Week 33 GFT NASCAR AI Driver Rankings: Chase Elliott Wins Dega, Locks into Playoffs Round of 8

2 October 2022
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Fan favorite Chase Elliott executes a brilliant last-lap pass to win the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 victory Sunday and with it is locked into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8.

With two laps to go, Elliott pulled his № 9 Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Chevrolet to the top lane, locking bumpers with the fellow Chevrolet of Eric Jones from Petty GMS Racing. The push was enough to beat fellow playoff driver Ryan Blaney by 0.046 seconds at the line. The win was Elliott’s fifth trip the victory lane this season; the 18th of his seven-year NASCAR Cup Series career.

The impact to both the NASCAR Cup Series Driver Points in the Round of 12 was significant as it was to our gofullthrottle.net AI Driver Rankings. Here is how the models recalculated the rankings after the results from Talladega were final:

Week 33 of the NASCAR GFT Top 25 AI Driver Rankings following the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 02, 2022 in Talladega, Alabama. (Image: GFT Digital / gofullthrottle.net)

The Big Movers:
With the win, Chase Elliott jumps 4 spots to P1. Ryan Blaney, who finished 2nd at Talladega jumps 2 spots to P2, Denny Hamlin and Austin Cendric also moved up 2 spots with their 5th and 9th place finishes respectively. Going the wrong way was Joey Logano who fell 4 spots from P1 to P5. Also taking a hit in the GFT AI Driver Rankings was Kyle Larson, who fell 3 spots to P6 after a disappointing 18th place finish.

Box Scores After Talladega

Week 33 of the Go Full Throttle NASCAR Cup Series Box Score (Image: GFT Digital / gofullthrottle.net)

Another Win for Chevrolet
Here are the updated GFT Box Scores after Elliott’s win Sunday:
Chevrolet = 19 wins
Ford = 11 wins
Toyota = 6 wins

Credit: TALLADEGA, ALABAMA — OCTOBER 02: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 02, 2022 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Credit: TALLADEGA, ALABAMA — OCTOBER 02: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 02, 2022 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Credit: TALLADEGA, ALABAMA — OCTOBER 02: Team Owner Rick Hendrick joins Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 02, 2022 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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