36 weeks of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule have come and went. Each week, this series of articles ranked the top ten drivers in the Cup Series based on their performances. After Championship Weekend, Christopher Bell reigned as the finale number one in the FitStop Performance Power Rankings. Now, it is time to review the season as a whole and see where the final power rankings lay. Out of the 34 fulltime drivers, who wound up atop the FitStop Performance Power Rankings 2024 Finale?
The same as last year, the finale will be based on the average ranking from the 36 weeks. Ranking 10 through 1 is based on which drivers had the 10 best averages. After the rankings (and honorable mentions), there will be statistics about the rankings from the 2024 season.
#10 – Martin Truex Jr
Average Ranking: 9.64
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 16
Most Frequent Ranking: Not Ranked (16 times)
Martin Truex Jr’s 2024 season truly was a tale of two halves. At the start of the year, Truex looked to be a Championship Four contender. He spent 2 weeks at the top spot in the rankings while averaging the best finish in Cup. However, things turned south as the season dragged on. His early season success propelled him to maintained a spot in the finale. Also, again the driver retiring from Cup ranks 10th in the Power Rankings Finale.
#9 – Brad Keselowski
Average Ranking: 9.28
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 3
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 18
Most Frequent Ranking: Honorable Mention (10 times)
In his third season as driver/owner, Brad Keselowski put together his best numbers in the 6 car. At Darlington, he picked up his first RFK Racing win. The only one of the RFK duo to make the playoffs, the consistency seemed off for Keselowski throughout the year. While the highs were greater, the lows also valleyed lower than last year. However, last year’s finale did correctly predict that Keselowski would pick up a win.
#8 – Chris Buescher
Average Ranking: 7.86
Lowest Ranking: 10
Highest Ranking: 5
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 36
Most Frequent Ranking: 8 (11 times)
Despite not making the playoffs, Chris Buescher’s 2024 was another strong season for the 17 driver. Reviewing the season, fluke wins and tough losses kept Buescher out of the championship running. However, he managed to pick up his first road course win in thrilling fashion over Shane van Gisbergen. Never finding himself out of the power rankings, Buescher also never pushed too far past the back-half of the rankings.
#7 – Ryan Blaney
Average Ranking: 7.67
Lowest Ranking: Honorable Mention
Highest Ranking: 5
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 33
Most Frequent Ranking: 7 (10 times)
Unlike in his championship winning season, Ryan Blaney finds himself in the power rankings for the finale. However, it is also a second straight season where the Cup Series Champion is absent from the finale rankings. For Blaney, 2024 was a much stronger season overall compared to his championship winning 2023. He found victory lane 3 times while missing out of hoisting his second straight championship ever so slightly. Also, Blaney is the highest ranking Ford for 2024.
#6 – Tyler Reddick
Average Ranking: 6.44
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 28
Most Frequent Ranking: 1 (7 times)
Tyler Reddick’s 2024 power rankings adventure was a bell curve. It started out poorly, remaining on the outside. However, his late spring/early summer started to pick up steam. Soon enough, Reddick became the hottest driver in the Cup Series. From Week 21 to Week 29, Reddick sat atop the rankings all but one time. Then the playoffs arrived and Reddick cratered back toward the unranked section.
#5 – Chase Elliott
Average Ranking: 5.42
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 30
Most Frequent Ranking: 3 (9 times)
Since the 2024 power rankings started off based on last year’s finale, it took a few weeks for Chase Elliott to break into the Top-10. Ultimately, Elliott rose through the rankings to find himself in the Top-5 most weeks. Having the best average finish in Cup does bode well for these power rankings. While he did make it to #1 twice, his inability to run upfront did put a bit of ceiling on Elliott. For the Elliott fans, here is hoping that 2025 sees the return of race-winning Chase Elliott.
#4 – Christopher Bell
Average Ranking: 5.31
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 32
Most Frequent Ranking: 5 (6 times)
Outside of a minor dip in performance before the All-Star break, Christopher Bell looked to be the driver to beat this season. While his last win came at New Hampshire, Bell shined as the season came to a close. Without some Chevy chicanery, Bell could have been racing for a championship at Phoenix. If he had been, the 20 car seemed game to compete with the Team Penske Fords. What could have been will be a question that could haunt Bell and the 20 team moving forward.
#3 – William Byron
Average Ranking: 4.47
Lowest Ranking: 10
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 36
Most Frequent Ranking: 2 (10 times)
At the start of the season, William Byron looked to be picking up where he left 2023 off. After a 6-win season, Byron followed it up by winning 3 of the first 8 races. However, his Martinsville win would be his final one of the 2024 season. The summer slump returned for Byron, although it did not hit the same lows as previous seasons. During the final stretch of the playoffs, Byron started to run similarly to the start of the season.
#2 – Denny Hamlin
Average Ranking: 4.14
Lowest Ranking: 7
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 36
Most Frequent Ranking: 5 (13 times)
William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Denny Hamlin all had moments this season where they were the championship favorite. For Hamlin, his time overlapped a bit with Byron’s. Hamlin’s 3 wins all came in a flurry from Week 5 to Week 11. Despite not winning the remainder of the season, Hamlin would be a frontrunner most weeks before the playoffs. However, the off-track distractions seemed to catch up to Hamlin as the playoffs turned a bit ugly for the 11 team.
#1 – Kyle Larson
Average Ranking: 2.00
Lowest Ranking: 4
Highest Ranking: 1
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 36
Most Frequent Ranking: 2 (15 times)
There were the initial 9 drivers in this Power Ranking 2024 Finale, then there was Kyle Larson in a league of his own. It is incredible that Larson never fell further back than 4th in the rankings. That fall did not come until the final 3 weeks of the season. Want to know how dominate Kyle Larson was this season? The man led 555 more laps than the next closest driver. Even if you take away his dominate Bristol Night Race win, that would still put him over 100 laps better than second. 2024 was the year of Kyle Larson, especially in the power rankings.
Honorable Mention
Ross Chastain
Average Ranking: 10.97
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 8
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 15
Most Frequent Ranking: Honorable Mention (15 times)
Overall, a down year for Ross Chastain as he missed the playoffs and struggled to stay inside the power rankings.
Alex Bowman
Average Ranking: 11.86
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 7
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 12
Most Frequent Ranking: Not Ranked (13 times)
After a sluggish first half started to bring more noise to his status, Alex Bowman’s Chicago win propelled him to close out 2024 strong despite the DQ at the ROVAL.
Ty Gibbs
Average Ranking: 12.56
Lowest Ranking: Not Ranked
Highest Ranking: 6
Total Weeks in Power Rankings: 8
Most Frequent Ranking: Not Ranked (19 times)
Similar to Martin Truex Jr, Ty Gibbs looked to be a sure-fire candidate to pick up a win. However, his season fell a part (as did a good number of his engines).
Notable Numbers
Most Weeks at #1:Â Kyle Larson (12 times)
Number of Drives to be #1: 8
Total Drivers Ranked: 19
Most Honorable Mentions: Ross Chastain
Most Honorable Mentions Without Ranking: Noah Gragson (4 times)
Longest Gap Between Rankings: Kyle Busch (20 Weeks)
# of Weeks Joey Logano Ranked: 5 (High of 8th)
The brainchild of Hunter Smith, FitStop Performance is dedicated to training the toughest around – from motorsports athletes to multi-tasking soccer moms. He desires to help everyone who walks through the doors of his gym to perform optimally throughout life. FitStop Performance jumped on board with Pit Pass Network in 2024 to sponsor the weekly FitStop Performance Rankings which tracks the highest performing NASCAR Cup Series drivers throughout the season. Give them a follow (Facebook, Instagram, X) and thank them for their sponsorship!
