Week 16 GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings: Blaney wins Coke 600, Byron retakes P1 in rankings
29 May 2023
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
CONCORD, NC — Sunday May 28th is generally known as “Motorsports Christmas” with 3 of the top series in motorsports racing in one day: Formula 1's Monaco GP, the Indy 500, and the NASCAR Coke 600. The day started with a spicier than usual Monaco GP when rain moved in over the street course and brought added drama to what looked to be a “follow the leader race” with no overtakes. With the rain came tire strategies, pit windows, and cars bouncing off the barriers. In the end, F1 World Champion Max Verstappen held serve, leading almost every lap from pole position to win his 4th GP of the year.
Next was the Indy 500. Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden passed reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson on the last lap to snare his first career victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden, from Nashville, Tennessee, earned his spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy in his 12th career “500” start, extending Team Penske’s event record to 19 victories in the race.
Sunday was to extend another 5 hours as the motorsports world then turned to Charlottle for the NASCAR Coke 600. Mother nature had a different plan as rain forced the postponement of NASCAR’s longest race until Monday. It was worth the wait. Readers of GFT know we are not fans of dirt on Bristol nor the “Roval” at CMS. For the second year in a row, the 1.5 mile oval of Charlottle Motor Speedway with the NASCAR Gen 7 car put on a heck of a show. And for Team Penske, a bookend to “Motorsports Christmas” with another win — this time with Ryan Blaney who drove his №12 Team Penske Ford Mustang to victory, snapping a 59-race winless streak. Pole sitter William Bryon finished 2d and Martin Truex Jr was 3rd.
The Big Movers
With the win, Blaney jumps up 4 spots from P8 to P4 in the rankings. Last week’s top ranked driver Kyle Larson was caught up in a crash and finished P30 while Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron’s 2nd place sends him to the top, retaking his P1 status.
Ryan Blaney Interview:
“I just was able to get the lead, and that car was so good that I could kind of bide my time a little bit and then we were able to drive off. I was hoping no caution, just because you never know.”
“I know we had the car to do it, but restarts can be crazy… You start to get to feel like you can’t win anymore when you don’t win in a while. It kind of gets hard. So just super thankful to the 12 guys for believing in me.”
“It‘s just so cool. What a weekend with Newgarden and Roger winning at Indy and us winning the 600. I mean that‘s just so cool. That kind of snaps our winless streak right there, and that‘s even better.”
