Back to back Sundays with great NASCAR Cup Series action. On Mother’s Day, Darlington Raceway hosted the throwback race for the 2024 season. With the classic paint schemes on the track, the action matched the quality of how the cars looked. The ending was particularly engaging. After a late race caution, the restart saw Brad Keselowski and Tyler Reddick battling side-by-side for the lead. Ultimately, Chris Buescher secured another MARVelous Move of the Race as he swept under the lead two on the front stretch to nab the lead. However, Reddick managed to spoil the race for both the 17 and 45, allowing Keselowski to break his winless streak. Along with that action, some notable drivers had poor results while surprise drivers thrived. Unlike Kansas for Week 12, is there a new #1 for the FitStop Performance Power Rankings this week?
#10 – Ty Gibbs
Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
Back in the power rankings for the first time since Week 8, Ty Gibbs had a fantastic showing at Darlington. After qualifying third, Gibbs managed to grab the lead during the first pit cycle. While he failed to hang on for the Stage 1 win, Gibbs remained inside the Top-5 for the bulk of the afternoon. Ultimately, Gibbs matched his career best finish with second place. Will that first win be around the corner soon?
#9 – Brad Keselowski
Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
Finally, everything went right for Brad Keselowski to pick up his first win as an owner/driver. Snapping his 110 race winless streak, Keselowski also picks up his second career win at Darlington. Despite not being the dominate driver of the day, Keselowski was a deserving winner. With an average running position of third, Keselowski was easily one of the best cars in the field. Based on the recent speed from the 6 the past two weekends, it might be a safe assumption that this could be the first of a few more wins this season for Keselowski.
#8 – Ryan Blaney
Previous Ranking: 6
As the season wears on, the power rankings seem to be getting tighter in certain areas. This is why Ryan Blaney drops two spots. While he did DNF and finish last, Blaney’s car looked to be a potential Top-5 contender. Blaney finished Stage 1 eighth after climbing his way up from a mediocre qualifying effort. However, a three-wide move by William Byron got Blaney into the wall and ended his day.
#7 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: 8
Tyler Reddick was the driver of the day for 90% of the Goodyear 400. Unfortunately, that remaining 10% ruined the day for his team and Chris Buescher. Reddick led the most laps (174), marking a career high for laps led by the 23XI driver. However, he lost the lead prior to Kyle Larson’s caution due to lapped traffic. With the help of the first pit stall, Reddick managed to reclaim the lead. After losing it to Buescher shortly after the restart, Reddcik reeled him back in and attempted a slide job pass with 10 to go. It did not work, resuting in cut tires for both cars. On a day where Reddick should have finished at worst second, he comes home 32nd. However, the day that led up to his mistake lands him a spot up in the rankings.
#6 – Chris Buescher
Previous Ranking: 7
What a rough time to be Chris Buescher. On one hand, this is back to back races where the 17 car was good enough to find victory lane. At the same time, heartbreak and frustration are the main feelings leaving the track. The fact that Buescher had a chance at the win was significant though. During the Ryan Blaney accident, Buescher slammed his nose into Martin Truex Jr. Luckily, the damage was not enough to prevent the 17 from being competitive. He was able to put himself in place for a Top-5 by race’s end. Unfortunately, Tyler Reddick had other plans. As a consolation prize, Buescher does move up to sixth in the power rankings.
#5 – Chase Elliott
Previous Ranking: 5
Honestly, it was shocking to see that Chase Elliott finished 12th in Sunday’s race. For whatever reason, the 9 car unloaded poorly and never recovered throughout the weekend. Elliott qualified 31st and very slowly creeped his way forward. While it was tough to pass, it was noticeable how bad Elliott ran all day. However, it seems that the team found something to give Elliott a Top-15. After a six week stretch of great speed, Darlington definitely derailed that momentum for at least one week.
#4 – Martin Truex Jr
Previous Ranking: 3
After finishing Stage 1 in 5th, it looked to be another day of Martin Truex Jr finding his way to the front of the Darlington field. However, Truex sustained enough damage in the Ryan Blaney caution to take him out of the running. Truex managed to finish on the lead lap despite the damage, but the car never drove the same. This will mark another Darlington race where Truex had speed but an on-track incident prevented it from providing a solid result.
#3 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 4
Up one spot after dropping to fourth last week, William Byron secured his first Top-10 since Talladega. Despite the Top-10, it was a relatively pedestrian afternoon for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. The most interesting thing to come out of the race was angering Ryan Blaney during his three-wide move. Other than that, Byron had an unremarkable day. He picked up 7 stage points and rarely ran better than the back-half of the Top-10.
#2 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 2
Despite finishing fourth, Denny Hamlin felt like an afterthought throughout most of the Goodyear 400. Similar to William Byron, Hamlin ran a solid race where little of note occurred. Hamlin ran better as the race went on, evident by only scoring stage points in Stage 2. For how dominate Hamlin has been most weeks, it was noticeable to not see him as a potential race winner. The lack of presence at the front of the pack is why he remains second in the rankings despite first not finishing the race.
#1 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 1
Well, Kyle Larson stays number one almost by default. As mentioned in the previous ranking, Denny Hamlin did not run well enough to overtake Larson. Despite the DNF, Larson had the better race up until that point. Larson picked up the Stage 1 win and remained inside the Top-5 while his car was on track. A spin in Turn 4 resulted in Larson finishing the race behind the wall. With how weak his retention of the top spot was this week, Larson’s reign might be in danger after the Coke 600.
Honorable Mention
Alex Bowman – Despite finishing inside the Top-10, an overall poor weekend for Alex Bowman sees him passed by two drivers for a spot in the power rankings.
Ross Chastain – Similar to Alex Bowman above, Ross Chastain’s decent race was not enough to hold onto a spot in the rankings with how well Gibbs and Keselowski ran.
Noah Gragson – After three straight Top-10s, Gragson barely missed out on a fourth this week. However, Gragson did a great job piloting his car from 36th to a competitive run.
*Note – There will be no power rankings next week after the All-Star Race. The FitStop Power Rankings will return after the Coke 600.
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