The contemporary investigation deliberate the influence of radiating heat on the flow of Powell-Eyring fluid over a Riga plate subjected to thermal stratification, utilizing the CattaneoChristov heat flux model. Additionally, the insertion of heat sources along with thermal radiation energies the study significantly. The basic equations that correspond to conservation principles of mass, momentum, energy are formulated for Powell-Eyring fluid. The CattaneoChristov heat flux model is incorporated for the non-Fourier effects arising due to thermal relaxation phenomena are also taken into account. The resulting nonlinear partial differential equations are transmuted into ordinary equations and numerically solved using the Runge-Kutta method combined with shooting approach, which is a reliable numerical methodology. The impacts of pertinent factors on the momentum and temperature profiles are scrutinized systematically. Additionally, the imposition of these factors on shear rate and Nusselt number are deployed, which are crucial for practical applications and heat transfer enhancement strategies. As a novelty, the optimization of share rate together with heat transmission rate are obtained by employing a innovative statistical procedure of response surface methodology followed by analysis of variance, a hypothetical test. The outcomes of this study of heat transmission processes in Powell–Eyring fluids under thermal radiation over a Riga plate involving thermal stratification have potential applications in various engineering and industrial processes including thermal management, materials processing, and energy conversion devices.