Cook Out Southern 500 Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Darlington Raceway

September 06, 2026

Every driver from the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, 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. Christopher Bell 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+	Christopher Bell	20	11	1	46	73
A+	Ty Gibbs	54	28	2		36
A+	Ryan Blaney	12	24	4	1	44
A+	Kyle Larson	5	25	5	99	41
A+	Tyler Reddick	45	1	3	74	46
A	Bubba Wallace	23	17	8	38	44
A	Josh Berry	21	14	7		34
A	Carson Hocevar	77	34	11	2	26
A	Chase Briscoe	19	7	6	30	43
A-	Joey Logano	22	13	9		28
A-	Erik Jones	43	36	15		22
B+	Chase Elliott	9	18	14	1	23
B+	Ryan Preece	60	3	10		31
B+	Alex Bowman	48	10	12		25
B	Todd Gilliland	34	21	16	5	21
B	Chris Buescher	17	35	20		17
B	Austin Cindric	2	6	13		28
B-	Corey Heim	67	22	19		0
B-	AJ Allmendinger	16	30	22		15
C+	Michael McDowell	71	5	17		20
C+	Zane Smith	38	33	25		12
C+	Denny Hamlin	11	4	18	68	35
C	John H. Nemechek	42	19	24		13
C	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	26	26	1	11
C	Austin Hill	33	32	28		0
C-	Daniel Suárez	7	2	21	2	16
C-	Brad Keselowski	6	12	23		14
C-	Ross Chastain	1	23	27		10
D	Ty Dillon	10	27	31		6
D	Noah Gragson	4	29	32		5
D	Austin Dillon	3	9	29		8
D	Connor Zilisch	88	31	34		3
D	Cody Ware	51	37	36		1
D	Riley Herbst	35	15	30		7
F	Cole Custer	41	16	33		4
F	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	8	35		2
F	Chad Finchum (Suspension)	66	38	38		0
F	William Byron (Engine)	24	20	37		6