Week 23 GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings: Pocono DQs deliver another Elliott win
25 July 2022
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
Long Pond, Pennsylvania — Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch initially finished first and second, respectively, in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, but were both disqualified when NASCAR officials found modifications with the cars in post-race inspection. The disqualifications moved 3rd place finisher Chase Elliott up to 1st place, giving the NAPA № 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver his fourth victory of the year and increasing his point lead and his GFT AI Driver Ranking score. With five regular-season races remaining, Elliott expands his points lead with a 100-point advantage on Ross Chastain and a 108-point lead on Ryan Blaney, who were both involved in incidents and finished well down in the results.
The disqualifications also mean Richard Childress Racing‘s Tyler Reddick will nab a second-place result, and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez is third. JGR driver Christopher Bell (fourth) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (fifth) complete the new top five.
THE BIG MOVERS
As a result of a crash in qualifying, Kurt Busch was not cleared to race Sunday. Xfinity star Ty Gibbs filled in driving his first Cup race in the 45 23XI Toyota subbing for Kurt Busch who did not earn any driver points and fell 6 spots from P12 down to P18. With the disqualifications of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, now scored as finishing 35th and 36th at Pocono, they both fell down the rankings (KB -2, and DH -3). Moving up in the rankings were Truex Jr, Byron, Bell, Suarez, Harvick, Reddick, Briscoe, Almirola, and Wallace.
The GFT NASCAR CUP Box Scores
Manufacturers Box Score:
Chevrolet = 13 wins
Ford = 8 wins
Toyota = 5 wins
5 Weeks Remaining in the Regular Season
July 31 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE
Aug 7 FireKeepers Casino 400 MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Aug 14 Federated Auto Parts 400 RICHMOND RACEWAY
Aug 21 Go Bowling at The Glen WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
Aug 27 Coke Zero Sugar 400 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
