NBC Sports has updated their NASCAR Driver Top 10 Power Rankings ahead of the Goodyear 400 at Darlington.
This weekend’s race figures to be an awesome one. Darlington on Mother’s Day has become throwback weekend for the sport, and some phenomenal paint schemes will be on display.
For one, Chase Elliott will run a special tribute to his father’s ride, rocking the red paint and same number style as Bill Elliott’s No. 9. Elsewhere, Ross Chastain will be looking slick in his tribute to Dale Jarrett’s UPS days, riding around in a white, brown and yellow No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.
Time will tell who gets the victory on Sunday, but it should be another great race at Darlington. Heading into the event, here’s who NBC Sports believes is the best of the best at the moment.
NASCAR Driver Power Rankings ahead of Goodyear 400 at Darlington, via NBC Sports:
- No. 24 William Byron (—)
- No. 5 Kyle Larson (+2)
- No. 1 Ross Chastain (-1)
- No. 11 Denny Hamlin (+3)
- No. 19 Martin Truex Jr. (+1)
- No. 9 Chase Elliott (+4)
- No. 8 Kyle Busch (-4)
- No. 22 Joey Logano (—)
- No. 20 Christopher Bell (-4)
- No. 45 Tyler Reddick (NR)
Dropped out of the Top 10: No. 12 Ryan Blaney
Alas, Byron stayed on top of the power rankings following another great effort at Kansas. He’s truly grown into an elite driver in 2023, having his best season since getting to the NASCAR Cup Series.
The biggest movers in the rankings were Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell. Elliott gained four spots, as the Hendrick star finds his footing as he gets back into the swing of things following an injury that caused him to miss multiple weeks. On the flip side, Bell lost four spots, the wheelman of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota cooling off after a hot start to the season.
With how unpredictable Darlington is, who knows how these rankings could look next weekend.
Last season, it was Joey Logano who raced his way to victory in May’s Darlington race. Meanwhile, Erik Jones got his first win outside of Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series in September’s iteration, so both drivers will be popular picks to win on Sunday.
A great Sunday is in store for NASCAR and their fans. We’ll see if tempers flare once again come green flag.
