NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Homestead-Miami Speedway

November 08, 2026

Nov 08, 2026 · 2 min read·

Every driver from the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami 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. Ryan Blaney 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+	Ryan Blaney	12	9	1	7	71
A+	Tyler Reddick	45	3	2	53	53
A+	William Byron	24	8	3	38	41
A+	Bubba Wallace	23	18	5	1	36
A+	Christopher Bell	20	6	4	46	50
A+	Noah Gragson	4	33	9		28
A	Denny Hamlin	11	2	6	87	46
A-	Daniel Suárez	7	10	8		33
A-	Ty Gibbs	54	20	11		26
A-	Austin Cindric	2	5	7		43
A-	Zane Smith	38	27	14		25
A-	Michael McDowell	71	12	10		27
B+	Josh Berry	21	14	13		24
B	Todd Gilliland	34	25	18		19
B	Kyle Larson	5	4	12		32
B	Joey Logano	22	19	17		20
B	Austin Hill	33	11	15		0
B-	Alex Bowman	48	13	16		25
B-	Connor Zilisch	88	23	19		18
B-	Erik Jones	43	24	20		17
B-	Justin Haley	77	26	21		0
B-	AJ Allmendinger	16	29	23		14
C+	Ryan Preece	60	32	25		12
C+	Brad Keselowski	6	40	28		9
C	Chris Buescher	17	17	24		13
C	John H. Nemechek	42	36	30		7
C-	Austin Dillon	3	21	26		11
C-	Chase Elliott	9	7	22		19
C-	Cole Custer	41	28	29		8
C-	Ty Dillon	10	31	31		6
D	Ross Chastain	1	15	27		10
D	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	34	34		3
D	Riley Herbst	35	30	33		4
D	Cody Ware	51	35	35		2
D	JJ Yeley	44	38	36		0
D	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	22	32		5
D	Casey Mears	62	37	37		1
D	Chad Finchum	66	39	38		0
F	Chase Briscoe (Engine)	19	1	39	33	1
F	Corey Heim (Electrical)	67	16	40	2	0