The final short track race of the regular season wrapped up Sunday evening at Richmond Raceway. Richmond’s second race was entertaining for those who enjoy varying pit strategies, long green flag runs, and the struggles of Hendrick Motorsports. While the Chevys struggled, the Fords were the surprising dominant manufacturer. Of the 400 laps, a Ford led the majority of them, resulting in a Chris Buescher win. Meanwhile, the racing remained clean throughout. Outside of Noah Gragson spinning Daniel Suarez late in the race, there were no cautions for incident. With the race playing out this way, evaluating the drivers for the power rankings in Week 19 was fairly straight forward. Did the Fords strong day power them up the rankings? How did the power rankings change with the Chevy struggles?
#10 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
Despite finishing outside the Top-10, Tyler Reddick had one of the best cars on Sunday. A mistake entering pit road during the final stage cost Reddick a better finish. Prior to that penalty, Reddick ran inside the Top-3 all race. Whether he or teammate Bubba Wallace had the best Toyota was up for debate. Leading the first 81 laps of the race, Reddick’s run was better than his result.
#9 – Kevin Harvick
Previous Ranking: 10
Kevin Harvick bumps up one spot in the power rankings after a solid run at Richmond. While many picked Harvick to be a contender for the win, Harvick never demonstrated that type of speed during the race. Early, Harvick managed to break into the Top-5, but did not sustain it race long. Despite that, Harvick finished with a Top-10 and continued building momentum for the playoffs.
#8 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 6
Richmond was unkind to Christopher Bell. Bell did not qualify well, struggled to move through the field early, and got hit with a pit road penalty on the first round of green flag stops. Bell’s Top-20 finish is a testament to how well the team persevered despite the poor luck. Bell drops two spots due to a rough stretch in recent weeks. Outside of his sixth at Pocono, Bell has failed to finish in the Top-15 since Nashville.
#7 – Brad Keselowski
Previous Ranking: 8
As with many of the potential winners on Sunday, Brad Keselowski shot himself in the foot during a green flag pit cycle. After leading 102 laps, Keselowski entered his pit box at a weird angle. This delayed his pit service, which resulted in losing the lead for the rest of the race. Keselowski struggled to get back into the Top-5 after the mishap. However, Keselowski once again showed great speed and is continuing his momentum up the power rankings.
#6 – Chris Buescher
Previous Ranking: 7
Where one RFK driver floundered, another thrived. After starting in 26th, Chris Buescher drove his way to the front. His pit crew executed every pit stop with precision and speed. Buescher hit all of his marks and held off Denny Hamlin on the last restart to win his second race with RFK. Once Buescher took the lead from his teammate, he dominated the remainder of the race. With this win, Buescher officially clinches his spot in the playoffs.
#5 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 3
William Byron has been on a bit of a cold streak in recent weeks. Ignoring his Atlanta win, Byron has failed to finish in the Top-10 since Nashville. While he led 60 laps at Pocono, Byron faded late in that race and did not play into the finish. As mentioned previously in these power rankings, Byron has a tendency to run strong at the start then fade. At Richmond, all the Hendrick cars were slow. Byron finished the worst of the four though.
#4 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 5
Denny Hamlin finally breaks through into the top four of the power rankings. While Byron has been skidding a bit, Hamlin has been hitting his stride. A win last week and a runner-up this week sees Hamlin climb both the power rankings and the points standings. He currently sits second behind teammate Martin Truex Jr.
#3 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 2
As mentioned with William Byron, Hendrick missed the mark on Sunday. Surprisingly, Cliff Daniels could not make the necessary adjustments to put Kyle Larson back up front. Instead, Larson battled to stay on the lead lap for much of the race. Based on recent performances, this will likely be a one-off bad race for the 5 team.
#2 – Kyle Busch
Previous Ranking: 3
While every other Chevy team struggled, RCR thrived. Both RCR cars finished in the Top-10, with Kyle Busch finishing third. Busch ran inside the Top-10 all race and benefitted on the final restart to gain some positions. Although he was never a threat for the win, races like this reinforce the idea that Busch can be a champion this season.
#1 – Martin Truex Jr
Previous Ranking: 1
Remaining atop of the power rankings for the third straight week is Martin Truex Jr. Despite a solid qualifying effort, Truex quickly fell into the mid pack after contract with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Clearly, his car was not suited for a strong run. However, James Small decided to play the one-stop strategy during the last two stages. This allowed Truex to bring a mediocre car home with a Top-10. That Top-10 holds off Kyle Busch from overtaking Truex at the top of the Pit Pass Network Power Rankings.
Honorable Mention
Ross Chastain – Another week of poor speed from Ross Chastain (and Trackhouse). On paper, Richmond looked to be a good bounce back track. However, Chevy’s lack of speed kept Chastain in the back of the pack.
Joey Logano –Â Somehow, Joey Logano finds a way to finish better than his running position was during the race. Logano shot up multiple positions on the final restart to claim a Top-5 with his tenth place car.
Bubba Wallace – Bubba Wallace potentially had a race winning car before a mishap on pit road threw him deeper in the field. Despite his great speed, Wallace finished outside the Top-10.
