iRacing Pro Invitational Power Rankings Post Talladega
1) William Byron
No change here. Byron started deep in the field and drove to a 6th place finish. Leading 9 laps in the process. He is still the man to beat
2) Timmy Hill
Just like Byron, Hill started in the back and scored a solid finish bring it home 11th. Hill does a phenomenal job staying out of trouble and getting good finishes.
3) Ryan Preece
Preece scored a strong 3rd place finish. Jumps up to 2nd in points over the five races. Still chasing that elusive win
4) Landon Cassill
His 5th place finish at Dega was his 3rd top 5 in last four races. Cassill is one of the very best at putting himself in a good position to succeed.
5) Garrett Smithley
Smithley grabbed his 3rd top 5 in the five races so far. He will be a consistent top 5 threat every race
6) Parker Kligerman Kligerman took a dip this week simply because of how tight this group is. 3rd-9th are incredibly close and while be battling each other for top 5s every race. Kligerman didn’t have the cleanest race and finished 16th while the drivers who jumped him all scored top 5s.
7) Alex Bowman
Bowman picked up the win this week but due to it being Talladega I am limiting how much I raise him. He has to show that he can contend for more top 5s and wins on the more technical tracks to crack the top 5.
8) Denny Hamlin
Hamlin didn’t look good at any point in the race. And then his daughter turned off his screen. It was one of those moments that show just how wacky this whole thing can be. Finished dead last.
9) Dale Earnhardt Jr
Jr had an off day at Talladega scoring a 30th place finish. Still a solid, reliable top 10 driver going forward.
10) Brad Keselowski
BK finished 19th but that doesn’t tell the entire story. He spent 64 of the first 67 laps all inside the top 10 and tied for most laps led with 11. He was able to lead on 3 different occasions and was a main threat for the win until getting into a late wreck. Second week in a row where he was a top 5 driver and things didn’t break his way.
11) Kyle Busch
Busch scored his 2nd straight top 10 this week. He immediately dropped to the back of the pack early and made sure he was there at the end. Smart play and it worked well.
12) John Hunter Nemechek
Nemechek tied with Keselowski for most laps led at 11. He looked good all race until getting caught up in the late wreck. Seemingly a top 10 driver lacking a little consistency with finishes.
13) Daniel Suarez
I said last week he had been racing like a top 10 driver and this week he finally finished like one. Started 10th and finished 10th. I am jumping him up to where I believe he is skill-wise but he has to use his head and get good finishes.
14) Matt Dibenedetto
Not going to punish Dibenedetto for a bad Talladega race. He has shown he has good speed at standard ovals and I believe he is still a top 15 driver in the Pro Invitational Series. Dover should be a good track for him.
15) Christopher Bell
Bell Jumps into the rankings this week after a 13th place finish. He has had a couple of decent races in a row. Loking more and more like a top 10-15 driver in these events
16) Bobby Labonte
Not much has changed with Labonte. A bad Talladega doesn’t take away from the fact he is a safe top 15 driver most weeks
17) Tyler Reddick
Reddick drove from 38th to 22nd at Talladega. Nothing spectacular there but nobody else is worth jumping him. Will have some good upside at times but can also be a crash risk.. Just like real life.
18) Erik Jones
Jones was the big loser of the week dropping all the way from 12th to 18th. He is still a top 10 threat any given race but he is simply too inconsistent at this point.
19) Corey Lajoie
Lajoie ran his first race of the Pro Invitational series at Talladega. He started on Pole and finished 2nd. Because it was Talladega we will want to see more from him but definitely a great start.
20) Brennan Poole
Poole finished 7th in is first Pro Invitational race. Nobody else has done anything better so I am putting Poole in the Rankings. WIll be interesting to see how he does going forward
Thank you for checking out this edition of The iRacing Pro Invitational Power Rankings. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 You can also join myself as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (AuburnFan30, Taco, and NillyJay) in the NASCAR coaching channels.
