Bass Pro Shops Night Race Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Bristol Motor Speedway

September 19, 2026

Every driver from the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, graded on what the scoring loops actually recorded: where they started, where they finished, how many laps they led, and whether they were still running at the end. Joey Logano grades out best with a A+.

How the grades are calculated

The grade is a formula, not an opinion. Each driver starts from their finishing position, gains credit for passing cars and for leading laps, and loses credit for not finishing:

Finish: the single biggest factor, scaled from the win down through the field.
Positions gained: starting position minus finishing position, capped so a deep starting spot cannot buy a top grade on its own.
Laps led: share of the race led, worth up to a full letter grade.
Did not finish: a fixed penalty if they were not running at the checkered flag.

Driver grades

Grade	Driver	Car	Start	Finish	Laps led	Points
A+	Joey Logano	22	2	1	93	73
A+	Christopher Bell	20	12	4	1	39
A+	Ty Gibbs	54	13	5	120	47
A+	Josh Berry	21	32	6		38
A+	Carson Hocevar	77	5	3	39	41
A+	Kyle Larson	5	1	2	45	47
A	Bubba Wallace	23	10	7		36
A-	Ryan Preece	60	16	10		27
A-	Daniel Suárez	7	28	14		23
A-	Chris Buescher	17	23	13		25
B+	Denny Hamlin	11	3	8		37
B+	Noah Gragson	4	36	16		21
B+	William Byron	24	4	9		31
B+	Austin Cindric	2	8	11		30
B	Ross Chastain	1	7	12		32
B-	Brad Keselowski	6	11	15		24
B-	Todd Gilliland	34	24	19		18
B-	Tyler Reddick	45	20	18		19
B-	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	22	20		17
C+	Austin Dillon	3	9	17		20
C+	Michael McDowell	71	21	21		16
C+	Chase Elliott	9	27	23		14
C	AJ Allmendinger	16	18	22		15
C	Zane Smith	38	35	28		9
C-	John H. Nemechek	42	19	25		12
C-	Connor Zilisch	88	15	24		13
D	Cole Custer	41	17	26		11
D	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	31	30		7
D	Austin Hill	33	25	29		0
D	Cody Ware	51	30	31		6
D	Chase Briscoe (Suspension)	19	26	27		10
D	Ty Dillon	10	33	36		1
F	Erik Jones	43	14	32		5
F	Ryan Blaney (Accident)	12	29	33	202	19
F	Riley Herbst (Suspension)	35	34	34		3
F	Josh Bilicki (Suspension)	66	37	37		0
F	Alex Bowman (Accident)	48	6	35		2