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Power Rankings: Is Kyle Busch the best shot to end Hendrick’s power party?
By Pat DeCola | Published: May 31, 2021 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the Coca-Cola 600 and before Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway (4 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Daniel Suarez (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 20th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suarez has nearly as many laps led this season (74) as his first two seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing combined (75) and is in the neighborhood, average-finish-wise, of those two years as he continues to outperform preseason expectations. Expect a similar weekend out of him, with finishes of 16th, 15th and 17th in his three Sonoma starts, respectively.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Bubba Wallace (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 13th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Wallace hasn't had the flashy season many expected out of the new No. 23 team, but his second top 15 in the past three weeks -- after none in the first 12 races -- is helping to build the foundation. It could be a tough weekend for him, though, with road courses his weak point (27.5 average Sonoma finish).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+1)
Season-high: 12th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Stenhouse is still quietly having a productive season, on pace for his second-best average finish (17.3) to his 2017 season (17.1) when he finished 13th in points. After seven starts, he's still in search of a finish at Sonoma better than 18th, which he did in 2018.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Matt DiBenedetto (--)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: After a strong three-race stretch from Richmond to Kansas, DiBenedetto has a best finish of 18th in the four races since. He could be sneaky-good at Sonoma this weekend, however -- he was fourth the last time NASCAR raced there in 2019.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Christopher Bell (--)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 16
Comment: Through 15 races, Bell has just seven lead-lap finishes -- a worse pace than the 19 he collected last year behind the wheel of the No. 95 Toyota. He's yet to race at Sonoma at any national series level, but did win the season's first road-course race at Daytona earlier this year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Michael McDowell (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: There's no denying at this point that one of the season's biggest surprises is here to stay, as he's clearly a top-20 driver. The accomplished road racer has a great shot to make some noise again this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Tyler Reddick (--)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: It seriously feels like it's just a matter of when, not if, Reddick will claim the first victory of his career after yet another strong top 10. He's an underrated road racer, as well, and with the speed the No. 8 has shown lately there's no reason he couldn't sneak into Victory Lane Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Chris Buescher (--)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: You could honestly say the same about Buescher, too, whose career-year is still flying under the radar. A gut feeling says at some point we'll be looking at him as one of the top contenders on road courses, and he could show out this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Brad Keselowski (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 12
Comment: Though he looked strong early, the last several weeks have Keselowski on track for essentially the worst season of his Penske career (though he's provisionally locked into the playoffs, and missed entirely in 2013). He's a decent road racer and a champion for a reason, but Sonoma might not be his best bet to turn it around with two top 10s in 10 starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Austin Dillon (+1)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 16
Comment: Speaking of career years, Dillon is well on pace to surpass most of his previous statistical bests, enjoying the speed that accompanies Richard Childress Racing's alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Though he's never quite lived up to his road racing aspirations, he's never been awful at Sonoma despite no tops 10s. He consistently runs in the top 20.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Alex Bowman (+1)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 17
Comment: Despite the two wins and three straight top 10s, Bowman does seem to be just a tick off the pace of his three other HMS teammates but that could change at the drop of a hat. He notched a top 10 in his first Sonoma start with HMS in 2018 and should be strong again Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 15
Comment: Blaney certainly isn't racing poorly, but the Fords across the board seem to be third in the pecking order right now. He's had some real good runs at Sonoma in the past (third in 2019) and we've seen him win on a road course before. Could happen again Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Kevin Harvick (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: Harvick deserves plenty of credit -- it's clear Stewart-Haas Racing is searching for speed at the moment and yet he continues to pile up top 10s. This could be the weekend he sparks things, though, as the 2017 winner has five straight top sixes at Sonoma.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Kyle Busch (+2)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 14
Comment: It still feels extremely weird that Busch only has 56 laps led this year, but there are some signs starting to pop up that he might be Toyota's best bet to take down the Chevy brigade. Time will tell there, but he's perhaps the driver to beat this weekend at Sonoma (2015 win, five straight top sevens) among the non-Hendrick class.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Joey Logano (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 8
Comment: Logano has two top fives in his last three races, but also four finishes of 13th or worse in the last six. Still, with no finish worse than third on a road course this year, he's a threat to kick it into gear on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Martin Truex Jr. (-3)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 7
Comment: What's going on with the No. 19? It's likely just race circumstances, but after looking like the title favorite just a few weeks ago, Truex owns a 27.67 average finish over the last three weeks. No place like Sonoma to turn it around, though, as the three-time winner has won the past two races there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. William Byron (--)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 18
Comment: Just another ho-hum fourth-place finish for Byron, who has been second or third in points now for five straight weeks. Don't be surprised if he's out front this weekend -- he qualified second and led 21 laps the last time out at Sonoma before finishing 19th.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Hamlin is still hanging around the front of the field to his credit, but he's not leading laps the way he was in the early part of the year (17 in the last five races, 754 on the season). He should have a good weekend ahead of him, though, with four straight Sonoma top 10s.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Chase Elliott (+3)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: I mean, hopefully nobody was really concerned about the No. 9 team getting its act together at some point to defend its title. The first third of the season was up-and-down, but it's clear Elliott will be in the mix for the 2021 championship as well with how he's running. The current road-course king should have a say in this weekend's outcome.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: Larson's average finish the past four weeks: 1.75. That's not a typo. The man is on another level right now and the three-time Sonoma pole winner might as well go ahead and claim his first trophy there this weekend, as well, because nobody seems to be able to pass him on the race track at the moment.