Deciding NASCAR Cup driver ratings entering the Chase for the championship

Entering the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship, who has the most momentum, and who is stumbling into the postseason?

We're going to break it all down, and when we're done, we aren't going to tell you the rankings for every driver -- you get to decide. Click here to vote on post-Daytona driver ratings where the rankings are based solely on votes by the readers. It's all free, just make sure you're signed into your account so that the votes are saved.

Riding a wave of momentum

Watch: Preece reflects on path to Daytona win: 'I've done it my way'

Driver -- Ryan Preece: Momentum is everything in NASCAR, and the No. 60 RFK Racing team has it right now. Eleven years after his Cup debut and in his 249th career start, Preece clawed back from a trip through the infield grass to take a stunning win at Daytona. Preece himself has said that he feels like he is standing on Mt. Everest right now, and while a lot can change from week-to-week, this No. 60 team is going to walk into Darlington with a pep in their step.

Organization -- Team Penske: Penske has been rising in the final weeks of summer, both with Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Austin Cindric quietly made his way into the Chase as well, narrowly avoiding the Preece/Van Gisbergen slugfest for 16th. Between Blaney and Logano, Penske has won four of the last seven races, with Blaney entering the Chase as the No. 2 seed. As for Logano, he rocketed from 18th to ninth in the standings in less than two months.

Spinning their wheels

Watch: 'He did that to himself': Inside the Zilisch-Hocevar scrap

Driver -- Carson Hocevar: The rising star has stolen the headlines all year, but since a pole position in the Brickyard 400 and a mid-race middle finger to eventual winner Corey Heim, it's all gone down hill. He slipped from fifth to 12th in the standings in the last four races with three finishes outside the top 30. His best finish over the past month was a 19th at New Hampshire, a race where he spun on three different occasions. The No. 77 team has to get things pointed back in the right direction, as even a single bad week can derail any outside shot they have at the title fight.

Organization -- Hendrick Motorsports: The winningest team in NASCAR history enters the Chase without much noise, and their highest driver in the standings is Kyle Larson in seventh. Larson and teammate William Byron are winless, and Chase Elliott has Hendrick's only two victories this year. But even Elliott has stumbled lately with only one finish higher than 11th in the last 12 races.

What the readers are saying now

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It's not a large sample size at this point, but at the time of writing for this piece, Daniel Suarez sits No. 1 in the NASCAR Cup driver ratings (7.10 out of 10), per the voting averages. He nearly cracked the top ten in the standings with a runner-up finish in the regular season finale, and leads the way for Spire as the No. 11 seed in the Chase.

Suarez's Spire teammate is the lowest-rated Chase driver, as Hocevar sits with a 3.78 out of 10. 

After his big win at Daytona, Preece is now ranked No. 5 overall with a 6.92 out of 10. Looking at Daytona ranking alone, Preece is of course leading all drivers with a 7.9 out of 10.