Brickyard 400 presented by PPG Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

July 26, 2026

Every driver from the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at Indianapolis 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. Corey Heim 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+	Corey Heim	67	7	1	58	0
A+	Christopher Bell	20	23	2		35
A+	Joey Logano	22	19	3		34
A+	Josh Berry	21	26	7	1	30
A+	Chase Briscoe	19	11	4	1	36
A+	Ryan Preece	60	34	8	1	33
A+	Brad Keselowski	6	16	6		31
A	Denny Hamlin	11	5	5	14	44
A-	Austin Cindric	2	35	14		23
A-	Zane Smith	38	30	15		22
A-	Chris Buescher	17	15	11		28
B+	Carson Hocevar	77	1	9	31	40
B+	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	25	16		21
B+	Tyler Reddick	45	3	10	1	28
B	Cole Custer	41	12	13		24
B	Ty Gibbs	54	4	12	46	43
B-	Noah Gragson	4	33	22		15
B-	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	24	20		17
B-	Todd Gilliland	34	36	24		22
C+	William Byron	24	21	21		22
C+	Michael McDowell	71	6	18		30
C+	Daniel Suárez	7	2	17	1	25
C+	Ross Chastain	1	22	23	5	24
C+	Alex Bowman	48	8	19		18
C-	Bubba Wallace	23	29	28		9
C-	Cody Ware	51	37	31		6
C-	Ty Dillon	10	28	30		7
D	AJ Allmendinger	16	9	25		12
D	Ryan Blaney	12	13	26		11
D	Erik Jones	43	14	27		12
D	Austin Dillon	3	20	29		8
D	John H. Nemechek	42	17	32	1	5
F	Chase Elliott	9	27	37		1
F	Austin Hill (Accident)	33	32	33		0
F	Casey Mears (Accident)	62	38	35		2
F	Connor Zilisch (Accident)	88	31	34		3
F	Daniel Dye (Accident)	78	39	38		0
F	Riley Herbst (Accident)	35	18	36		1
F	Kyle Larson (Accident)	5	10	39		1