The Toyota Owners 400 marked the first short track race of the young season this past weekend. NASCAR brought the same aero package from Phoenix Raceway to Richmond to successful results. Sunday’s race was one of the most entertaining Richmond races in a few years. There were multiple grooves throughout the race, passing occurred frequently, and there was still varying pit strategy to enjoy. For the power rankings, Richmond was the final different type of track (not including Bristol dirt) for the Cup Series to run on. A short track can further demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the drivers. With no practice and qualifying due weather, Sunday’s race is the only factor to be considered for this week’s power rankings. How did Richmond shake up the rankings compared to last week at COTA?
#10 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: 8
Coming off a dominate victory at COTA, Tyler Reddick had all of the momentum on his side. Three straight Top-5s heading into a notoriously Toyota-strong track. On paper, it seemed that Reddick would have another great weekend and push his way further up the power rankings. However, Reddick had a mediocre day where he ran behind most of the other drivers on this list. While his prior three races were peak performance, the remainder of his results have left much to be desired.
#9 – Joey Logano
Previous Ranking: 9
As mentioned last week, either Joey Logano is contending for the win or running between tenth and fifteenth. Team Penske as a whole has seemed to be lacking a bit in speed. Richmond was no different. While Logano was able to nab a Top-10 finish, his average running position was fourteenth. The inconsistency is going to prevent Logano from moving higher up in the rankings.
#8 – Brad Keselowski
Previous Ranking: 10
Bouncing back from an awful trip to COTA, Brad Keselowski collected his third Top-10 in his last four races. Keselowski ran in the Top-10 all day, averaging a ninth place running position for the race. A slow pit stop in the final stage forced Keselowski to claw his way back into the Top-10. Once again, the #6 team is showing improved speed at almost every track. While nothing is guaranteed, odds for a Keselowski win this year (not at a superspeedway) keep improving.
#7 – Kyle Busch
Previous Ranking: 6
Kyle Busch’s speed must have been left back at Auto Club. Although Busch is not running poorly, he is lacking the attention grabbing performance he started the season off with. Richmond might be the worst race of the season for Kyle Busch. After starting on the front road, Busch immediately fell down the running order. Essentially, Busch was a mid-pack driver, only remaining in the Top-15 for 63.5% of the race. Maybe Busch’s luck will pick back up when he returns to the site of his fluke win from 2022.
#6 – Kevin Harvick
Previous Ranking: 5
Outside of Phoenix, Kevin Harvick has not been a race winning threat at any track this year. However, he has been a consistent Top-5 to Top-10 driver. His average finish of 11.7 is dragged down by his DNF at Atlanta. Remove that from his statistics and his average finish improves to 8.2. Easily, Harvick has been the best performing Ford this season. With that said, that ranks him outside the Top-5 for now in these power rankings.
#5 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 7
Toyota’s highest ranked driver is Christopher Bell. Bell is coming off his fourth Top-5 on the season. At Richmond, Bell was the most consistent Toyota team in the field. He led 26 laps and did not have multiple issues on pit road (unlike his teammate). Although he found the lead during the race, Bell was not one of the best three cars in the field. He did play a factor in the end though, ruining William Byron’s finish by spinning him out (and then blaming Ross Chastain).
#4 – Alex Bowman
Previous Ranking: 3
So far this season, one of the most consistent drivers has been Alex Bowman. He leads the field in average finish (7.1) and Top-10s (6). His worst finish on the season was fourteenth at Atlanta. Clearly, Alex Bowman has been champion of consistency this season. Why is Bowman not ranked better than fourth? While these power rankings appreciate consistency, Bowman has also clearly been the third best driver from his own team. Although his finishes have been better (as a whole) than his two teammates, Bowman still lacks the speed they have flashed. Outside of COTA, Bowman has been the third wheel of Hendrick Motorsports.
#3 – Ross Chastain
Previous Ranking: 4
An argument can be made for Alex Bowman to be ranked higher than Ross Chastain. However, these power rankings have Chastain ahead of Bowman due to more consistent race contending speed. Plus, Chastain has outperformed Bowman at COTA and Richmond. Ross Chastain turned in another solid performance at Richmond, finishing third after leading 16 laps. His average running position of fifth was third best of the day, only trailing the two drivers ahead of him on the rankings.
#2 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 1
For the first time this year, William Byron is not the top driver in the Pit Pass Network Power Rankings. However, this is not due to his late race wreck that dropped him from a Top-5 finish to twenty-fourth. While his finish does hurt his ranking a bit, the more pressing issue for Byron is that his early race winning speed tailed off at the end of another race. This happened at Las Vegas, Phoenix, and COTA as well. If not for late race cautions at Las Vegas and Phoenix, Byron would be winless this season. Byron and his team have had contending speed much of the 2023 season, but it has consistently tapered off as the race goes on.
#1 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 2
Kyle Larson is the new number 1 ranked driver for the Pit Pass Network Power Rankings. After his win at Richmond, there was little reason to not have Larson on the top spot. For the third time this season, William Byron’s loss of speed during the course of the race benefitted Kyle Larson. For the two Hendrick drivers, their races have been opposites of each other. Byron starts out as clearly the best car in the field then fades as the race goes on. Larson will start as a Top-5 car then progress into the best car in the field. If not for some bad luck, Richmond would not have been Larson’s first win of the season. Larson is a favorite heading into Bristol dirt this weekend, so expect him to have a strong case to remain on top.
Honorable Mentions
Denny Hamlin –Â If he was able to avoid his pit road speeding penalties, Denny Hamlin would have squeezed his way into the Top-10
Corey LaJoie – Corey LaJoie finished on the lead lap in a short track race. While he might not make it on this list proper, LaJoie and his team deserve a lot of praise for their 2023 season
Chris Buescher –Â An unscheduled pit stop ruined the race for Chris Buescher at Richmond. His performances prior to Richmond keep him in the honorable mentions
