After careful deliberation with a close colleague of mine, we decided to enter the world of power ranking the 36 full-time drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Unlike other folks that want to focus purely on results, Jey and I will be taking a more holistic approach to ranking this list that includes how the drivers ran through those races because drivers often get collected into messes kicked off by others.
We also wanted to make sure that we waited until the series raced at an intermediate race track prior to publishing, so we could get the most accurate gauge of which drivers and teams had speed at each and every track the Cup Series visited to this point.
Without any further ado, let’s get into the rankings!
1. Christopher Bell
Tanner: Simply put, Bell wheeled his No. 20 Toyota to three consecutive victories in the season’s first four races at a variety of circuits while also being competitive at the end of the Daytona 500.
A bad bump from Cole Custer on the Daytona Superstretch with five laps to go could be the only thing that stopped Bell from winning four consecutive races to start the season.
Bell outlasted the challenges from Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson to win in Atlanta before staving off challenges from Kyle Busch, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick the next weekend at COTA.
A dominant performance at Phoenix the following week gave Bell a mountain of Playoff points to work with after just four races, a mountain that could prove beneficial by the time September rolls around.
Minor hiccups by his team at Las Vegas did little to curb my optimism for a true breakout campaign for Bell as I expect him and the rest of the JGR cars to contend this weekend in Miami.
2. William Byron
Jey: William Byron has started the year off much like he did last year: a victory in the Daytona 500 and some really good runs to follow it up.
A runner-up finish at COTA and what could’ve been a fight with Bell for a second win at Phoenix proves this No. 24 team have immense pace to start the season.
Couple those great performances with having the second-highest average running position this past weekend at Vegas, and you have the makings of a better follow-up to his 2023 breakout.
If Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle can sustain this momentum through the summer races, they’ll be heavy favorites to compete for a championship in Phoenix again this fall.
3. Tyler Reddick
Tanner: While 23XI’s resident short king hasn’t pasted his name all over the headlines and the stat sheets, Reddick displayed speed at every track thus far.
Though he wasn’t truly contending for the win at Daytona until the final accident, he survived through all the mayhem to claim a runner-up result. He backed that up in Atlanta with a strong run that ended in disaster as he was wadded up in the last-lap crash.
A pole run at COTA ended with Reddick in a three-way battle for the win with Byron and Bell prior to a great performance at Phoenix that was ultimately derailed by a power steering issue. Poor caution timing ended a potential top-5 day at Vegas this past weekend as Reddick had to take the wave-around on used tires.
The No. 45 team clearly seem capable of putting together a fast machine, but the luck isn’t matching their pace. As soon as it does, expect Reddick to start reeling off a win or two in quick succession.
4. Josh Berry
Jey: Josh Berry has had a tremendous start for a driver still trying to settle in with his new race team.
Running up front at Daytona and winning a stage at Atlanta proved that Penske and Wood Brothers could still craft a strong drafting car.
Then, Berry and the No. 21 team went out and had a career day at Phoenix and followed it up with his first career Cup Series win at Las Vegas this past weekend.
It’s a great unknown if they can keep this up as the grind of the season really sets in, but Berry really seems to have found his footing with the Wood Brothers.
After five races, Berry should be poised for a great year the way things have started.
5. Ryan Blaney
Tanner: Not a single driver in the field has had luck more rotten than Ryan Blaney.
The 2023 Cup Series champ cruised along at Daytona in the top-10, ready to finally get his name on the Harvey J. Earl Trophy before a bad move by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the backstretch sent him head-first into the wall. Somehow, he still finished eighth.
He got wrecked out of the top-5 late in the race the next week in Atlanta before putting tires on his No. 12 BodyARMOR Ford and charging back to fourth.
A late restart snafu in COTA erased a top-10 effort and saddled him with a 19th-place result prior to a disappointing run in Phoenix highlighted by poor pit stops and a blown engine.
Then, everything blew up in his face in the Sin City where a blown tire in practice put him at the back of the grid to start. A slow pit stop under green put him two laps down, which was made worse by an ill-timed yellow. After rebounding from all of this, Blaney finally found his way into the top-10 with 70 laps to go where he was promptly wrecked on the backstretch, prematurely ending his day.
The No. 12 team is clearly one of the fastest in the field, but circumstances keep getting in their way. As soon as Blaney’s luck balances back out, he’ll be back in victory lane, which could come as soon as this week in Miami.
6. Kyle Larson
Jey: Kyle Larson hasn’t dominated one of these early races like he often has in years past.
This could be attributed to some calls that didn’t work out for the group and some mistakes unraveling what could’ve been good days (see: his tire coming off at COTA.)
That said, Larson was poised to compete for a win at Las Vegas prior to strategy going awry due to a late caution, and the pairing of him and crew chief Cliff Daniels got to flex (in moments) the pace that has made them into one of the powerhouse pairings of the decade so far.
One would expect them to continue to mold into their usual form as we progress further into the season, but for now, the No. 5 team slots in at No. 6 on our power rankings.
7. Joey Logano
Jey: Joey Logano has had a strange year so far.
The defending series champion leads all drivers in laps led and stage points earned, but the No. 22 team has yet to record a top-10 finish.
Despite all of this, Logano sits top-10 in points and positioned quite well to make the Playoffs this season after the first five weeks.
If Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe can put together some finishes that match the pace they’ve shown in the early stages of these races, then they should be poised to climb even further in the standings.
If they’re unable to right their wrongs from the past month, they risk a backslide to the edge of the Playoffs if they can’t finish where their cars are capable of running.
8. Alex Bowman
Jey: Alex Bowman has been the inverse of Joey Logano this year.
Bowman found himself involved in incidents in the middle of almost every race this year that have hampered his progress towards contention.
Some spins at COTA and a vibration this past week at Vegas hamstrung otherwise stout efforts from the No. 48 crew, yet Bowman managed to finish well almost every week.
Sporting four top-10s through five events this year, Bowman may be a threat to contending for wins very soon the way this team has been able to finish.
That is, if they’re able to stay out of trouble in the middle of these races.
9. Kyle Busch
Tanner: For over an hour of real time, it appeared as if Kyle Busch’s long winless drought would come to an end at Circuit of the Americas as his No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Camaro led the field for much of the afternoon.
As the Sun began to set, so too did Busch’s chances at victory when his former teammate and current teammate tangled late in the going, stacking the field back up for a final restart where Busch ultimately lost his advantage and the race altogether.
Despite this, Busch has found speed at every track, even this past weekend in Vegas where his car lost a wheel on an early restart that plunged him down the running order and put him in the garage.
The poor Vegas showing shuffled him outside of the Playoffs for now, but top-10s in Atlanta, COTA, and Phoenix show that this RCR team has race-winning pace. They just need the opportunity to show it.
10. Bubba Wallace
Tanner: Don’t let two top-30s the past two weeks fool you: Bubba Wallace has pace this season.
The 31-year-old racer looked sharp in the final stage at Phoenix, driving up to sixth before a blown brake rotor with about 50 laps to go ruined a potentially great run.
The No. 23 crew followed that up by bringing a missile to Vegas, and after earning points in both stages, Wallace had his run ruined by Noah Gragson and Austin Dillon plowing into him during a crash.
Armed with new crew chief Charles Denike, these two are only scratching the surface of their partnership to this point, and over these first few races, they’ve had speed at every single track. The results just aren’t there, yet.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Wallace and Denike team up for a win or two this season, even coming as soon as this weekend at Homestead or perhaps the following week at Martinsville.
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Suárez, Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric
(Top Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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