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Power Rankings: Young stars on the rise after Michigan
By Pat DeCola | Published: August 13, 2019 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers after Michigan International Speedway and before Bristol Motor Speedway.
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
20. Paul Menard (--): From 2015-18, Menard failed to place in the top 10 for eight straight Bristol Motor Speedway races before a sixth-place run in the spring earlier this year.
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
19. Chris Buescher (--): Buescher is making gains, but if he intends on making the playoffs, he'll need to start stockpiling Hail Mary-type races, like his fifth-place run in this event in 2016.
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Stacy Revere | Getty Images
18. Jimmie Johnson (-2): Johnson owns the most top 10s at Bristol (21) and hasn't finished worse than 11th since 2014. He's getting close to must-win territory, and both of his Tennesee wins came in the spring race.
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17. Clint Bowyer (-2): Bowyer needs a turnaround as well, and while he's 0-for-27 at Bristol, he has also notched three straight top eights there and had 120 laps led in last year's race.
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16. Ryan Newman (+1): Newman's 35 winless Bristol starts are most in the series, and he has just 11 laps led there since 2012. This might be the weekend the wheels fall off his playoff run.
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15. Daniel Suarez (+3): Suarez has been consistently above average in each of his five Bristol starts and landed in the top 10 in the spring. He's putting the pieces together there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Aric Almirola (-3): Almirola might be in for a rough weekend. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has just three top 10s in 20 Bristol starts, and they all came in the spring race.
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13. Erik Jones (-3): Jones led a race-high 260 laps from the pole in this race in 2017. Feels like there's a good chance Kyle Busch's pupil could put together a playoff-building run this weekend.
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
12. Ryan Blaney (-3): Could Blaney be the next big thing at Bristol? He might be set to break through after leading race-high amounts of laps in each of the past two races there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. William Byron (+3): Byron has yet to land in the top 10 at Bristol but started on the front row in the spring. His recent uptick in performance could help him stay up there this weekend.
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Quinn Harris | Getty Images
10. Kyle Larson (+3): Larson is the race's defending pole winner and has slowly been starting to put things together at just the right time. He could be a dark horse this weekend.
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Quinn Harris | Getty Images
9. Alex Bowman (+3): Bowman makes for another strong dark-horse candidate, having put together back to back top eights at Bristol in 2018 and surging overall the second half of 2019.
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Stacy Revere | Getty Images
8. Kurt Busch (--): Busch is certainly among the favorites to win this weekend, as the defending winner of the race in the midst of a resurgence. He famously battled his brother to the finish in the spring race this year, too.
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7. Brad Keselowski (--): Keselowski had a pair of Bristol wins in 2011-12 but overall has just five top 10s in 19 starts and none since 2015. He's talented enough to run well any weekend, this track just doesn't line up as one of the most likely he'll do so at.
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
6. Chase Elliott (--): Elliott picked up the pole at Bristol this spring and owns the best average finish in the series at 12.4. He's a strong bet to be competitive this weekend.
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Quinn Harris | Getty Images
5. Joey Logano (-1): Logano will look to reinsert himself into the title conversation this weekend after getting shuffled down a bit. He has two wins at Bristol and an average start of 8.2, albeit with a mediocre 15.0 average finish.
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
4. Denny Hamlin (-1): Hamlin owns a series-best three Bristol poles and won this race all the way back in 2012. He has three finishes of third there since, all coming in the summer night race.
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Stacy Revere | Getty Images
3. Kevin Harvick (+2): Harvick has just two Bristol wins in a whopping 37 starts, but he has been one of the top drivers there since 2015 with seven top-10 finishes.
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2. Martin Truex Jr. (--): For whatever reason, Bristol just hasn't been kind to Truex over the years. The supremely talented former champ has no careeer wins there and owns just one top 10 since 2012.
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Stacy Revere | Getty Images
1. Kyle Busch (+1): Like most weekends, Busch is the favorite before competition hits the track. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won in the spring, won this race in 2017 and his 2,304 laps led there are more than double any active driver.