NASCAR: Driver Ratings for William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott at Watkins Glen

Crash NASCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Go Bowling at the Glen.
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports at Watkins Glen
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports at Watkins Glen

William Byron: 10

Byron do🌟minated this race, leading 66 of the 90 laps o🐲n his way to his series-high fifth win of the season.

Denny Hamlin: 10

Pole position 🎉and finishing runner-up made for a much better we🥂ekend than he had last week at Indianapolis.

Christopher Bell: 9

A steady race for Bell, who seems to be getting back into a groove after disappꦬearing for much of the summer.

AJ Allmendinger: 8

Most drivers would be happy with a top-five finish but this was AJ's best꧅ hope at punching a ticket into the Playoffs.

Ty Gibbs: 8

A frustrating end to the Xfinity series race yesterday ended with a top-five resℱult today but the rookie♎ is still below the Playoff cut line heading into the final race of the regular season.

Martin Truex Jr: 7

Although he was the last of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars, he still finished 6th after starting at the bac𓆏k of the꧑ field.

Chris Buescher: 7

Another top-ten result on a road course for Buesch🌳er, who continues to be the most underrated driver in the garage🐠.

Tyler Reddick: 7

Reddick had a decent day but a tire issue early in the race likely preveꦏnted a top-five fꦿinish.

Ryan Blaney: 8

Considering that he started in the back half of the field and there was only one caution in this race, a top-te🎶n finish was outstanding for Blaney today.

Joey Logano: 8

Finishing right behind his Penske te🍃ammate🌺, this road course race went so much better than last weekend when he nearly took out a quarter of the field.

Todd Gilliland: 8

A brilliant drive for Gilliland, who is quietly one of the be💟tter road cou🌞rse aces in the garage.

Bubba Wallace: 8

The last twᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚo weekends for Bubba were all about staying out of trouble and hitting your marks. He did just that, which is why he holds a 32-point cushion heading into Daytona, where he will be considered one of the drivers to beat.

Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace

Ricky Stenhouse Jr: 7

It is fair to say that not many people sawও this re🦄sult in the cards for Stenhouse.

Kyle Busch: 5

Thꦆe good news is that Kyle managed to fi💧nish a race without issues on the track, but this weekend was a poor performance all around for the No. 8 team.

Brad Keselowski: 7

A solid top-15 run for Kesel♛owski, who now has both of his cars locked into the Playoffs.

Ross Chastain: 4

Chastain꧙ continues to struggle to find any consisten𝓰cy, or speed.

Kevin Harvick: 6

Harvick acknowledged that they have been horrible on road courses this year but he improved 12 positions in the race and is now locked into the Playoffs with🐬 just 11 races remai🐽ning in his career.

Daniel Suarez: 2

It couldn't have gone much worse for Suarez, who spun by himself just five laps into the race, ultimately taking him out of contention. He will h🌜ave to win at Daytona next weekend, which is a long shot at best.

Alex Bowman: 3

Bowman was anothe🎐r driver in a must-win scenario and he didn't even come close. After a surprising top-five fᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚinish on the IMS road course last weekend, he was out to lunch today at the Glen.

Kyle Larson: 4

It was a rough afternoon for Larson, who was battling for the lead early in the race. A penalty for speeding on pit exit sent him to the back, where he anꦐd Austin Dillon came together on the final lap, battling for 21st position.

Chase Elliott: 1

Elliott needed to win and was running inside the top-ten at arguably h𒁏is strongest track. He didn't get taken out by another driver or a faulty tire. It wasn't an issue with speed or track position. He simply ran out of gas💞 because of a mistake made on the pit stand. That is inexcusable for an organization like Hendrick Motorsports.

Michael McDowell: 5

From the highs of winning last week to the lows of a DNF today. McDowell led laps early, won the opening stage, but two penalꩲties on pit road and a blown💙 engine brought an early end to his day.

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