryan Blaney has bounced back from a disappointing two weeks with consecutive top-12 finishes. He ranks fourth in the Cup Series in laps led (249), but what stands out most about driving the No. 12 car this season is his number of Cup-leading passes. It’s really been pit road that has kept this team from getting there with Reddick and Hamlin. If these things get sorted out, Blaney is a championship contender.
5. Chase Elliott (First: 3)
Both car setup (27th starting position) and strategy (24th place finish) didn’t work out for the No. 9 team at Watkins Glen. Chase Elliott, like every other Hendrick Motorsports driver, was a complete non-factor. He already has two wins this season and is a great choice to win the title, but there is some concern that Elliott has already finished outside the top 20 three times before the halfway point of the regular season.
6. Ty Gibbs (previously: unranked)
After consecutive finishes outside the top 33, Ty Gibbs took advantage of a trip to the road course with a third-place finish. It marked Gibbs’ sixth top-five finish this season, second most in the Cup Series. Although he has the benefit of racing with great equipment and an excellent crew, he is ultimately making the most of it.
7. Austin Cindric (First: 9)
It was a slow start to the season for Austin Cindric. In the first five races, his average finishing position was 29.0 and he scored more than 20 points in a race only once. Although it took some time, the No. 2 crew figured things out. Over the last six races, Cindric ranks fifth in average finishing position (11.3) thanks to three top-10s and a top-20 finish in each race. He has averaged 29.5 points per race in that span. This has brought him back above the cutline.
8. Carson Hocevar (First: 5)
It should come as no surprise that Carson Hocevar didn’t fare well at Watkins Glen. The only attention the No. 77 car really received was for the incident involving Josh Berry. The 28th-place finish at Watkins Glen came after six races, where he had an average finishing position of 8.3 and his first Cup Series win. We think this year is going to be another trip to victory lane for him.
9. Kyle Larson (1st: 7)
Kyle Larson has gone a full year without winning a Cup Series race. Over the last 36 races, he ranks only 11th in average finishing position (15.7), and over the last six races he ranks 16th in average finish (18.5). The No. 5 car has two DNFs this season and has finished outside the top 20 five times, including the last three races.
10. Daniel Suarez (Previously: Unranked)
Let’s remember that coming into the season, there were legitimate questions about whether Daniel Suarez had a future in the Cup Series. He has had an excellent year with Spire Motorsports. Suárez’s 15.00 average finishing position would be the highest mark so far in his Cup Series career, and he is headed for more top-10s and top-five finishes than last year. Just as importantly, he has remained consistent with the ninth-best average finishing position (13.7) over the last six races.
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