Freeway Insurance 500 Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Phoenix Raceway

October 18, 2026

Oct 18, 2026 · 2 min read·

Every driver from the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix 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. Tyler Reddick 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+	Tyler Reddick	45	6	1	18	61
A+	Chase Elliott	9	16	3		39
A+	Corey Heim	67	36	5		0
A+	Ryan Blaney	12	1	2	51	48
A+	Christopher Bell	20	5	4	85	49
A	Daniel Suárez	7	14	7		30
A	Joey Logano	22	2	6	84	51
A	Carson Hocevar	77	28	12		25
A-	Noah Gragson	4	30	13		24
A-	Ross Chastain	1	11	9		31
B+	Chase Briscoe	19	3	8	13	44
B+	Ty Gibbs	54	7	10	2	27
B+	Josh Berry	21	9	11	1	34
B	Zane Smith	38	20	15		22
B	Bubba Wallace	23	23	17	52	26
B	Todd Gilliland	34	13	14		25
B	Ryan Preece	60	26	18		19
B	Brad Keselowski	6	18	16		21
C+	Austin Hill	33	35	24		0
C+	Austin Cindric	2	15	19		18
C	Connor Zilisch	88	12	20		17
C	Erik Jones	43	29	25		12
C	AJ Allmendinger	16	21	23		14
C	Chris Buescher	17	17	22		15
C	William Byron	24	10	21	2	21
C-	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	25	26		11
C-	Cole Custer	41	27	27		10
C-	Alex Bowman	48	34	29		8
D	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	31	30		7
D	Ty Dillon	10	33	31		6
D	John H. Nemechek	42	32	33		4
D	Denny Hamlin	11	4	28	4	21
D	Riley Herbst	35	19	32		5
F	Michael McDowell	71	8	36		1
F	Cody Ware (Accident)	51	37	35		2
F	Kyle Larson (Accident)	5	22	34		3
F	Austin Dillon (Accident)	3	24	37		1