NASCAR driver power rankings 15-11: Wait til you see who's up to 14! Plus, Bubba Wallace!
Editor's note: This is the fourth in a six-part series unveiling the News-Journal's NASCAR power rankings among full-time Cup Series drivers.
Our first former Cup Series champion, our favorite watermelon farmer and the Rodney Dangerfield of NASCAR arrive as we barrel toward the top 10.
Seriously, can't our No. 11 driver get some respect, already?
The higher we go in the list, the tougher the competition, and it left some marquee names on the outside looking in as the Daytona Beach News-Journal's NASCAR driver power rankings countdown approaches single digits.
In order to create the list, sports editor Ryan Pritt and columnist Ken Willis voted on the top 31 full-time drivers in the Cup Series entering 2024. Rookies Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry and Zane Smith were excluded.
NOS. 20-16: The reigning Daytona 500 champ and rookie of the year dot Nos. 20-16 in our NASCAR power rankings
An average between the two sets of votes was computed with ties being broken by a panel of neutral fans. The premise? If all the cars were dead even and an equal number of races were run on superspeedways, road courses, short tracks and intermediate tracks, which driver would you want most to drive for you?
With the Daytona 500 and regular season approaching, here are our drivers ranked No. 15-11:
15. Bubba Wallace
Car: No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Career full-time Cup Series seasons: 6
Career Cup Series wins: 2
Final 2023 points standing: 10th
Ken’s ranking: 17
Ryan’s ranking: 15
Average: 16
Ken’s case: It hasn’t been a meteoric rise since Bubba joined the Michael Jordan-Denny Hamlin team, but it’s been steady improvement each season. Last year’s 10th-place finish in the playoffs, along with a career-high 285 laps led, now provides him with that two-sided package he hasn’t always carried: High expectations.
Ryan’s reasoning: I like everything about his 2023. The improvement, the clear dedication to honing in at tracks that have historically been a struggle. I wanted to go higher here but I'll wait for a couple of checkered flags in 2024. They're coming. Watch.
14. Michael McDowell
Car: No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Career full-time Cup Series seasons: 11
Career Cup Series wins: 2
Final 2023 points standing: 15th
Ken’s ranking: 18
Ryan’s ranking: 9
Average: 13.5
Ken’s case: Wow, one of us is much higher than the other on this guy. His past two seasons have been the best, statistically, of a long career back there in the mid-pack. So he’s trending properly. And like we’ve said about others, if you’re really good on road courses and plate tracks, you should always have a job.
Ryan’s reasoning: You're damn right. And I had trouble not going higher. This is a list ranking drivers and I can't come up with many better. Just imagine if he was in a Hendrick or JGR car. Maybe the second-best driver in the game at maximizing finishes and getting every drop of what the car has. A road course and superspeedway ace and plenty good enough elsewhere, Michael McDowell could drive my theoretical car anytime.
13. Ross Chastain
Car: No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Career full-time Cup Series seasons: 5
Career Cup Series wins: 4
Final 2023 points standing: 9th
Ken’s ranking: 13
Ryan’s ranking: 13
Average: 13
Ken’s case: Here’s a prediction for you. In next year’s preseason power rankings, Ross the Boss will be in the top 10. Tone down those occasional mini-slumps, avoid a couple more crashes, and his upward trajectory should pick up some pace.
Ryan’s reasoning: Shoot, he could be in the top five. But he could be 25th also. I actually liked the second half of last year, even though the finishes weren't there. He matured, stayed out of the headlines and returned to the front at the end, and that momentum should carry over. Not many holes in his repertoire either. Just keep it clean, Ross, and you've got it made.
12. Martin Truex Jr.
Car: No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Career full-time Cup Series seasons: 18 (2017 Cup Series champion)
Career Cup Series wins: 34
Final 2023 points standing: 11th
Ken’s ranking: 12
Ryan’s ranking: 14
Average: 13
Ken’s case: Tough to consider a guy with his consistent reputation a wild-card, but what’s to be believed — the Truex who hauled the mail from last spring through much of summer, or the Truex who struggled through all of 2022 and the last stretch of ’23? He enters another year with something to prove.
Ryan’s reasoning: If this had come out last June, he may have been No. 1. But that closing stretch is impossible to ignore. Still 0-fer on superspeedways as well, so there's a hole to be poked even in a career as prolific as his.
11. Christopher Bell
Car: No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Career full-time Cup Series seasons: 4
Career Cup Series wins: 6
Final 2023 points standing: 4th
Ken’s ranking: 10
Ryan’s ranking: 11
Average: 10.5
Ken’s case: Sometimes it works out as planned and expectations aren’t just warranted, but rewarded. Bell collected checkered flags in the Truck and Xfinity Series, and after a howdy-do season in 2020, he’s planted himself among the lead pack and shows every sign of a guy who’ll stay there for a long time. There’s a pretty good chance we’re ranking him too low.
Ryan’s reasoning: The Rodney Dangerfield of NASCAR and yet, even knowing that, I still put him back here. Back-to-back Championship Race appearances and he can't crack the top 10? I just feel like there's so much more here, like multiple-champion potential and I probably hold that against him a bit. My biggest knock? Too many self-inflicted mistakes. Clean them up, and this is a perennial top 3-5 driver. Easily.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and who? | NASCAR power rankings 15-11
