Another race has hit the books on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar. For the second straight year, WWT Raceway hosted the Enjoy Illinois 300 for the Cup Series. Once again, it was a race that happened. Outside of the lack of Chase Elliott, the biggest story coming out of the weekend is the newest part failure on the NextGen car. During the race, four cars broke their brake rotors. This eliminated three drivers who were on their way or in the middle of a solid race. The other was Noah Gragson. Outside the raging dumpster fire that is the NextGen car, the race on Sunday saw some fresh faces in the Top-10 during certain portions. How did that play into the power rankings for this week? Continue reading below to find out.
#10 – Brad Keselowski
Previous Ranking: 9
Slowly creeping his way out of the power rankings is Brad Keselowski. Back to back poor finishes will do that to a driver. However, Sunday was not the fault of Keselowski. A sour motor during the closing laps of Stage 1 saw a potential Top-10 run vanish. To the credit of the 6 team, they kept the car running the entire race and finished on the lead lap. Keselowksi would have likely been off the power rankings if not for failing brake rotors.
#9 – Kevin Harvick
Previous Ranking: 10
Kevin Harvick had a solid day on Sunday. He averaged a Top-10 running position and did not let the late race restarts ruin his day. It was only Harvick’s second Top-10 in the past seven races. Despite that, Harvick is in contention for the points lead.
#8 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 5
Dropping three spots, Christopher Bell is in the middle of a cold streak. Over the past four races, Bell has failed to crack the Top-10. This past Sunday was his best finish since a sixth at Dover. Despite finishing eleventh, Bell did not run well most of the race. He ran most of the race outside the Top-15. Late race restarts helped Bell wiggle his way forward. At Kansas and Darlington, strong runs were upended by bad luck. This week, a poor run lucked into a solid finish.
#7 – Ross Chastain
Since his incident with Kyle Larson at Darlington, Ross Chastain has been a nonfactor. Back-to-back finishes outside the Top-20 have cost Chastain his points lead. While Charlotte had the excuse of getting damage on pit road, Chastain was simply slow at WWT Raceway. With his lack of speed, everyone’s favorite segment of Can You Blame Ross? has had little material to work with. For this week’s edition, Chastain and Michael McDowell got tangled up early in the race resulting in McDowell spinning and getting some damage.
#6 – Kyle Busch
Previous Ranking: 8
Is Kyle Busch a contender for the championship? That question might seem crazy given that Busch has three wins this year. However, outside of his wins, Busch has been far from a dominate driver this season. For every strong race (as he had at WWT Raceway), Busch provides mediocre runs. While some may think sixth is too low, Busch has as many outside Top-20 finishes as Top-10s since COTA. Plus, his looping statistics during that stretch emphasize the inconsistency, hence his position in the power rankings.
#5 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 7
Denny Hamlin jumps up two spots after finishing second at WWT Raceway. Hamlin averaged a third place running position throughout the day. Weirdly though, Hamlin managed to not lead a lap. With the poor races from Bell and Chastain, Hamlin is able to navigate up the power rankings.
#4 – Ryan Blaney
Previous Ranking: 6
After collecting his first win since 2021, Ryan Blaney backed it up with a great run in St. Louis. Blaney won Stage 2 and led 83 laps. Plus, Blaney now holds the points lead. Clearly, Blaney has established himself as the best running Ford in the field. If he can hold this momentum, his first Championship Four appearance might be on the docket.
#3 – Martin Truex Jr
Previous Ranking: 3
No change for Martin Truex Jr this week. Once again, Truex Jr had a strong (albeit quiet) race. He finished in the Top-5 while spending most of his race in the Top-10. If not for a speeding penalty during the stage break between Stage 1 and 2, his looping data would be more impressive. Clearly, Truex Jr had a strong car in St. Louis.
#2 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 2
If you had said Kyle Larson would end up with a Top-5 during Stage 1, you would have either been crazy or a prophet. Larson’s race started with a severe lack of speed. There were moments early that saw Larson battling to be in the Top-25. However, Cliff Daniels and the 5 team continuously worked on making the car better. Add in a little tire strategy and Kyle Larson almost stole the win from Kyle Busch.
#1 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 1
Remaining on top of the power rankings this week is William Byron. Byron led the third most laps on Sunday on his way to a Top-10. Despite the three other Hendrick cars finding trouble early, Byron’s car was tuned up from the beginning. While his car did not have race winning speed, he rarely fell outside the Top-10. Between the two 3-race winners, Byron looks to be the stronger of the two.
Honorable Mentions
Chris Buescher – Chris Buescher almost forced his teammate/team owner out of the power rankings this week. Despite a twelfth place finish, Buescher’s Sunday was another struggle to find speed.
Tyler Reddick – Tyler Reddick was likely on his way to another Top-10 finish and a spot on the power rankings. However, Reddick was one of the drivers who DNFed due to a failing brake rotor.
Bubba Wallace – Essentially, read above. Bubba Wallace was running in the Top-10 until his brake rotor failed with three laps to go.
