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Power Rankings: Alex Bowman stealing the show in season’s early going
By Pat DeCola | Published: May 19, 2020 21
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1. Kevin Harvick (+1)
Comment: Harvick led 159 laps and continued his stretch of incredibly strong runs and masterful driving to open the season. And, in a large piece of bad news for his opponents, he's bringing the same car back Wednesday.
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2.Joey Logano (-1)
Comment: Logano was 18th on Sunday, but if anybody can afford a mediocre race, it's him. The two-time 2020 winner should rebound nicely in the mid-week event.
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3. Alex Bowman (+3)
Comment: Anyone out there still not a believer in Bowman yet? He's showing why that contract extension was a no-brainer for HMS, and the 41 laps he led Sunday likely won't be his only circuits at the front of the field this week.
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4. Chase Elliott (+1)
Comment: Elliott showed he has the speed to compete for a win at Darlington, something that just feels destined to happen at some point or another. Why not Wednesday under the lights? The Hendrick cars will be fast.
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5. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Comment: The Daytona 500 winner continued a strong 2020 campaign with a top five at Darlington and no matter which way you slice it, you can count on him to be among the favorites again on Wednesday.
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6. Brad Keselowski (+2)
Comment: Keselowski led 80 laps and won a stage at Darlington, a track he also won in the not-too-distant past. There's a great chance he'll be competitive again on Wednesday night.
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7. Kurt Busch (+4)
Comment: This is just starting to feel like a season where Busch comes alive again late in his career and pops off three, four, maybe five wins. That No. 1 car has looked sporty a good amount of times this year already.
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8. Kyle Busch (-4)
Comment: Busch's up and down season continued at Darlington, with a lackluster 26th-place finish. He'll break out soon, and once he does I anticipate a lengthy run of dominance.
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9. Aric Almirola (+5)
Comment: Almirola has averaged a finish of 9.33 over the last three races and could find a nice rhythm over the next week-and-a-half with these bunches of races. That could set the tone for the whole season for him.
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10. Martin Truex Jr.(--)
Comment: After incurring damage not of his doing in the Lap 1 wreck, Truex battled back hard throughout the race to almost find the front, but never quite making it. Still, it was a gutsy effort and I could see him finally breaking out in a big way on Wednesday.
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11. Ryan Blaney (-4)
Comment: Sunday was nothing to write home about for Blaney (16th) but it was a nice slump-buster after a couple of hiccups and a wreck at Phoenix. Look for him to be more aggressive on Wednesday.
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12. Matt DiBenedetto (+3)
Comment: A 14th-place run at Darlington isn't terrible by any means, but DiBenedetto failed to capitalize on the best starting position of his career (third).
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13. Erik Jones (--)
Comment: Jones wasn't able to back up his win in last summer's Southern 500, but an eighth-place finish at one of NASCAR's toughest tracks stretches his streak of strong Darlington runs. It's clear the track will be in his wheelhouse for much of his career.
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14. Jimmie Johnson (-5)
Comment: For a brief moment in time on Sunday all was right in the world -- NASCAR was on TV, Jimmie Johnson was leading ... and then Jimmie Johnson was crashing from the front of the field. Expect him to drive with a chip on his shoulder Wednesday night.
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15. Clint Bowyer (+1)
Comment: Bowyer wasn't able to maintain the momentum from a fifth-place finish at Phoenix, placing 17th at Darlington. That was a two-month-plus break after all, so we'll let it slide.
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16. Tyler Reddick (NR)
Comment: I feel a lot better about my preseason prediction of Reddick making the playoffs, as wild as it seemed at the time. It's hard to believe it only took a handful of races to see what he's capable of at the Cup level, but there's a reason he's a two-time defending Xfinity Series champ.
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17. William Byron (-5)
Comment: Byron won Stage 1 -- perhaps still on a roll from the Pro Invitational Series -- but faded to 35th by race's end. With how strong Hendrick Motorsports has been all season, look for a quick rebound out of the No. 24 driver Wednesday night.
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18. Matt Kenseth (+2)
Comment: Speaking of returns, how about Matt Kenseth? A top 10 after not being in a Cup car since 2018 with a different rules package and no practice is pretty remarkable, and it'll be interesting to see what he does the rest of the season.
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19. Ryan Newman (-2)
Comment: Newman pulled out a top 15 in his return to NASCAR racing after a horrific crash in the season-opening Daytona 500, shaking any rust off in quick order. He's still a threat to make the playoffs.
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20. Chris Buescher (-2):
Comment: I expected Buescher to a get better run at Darlington than his finishing position of 32nd, but Wednesday is another chance to come close to his previous two outings there of 12th and 13th.
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the first race at Darlington Raceway and before Wednesday night's event at the track "Too Tough to Tame."