Each week, ARD ranks drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series based on our algorithm which includes qualifying, stages, and the race finishes the past five weeks. Below we highlight the current top-five in rankings, detail the biggest movers and losers, and show the full standings.
Drivers On Top After Atlanta
- William Byron holds the highest place in the rankings for the second week in a row, but just barely. His week at Daytona keeps him up top, but he will need more than at 17th-place finish like Atlanta to stay on top.
- Austin Cindric moves up 9 spots from last week, having a top-five run which included a stage win this past weekend. Cindric looks to keep the momentum up heading to race three.
- Bubba Wallace started off the season with a pair of 5th-place finishes, and has scored points in 3 of the 4 stages so far. This weekend we go to Las Vegas where Wallace finished 4th last year.
- Kyle Busch made some noise with his three-wide finish at Atlanta, and it has quietly taken over the points lead. We head to his home track this week where he has 12 top-five finishes.
- Chase Elliott has put two “solid” races together, giving him enough points to have him 6th in standings early on. If he keeps building and putting decent races together, he won’t miss the playoffs this year.
Biggest Winners This Week
- Ryan Blaney came up just shy of a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but moved up 21 spots in our rankings. Ford has shown speed at drafting tracks, but will it translate to the speedways?
- Michael McDowell saw a great Daytona run come to an early end, but followed it up with his first career pole at Atlanta, and pulled off the stage win, moving him up 15 places in our rankings.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr had a dismal first race of the season, but gathered some stage points and finished 6th this past weekend, taking him from 38th to 20th in the ARD ranks.
Biggest Losers This Week
- Noah Gragson has led laps, and even has a top-ten in the first two races. However, an L1 penalty for roof rails that didn’t meet specifications has Gragson dead last (43rd) in the standings now with negative points.
- Ryan Preece, a teammate to Gragson, met the same fate with the 35 point penalty. This has him just six markers ahead of Gragson, with a grand total of… 0 points.
- Christopher Bell left Daytona with a Duel win and a podium, but from qualifying to a 34th-place finish in Atlanta, he slides 13 spots in our ranks.
Full Rankings After Atlanta Motor Speedway
| Rank | Driver |
| 1 | William Byron |
| 2 | Austin Cindric |
| 3 | Bubba Wallace |
| 4 | Kyle Busch |
| 5 | Chase Elliott |
| 6 | Alex Bowman |
| 7 | Ross Chastain |
| 8 | Chris Buescher |
| 9 | Corey LaJoie |
| 10 | Martin Truex Jr |
| 11 | Ryan Blaney |
| 12 | Daniel Suarez |
| 13 | Ty Gibbs |
| 14 | John H Nemechek |
| 15 | Kyle Larson |
| 16 | Christopher Bell |
| 17 | Erik Jones |
| 18 | Denny Hamlin |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe |
| 20 | Michael McDowell |
| 21 | Harrison Burton |
| 22 | Daniel Hemric |
| 23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
| 24 | Zane Smith |
| 25 | Justin Haley |
| 26 | Joey Logano |
| 27 | Tyler Reddick |
| 28 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 29 | Josh Berry |
| 30 | Kaz Grala |
| 31 | Carson Hocevar |
| 32 | Todd Gilliland |
| 33 | Austin Dillon |
| 34 | Brad Keselowski |
| 35 | BJ McLeod |
| 36 | David Ragan |
| 37 | Ryan Preece |
| 38 | Riley Herbst |
| 39 | Josh Williams |
| 40 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 41 | Anthony Alfredo |
| 42 | Noah Gragson |
| 43 | JJ Yeley |