BACK TO GALLERIES
Power Rankings: Martin Truex Jr. once again looking like Championship 4 lock
By Pat DeCola | Published: June 7, 2021 21
1 of 21
NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Sonoma Raceway and before Sunday's All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, Sirius XM).
2 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-2)
Season-high: 12th
Season-low: Out
Comment: After looking like playoff material early in the season, Stenhouse has fallen off a cliff with six of his past seven finishes being 20th or worse. With no top 10s in 16 Texas starts, don't expect the turnaround to come Sunday.
3 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Ross Chastain (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 19th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Apart from last week's organization-wide Charlotte misfire and forgivable Bristol dirt hiccup, Chastain has essentially been a top-15 driver since the early days of the season. He has two top sevens in the last three weeks, too.
4 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Kurt Busch (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 6th
Season-low: Out
Comment: That's more like it. Perhaps it was all car performance all along, as Busch netted his first top 10 since Miami just days after his team received an apology from alliance partner Hendrick Motorsports for lack of performance. With eight straight Texas top 10s on his resume, he could be a sneaky All-Star pick.
5 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Matt DiBenedetto (--)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: DiBenedetto is basically running as well as he did in his year behind the wheel of the now-defunct No. 95 Toyota, a far cry from where he should be performing as a satellite fourth Team Penske car. He only has one top 10 at Texas in 11 starts, though it did come in the most recent race last fall.
6 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Christopher Bell (--)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 16
Comment: Bell now has four straight finishes outside the top 20 and at the moment doesn't appear to be a driver headed toward a deep playoff run. Where he got an early win, it's entirely possible the team is tinkering and will look reinvigorated come postseason, but it's tough to say. He was third last fall at Texas, so it'll be interesting to see how he fares this weekend.
7 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Michael McDowell (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: McDowell was clearly headed toward his sixth top 10 of the season before Daniel Suarez very interestingly intervened late. Still, he's shown he's a threat to win on superspeedways and road courses and more than capable on the intermediates and short tracks. Given the new nature of the schedule, he's going to be hanging around all season.
8 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Tyler Reddick (--)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: A 19th-place Sonoma run ended a three-race top-10 streak and was his worst finish since a P20 at Richmond. Don't sleep on Reddick in the All-Star Race — he was runner-up in his first Texas Cup start last year.
9 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Chris Buescher (--)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: Buescher is still on pace for the best season of his career and, at 28 years old and having recently hit the 200-start plateau, could possibly just be entering his prime. That said, the Texas native has yet to land a top 10 at the Fort Worth track, having yet to lead a lap there.
10 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Austin Dillon (-1)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 16
Comment: Dillon has nearly averaged a top-10 finish since Martinsville (11.13 in eight races) and is looking like a playoff dark horse. The winner of the first Texas race last year, Dillon feels like a strong pick to make his mark on this year's All-Star Race.
11 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Brad Keselowski (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 12
Comment: Keselowski has three fewer top 10s than Reddick and the same amount as McDowell — not statistics we thought we'd be pulling up with 10 races remaining in the regular season. The 2012 champ still holds Championship 4 potential, however, but with just 10 top 10s in 25 winless Texas starts, the turnaround may not come this weekend.
12 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 17
Comment: Bowman is still enjoying one of the better stretches of his Cup career, even if he's not looking quite as fast as Hendrick's 1-2 punch at the front of the field. He'll have his spots to capitalize, though, and Texas could be one. He has two top fives in the last three races, leading double-digit laps in each.
13 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Kevin Harvick (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: Harvick is averaging a finish of 11.6 through 16 races in 2021 — on pace for his worst showing since 2014 when he completed the year with a 12.9 average finish ... as well as five wins and the championship. One of the top favorites at Texas the past five years, an All-Star win could certainly spark his season.
14 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Ryan Blaney (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 15
Comment: Blaney is hanging in there with consistent above-average finishes but isn't anywhere he needs to be in terms of competing for race wins, with just 13 laps led since Martinsville (11 of which came at Talladega). He's been quite strong at Texas the past five years, so he could see an uptick this weekend.
15 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. William Byron (-3)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 18
Comment: A Sonoma crash ended what could've been yet another strong run, and a dip from the runner-up spot in the standings helps his slide here a bit as well. He notched a top 10 in his first start at Texas in 2018 but has just one in the five races there since.
16 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kyle Busch (+1)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 14
Comment: Busch is clearly building momentum after a fourth top five in the last six races. We saw him finally pick up his first 2020 win at Texas last fall and he'll be among the favorites this weekend.
17 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Denny Hamlin (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: Hamlin still has just one truly bad result this season (32nd at Talladega, after leading 43 laps), yet he appears to be well off his early-season pace. He won the spring Texas race in 2019 — in addition to sweeping in 2010 — and he could re-spark things on Sunday.
18 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Joey Logano (+2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 8
Comment: After a blip at Charlotte, Logano returned to the top five at Sonoma for his third-such result in four races. His Penske years at Texas have been quite fortuitous, with 13 top 10s and a win in 16 starts.
19 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Martin Truex Jr. (+2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 7
Comment: After a three-race swoon, Truex again looked dominant at Sonoma — just not as dominant as the next two drivers on this list. Still, he looks like a Championship 4 lock at the moment and while he's never won at Texas, he was runner-up there last fall.
20 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Elliott would likely be enjoying the best stretch of his career if not for a certain teammate of his, but still, tough to complain about a win and four straight top threes. Sunday will be quite interesting for him – he was great in his first six Texas starts but has four straight finishes there outside the top 10.
21 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: When Larson has been on this year, he's been on. He now has five straight top-two finishes and nine of his top 10s were top fives. There's no hotter driver on the planet right now and despite a spotty Texas record there's no reason to think he won't be fast Sunday.