Rudy Fugle takes the top spot in the NASCAR Crew Chief Power Rankings after leading William Byron to a career-best season.
Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske have crew chiefs in the top four after standout seasons for the organizations.
Selecting the 10 best crew chiefs from this season was not a simple matter of looking at wins. Consistency was a significant factor, as was the ability to deliver regardless of equipment and driver.
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS
1. Rudy Fugle — The No. 24 team fell short of the championship but it ended the season as the most consistent. Under Fugle’s leadership, Byron led the series with six wins and 21 top-10 finishes. He tied for the most top-five finishes (15) and he finished second in laps led (1,016). The team also unloaded well as Byron scored five starts from pole.
2. Cliff Daniels — Daniels and Kyle Larson have become a standout driver-crew chief pairing. This season was the latest example. They won three races together. Daniels missed the Richmond win. They led the series in laps led for the second time in three seasons and made it back to the Championship 4.
3. Chris Gabehart — Gabehart and Denny Hamlin have been together since the start of the 2019 season. They have won 19 races together while finishing no worse than fifth in points. The No. 11 team had the third-best average finish among full-time drivers this season (12.4) while leading the third-most laps (998). Hamlin also won the pole four times.
4. Jonathan Hassler — The No. 12 team struggled with consistency early in the season but turned a corner once the playoffs began. Ryan Blaney’s finishes during the final six races of the playoffs were first, 12th, sixth, second, first and second. This was enough to get Blaney to the Championship 4 and secure the title.
5. Adam Stevens — Stevens has achieved success across several seasons in Cup. He has two championships with Kyle Busch and 34 wins with Busch and Christopher Bell. There were some struggles with consistency this season. Bell had multiple three-race stretches where he finished 14th or worse. He and Stevens still celebrated two more wins together before reaching the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season. Bell also won pole six times.
6. Rodney Childers — In a year where Stewart-Haas Racing struggled, Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers continued to perform. They made the playoffs for the 10th time together and ended the season with 14 top-10 finishes and six top fives. Harvick closed out his career by finishing 13th in points. The other three SHR drivers finished outside of the top 22 in points.
7. Scott Graves — Chris Buescher enjoyed a career year in his second full season with Graves as his crew chief. They won three races together and reached the Round of 8 of the playoffs. Buescher improved his average finish from 17.9 in 2022 to 12.1. Also significant is Buescher’s average starting position improving from 15.8 to 14.8.
8. Billy Scott — Scott has consistently shown the ability to work with multiple drivers and help them achieve success. He won two races with Kurt Busch with two different organizations. He helped Ty Gibbs adapt to the Next Gen car with little time to prepare. Scott then won two races with Tyler Reddick in their first season together. Scott also helped Reddick move beyond the Round of 16 for the first time after two previous playoff appearances.
9. Randall Burnett — Burnett worked with a new driver this season as Kyle Busch joined Richard Childress Racing. They started fast with three wins in the first 15 weeks of the season. This included the race at Gateway where Busch started from the pole, won stage 1 and led a race-high 121 laps. The No. 8 team faded during the playoffs but showed glimpses of future success.
10. James Small — Small and Martin Truex Jr. rebounded from a winless season in 2022 by winning three races and the regular-season championship. They won the pole three times, the most times in their four seasons together. There were struggles during the playoffs as Truex failed to score a top-10 finish in the first two rounds. Small and Truex still delivered their third winning season together.