NASCAR: Driver Ratings for Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway

Crash NASCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing at Richmond
Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing at Richmond

Chris Buescher: 10

An 🔴emphatic victory for tဣhe driver and the team, locking in a Playoff spot.

Denny Hamlin: 9

Hamlin was in position to steal anotheꦡr victory but a mistake on the final restart cost him.

Kyle Busch: 8

He started up f꧑ront and finished up front but the middle of the race did n𒈔ot go well.

Joey Logano: 7

Se💫emingly coming out of nowhere, Logano quietly snuck in for ano🎶ther top-five result.

Ryan Preece: 9

It was an impressive drive f🌃rom Preece, who🍒 was certainly in his element today.

Brad Keselowski: 9

He led a race-high 102 laps and went to victo♉ry lane as an owner, but his mistake on the final pit stop may have cost him the win.

Martin Truex Jr: 9

Martin's run fro🌠m the bac🌞k of the field to the front was arguably the most impressive drive of the day.

Martin Truex Jr
Martin Truex Jr

Aric Almirola: 8

A strong day for Almirola, who rebounded from anܫ early pit commitme🎃nt violation.

Austin Dillon: 7

This was a much-needed result for Dillon, after an embarrassing exit 𒐪last weekend at Pocono.

Kevin Harvick: 7

Pro𒁃bably not the way he wanted his final race at Richmond to go, but the four-time winner earned another top-ten finish.

Chase Briscoe: 6

All Stewart Haas cars finished inside 🧸the top 11 but Briscoe was the last o✃f the bunch.

Bubba Wallace: 8

It was shaping up to be a strong day for Wallace, but another costly pit cre♛w mistake ruined that.

Chase Elliott: 7

He was never in conten𒀰tion for the win, but still managed to narrow h🍨is points deficit with four races to go.

Ryan Blaney: 6

Ford was strong but Blane𝓡y was unable to capitalize with just a 14th place finish.

Ty Gibbs: 7

This wa𝔉s a decent 🧔showing for the rookie, who remains in the hunt for one of the final Playoff positions.

Tyler Reddick: 5

It was a tale of two races for Reddick, who led every lap in Stage 1 but made a mꦕi🌳stake coming to pit road on his final stop while running in 2nd place, which earned him a penalty.

Alex Bowman: 3

Bowman is in a must-win situation but throwing blocks at his teammate while ba🔯ttling for the Lucky Dog did not have anyone in the orga🔯nization smiling.

Kyle Larson: 4

After winning the Sꦑpr🧸ing race at Richmond, Larson (like the entire Hendrick team) was out to lunch today.

Christopher Bell: 3

A horrible weekend for Bell, who made a mistake in qualifying and was penalized during the race, where he was nev🎉er a factor.

William Byron: 3

Perhaps the most surprising out♏come today was Byron being such a non-fa⛦ctor as Hendrick struggled.

Michael McDowell: 3

Front R💖ow tried 🐈to go off-strategy to get McDowell some track position, but it didn't work out as he clings to the final Playoff spot.

Ross Chastain: 2

Chastain might not have even been mentioned on the broadcast today, which is becoming a recurrin♏g theme this season.

AJ Allmendinger: 1

Kaulig decided to gamble on letting AJ race at Road America on Friday and Saturday, and delivered a dud today as they fall 22 points 🅘below the Playoff cut line.

Daniel Suarez: 1

For the second week in a row, Suarez saw his day end with a crash. Th🌼e Trackhouse driver was never a factor in the race and is now 34 points below the cut line.

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