Welcome, this is a summary of the Cup statistical driver review grades from the 9 posts over the last couple weeks. Here you can see all the Cup Series drivers (with 15+ starts this year) rankings according to their grade and number rating through the weighted formula I used. I provide their grade and number rating below and below that will be the Cup Series owner rankings (based off their drivers in this article only) with their grade and average number rating. Then for all of you who are nerds like me and want to know what/how I came up with the rating system formula, I detail how that works below the owner rankings. To end the article I have links to each Cup review I have done in case you missed them and the links counterparts pages so you can check out theirs as well. So, have fun and I hope your favorite driver/owner ranking meets your approval, and if you read how I came up with my formula I hope it makes sense.
| Rank | Driver | Grade | Rating |
| 1 | William Byron | A | 89.32 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | A- | 86.24 |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | A- | 83.06 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | A- | 82.28 |
| 5 | Christopher Bell | A- | 80.06 |
| 6 | Chris Buescher | B | 72.44 |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | B | 70.98 |
| 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | B | 69.84 |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | B- | 67.14 |
| 10 | Ross Chastain | B- | 61.60 |
| 11 | Joey Logano | B- | 61.60 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | B- | 60.46-61.60 |
| 13 | Kevin Harvick | C+ | 59.22 |
| 14 | Kyle Busch | C+ | 58.84 |
| 15 | Ty Gibbs | C+ | 58.50 |
| 16 | Bubba Wallace | C+ | 56.92 |
| 17 | Michael McDowell | C | 50.32 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | C | 48.88 |
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | C | 48.36 |
| 20 | Alex Bowman | C | 48.02 |
| 21 | A.J. Allmendinger | C- | 46.24 |
| 22 | Aric Almirola | C- | 40.60 |
| 23 | Corey LaJoie | C- | 40.40 |
| 24 | Justin Haley | D+ | 36.06 |
| 25 | Erik Jones | D+ | 35.46 |
| 26 | Chase Briscoe | D | 34.94 |
| 27 | Ryan Preece | D | 34.66 |
| 28 | Austin Cindric | D | 33.08 |
| 29 | Todd Gilliland | D | 30.08 |
| 30 | Austin Dillon | D- | 26.10 |
| 31 | Ty Dillon | F+ | 16.42 |
| 32 | Harrison Burton | F | 14.00 |
| 33 | J.J. Yeley | F | 13.84-20.30 |
| 34 | Noah Gragson | F | 13.80-24.44 |
| 35 | B.J. McLeod | F- | 8.98-15.44 |
| Rank | Driver | Grade | Rating |
| 1 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
B | 73.66 |
| 2 | Hendrick Motorsports |
B | 70.22-70.50 |
| 3 | RFK Racing |
B | 69.79 |
| 4 | 23XI Racing |
B- | 63.95 |
| 5 | Team Penske |
C+ | 58.99 |
| 6 | Trackhouse Racing |
C+ | 55.24 |
| 7 | JTG Daugherty Racing |
C | 48.36 |
| 8 | Richard Childress Racing |
C- | 42.47 |
| 9 | Stewart-Haas Racing |
C- | 42.36 |
| 10 | Kaulig Racing |
C- | 41.15 |
| 11 | Front Row Motorsports |
C- | 40.20 |
| 12 | Spire Motorsports |
D | 28.41 |
| 13 | Legacy Motor Club |
D- | 24.63-29.95 |
| 14 | Wood Brothers Racing |
F | 14.00 |
| 15 | Rick Ware Racing |
F | 13.84-20.30 |
| 16 | Live Fast Motorsports |
F- | 8.98-15.44 |
For those of you who are still reading here is how I determined the rating and grades for each driver. If you like this rating system let me know, or if you have a better way let me know as well.
First I put the stats for each driver and then compared them to the others the best I could for their grade (to avoid different day bias). I broke up the teams into 4 tiers and tried to compare each driver to similar team/experience the best I could.
– Tier 1: Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing
– Tier 2: Wood Brother’s Racing, 23XI Racing, Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing, Trackhouse Racing
– Tier 3: Front Row Motorsports, JTG Daugherty Racing, Kaulig Racing
– Tier 4: Rick Ware Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, Spire Motorsports
After this each grade was given a number:
A+=20. A=18. A-=17.
B+=15. B=14. B-=13.
C+=11. C=10. C-=9.
D+=7. D=6. D-=5.
F+=3. F=2. F-=1.
Incomplete = 1 and 20Â (hence why those with Incompletes had an interval in their final grade above)
Next up is the numbers for the weighted formula that I used to get the rating and overall grade. Each category that was graded was given a certain number out of 25 based on how important/how many races their were on that track style. Those are below:
Points Finish (if driver and owner weren’t same, average was taken) = 4.9
2023 Stats = 6.0
Playoff Stats = 2.8
Streak = 1.0
Short Track = 1.4
Small Track = 1.4
Intermediate = 2.8
Big Track = 1.0
Road Course = 1.7
Superspeedway = 1.7
Dirt Track = 0.3
Then for the part you have all been waiting for…. the weighted formula.
((Grade * 4.9) + (Grade * 6.0) + (Grade * 2.8) + (Grade * 1.0) + (Grade * 1.4) + (Grade * 1.4) + (Grade * 2.8) + (Grade * 1.0) + (Grade * 1.7) + (Grade * 1.7) + (Grade * 0.3))/5
So someone who got all A+ would get
((20*4.9) + (20*6.0) + (20*2.8) + (20*1.0) + (20*1.4) + (20*1.4) + (20*2.8) + (20*1.0) + (20*1.7) + (20*1.7) + (20*0.3))/5=500/5=100
And someone who got all F- would get 25/5=5 (do the math if you want or just trust me)
Now that they have their rating here is how they got their final grade based on that rating
100.0-95.0 = A+
94.99-87.5 = A
87.49-80.0 = A-
79.99-75.0 = B+
74.99-67.5 = B
67.49-60.0 = B-
59.99-55.0 = C+
54.99-47.5 = C
47.49-40.0 = C-
39.99-35.0 = D+
34.99-27.5 = D
27.49-20.0 = D-
19.99-15.0 = F+
14.99-10.0 = F
9.99-5.0 = F-
So, there you have it that’s how all the drivers got their grade and rating. For all of you who were interested enough to read all the way down to here, thank you and I hoped you enjoy a bit of peak into my nerd brain.
Here is the links to my counterparts Robert Cwik and Griffin Fuller so you can view their reviews on the teams. Then below are the links to my reviews in case you missed them.
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Penske/Wood Brothers
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Hendrick Motorsports
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Joe Gibbs Racing
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: 23XI/Legacy MC
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: RFK/Front Row
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Trackhouse/RCR
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Stewart-Haas Racing
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: JTG Daugherty/RWR/Live Fast
2023 Cup Series Statistical Driver Review: Kaulig/Spire
