NASCAR: Driver Rankings For Throwback Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway

Crash NASCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace at Darlington
Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace at Darlington

William Byron: 10

Other contenders may have gotten taken out, but Byron🦩 ran inside the top-ꦯfive all afternoon and was able to capitalize when the opportunity came.

Kevin Harvick: 9

Despite getting caught up in the big wreck at the end of the race𒊎, Harvick was able to recover with a runner-up finish.

Chase Elliott: 9

He didn't have the car ꦓto win, but Chase looked the most comfortable in the car since returning from his injury, and delivered a 3rd place finish.

Brad Keselowski: 8

The entire RFK Racing orga💧nization continues to impress, and the co-owner is often leadꦉing the charge, just like today.

Bubba Wallace: 7

After leading the first lap, it looked like Bubba might be in contention for the win, ♎but it was still a so🍌lid top-five for the 23XI Racing driver.

Harrison Burton: 9

Easily Burton's best race of the season, but it will be interesting to see if th⛦e legendary single-car team can ca🐎rry any positive momentum over next week.

Kyle Busch: 6

Another potential victoryꦯ slipped away with another mistake on piಞt road by the veteran driver.

William Byron, Kyle Busch
William Byron, Kyle Busch

Justin Haley: 7

A great run for Haley, who was able to take advantage of the misfortune 🦋that other drivers endured.

Ryan Blaney: 6

Another top-ten run, but mistakes on pit𝐆 lane and contact with other drivers on the track aren't what Team Penske were hop♈ing to see.

Chris Buescher: 8

Both RFK Racing cars inside the ꦡtop-ten on♌ce again.

Todd Gilliland: 9

A legitimate top-15 run nearly turned into a top-ten at the en𝓰d, as Gilliland continues to be one of the best underdog stories in NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin: 6

Given Hamlin's past performances at Darlington, this was 🎃somewhat disappointing for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr: 8

Stenhouse was showing that his seꦰnsational qualifying effort was no f♚luke. It was a shame that his top-five run went out the window when a flat tire sent him spinning late in the race.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Christopher Bell: 7

Bell also had a stroke of bad luck at the worst possible time. He had to come back down pit road to 🔜fix a loose wheel after his initial pit stop put him on the front row with 12 laps remaining.

Ty Gibbs: 6

A quiet day for the rookie, which isn't always 🐻a bad thing.

Chase Briscoe: 7

After a poor qualifying p💞erformance, Briscoe did a nice job of maneuvering his way through the field.

Joey Logano: 5

The No. 22 team has been out to lunch 💝over the last few weeks, which could be a cause for concern.

Austin Cindric: 5

Just another m❀ediocre run for Cindric, a🍃s Team Penske looks for answers.

Kyle Larson: 9

Battlౠing with Chastain for the lead typically doesn't end well for the other driver, which was the case again today.

Tyler Reddick: 7

It was a rough race for Reddick, who got ran into by Blaney eꦐarly in the💖 day, then got caught up in the big accident near the end of the race.

Ross Chastain: 4

More of the same from Chastain, who kee🌠ps running well, but also running into other cars.

Martin Truex Jr: 2

His day of domination quickly went south after his contact with Chastain as they battled for the Stage 2 vic❀tory. A disappoin🍸ting result for arguably the best car at Darlington this weekend.

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