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Power Rankings: With playoff spot clinched, is Denny Hamlin ready to roll?
By Pat DeCola | Published: August 17, 2021 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series drivers after the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and before the race at Michigan International Speedway.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Aric Almirola (-3)
Season-high: 16th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola's win now looks more like an outlier rather than a sign of his resurgence, as it now stands as his only top 10 since Nashville in June. He's had some decent Michigan runs in recent years, however, and it stands as a strong track for his team overall.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Michael McDowell (--)
Season-high: 10th
Season-low: Out
Comment: McDowell hasn't seen the inside of the top 20 in terms of finishing position since the Pocono doubleheader, and his magical season seems to be sputtering as it approaches the playoffs. He's never finished better than 22nd at Michigan, so don't expect that streak to snap this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Chris Buescher (+2)
Season-high: 13th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Buescher nearly capitalized on what would've been his first top 10 since the Coca-Cola 600, settling for 12th at Indy. With five straight finishes of 20th or better at Michigan he's likely to have another above-average weekend, but he needs a win at this point.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Ross Chastain (-1)
Season-high: 16th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Chastain has had his ups and downs the past several races, with Sunday's result being his worst since Pocono. Still, he's got nothing but bright skies ahead and he could still find his way into this year's playoffs with a win, and he could make some postseason noise if he does.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Matt DiBenedetto (+2)
Season-high: 14th
Season-low: Out
Comment: DiBenedetto continues his recent tear, with his fifth-place finish at Indy giving him a 9.2 average result over the past five races. He's not getting into the playoffs without a win, though, and he averages a finish of 26.0 at Michigan.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Austin Dillon (--)
Season-high: 11th
Season-low: 16th
Comment: Dillon's 31st-place finish -- his second-worst of the season -- could not have come at a worse time, as he attempts to catch his teammate for the final playoff spot on points. A win would help more, however, and with a top 10 last time out at Michigan, it's not impossible.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Brad Keselowski (-1)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 14th
Comment: A nightmare of a two-race road-course stretch for Keselowski is now mercifully, for him, in the past and he can now focus on what would be a good going-away gift for his boss: a win at Michigan. With two runner-ups there from 2018 on, it could happen.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Kurt Busch (+1)
Season-high: 6th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Busch snapped a two-race non-top-10 streak at Indy, pushing his average finish over the past nine races to an impressive 8.89. He won at Michigan in 2015 and has been quite solid there overall, with just two showings worse than 12th from that day on (12 races).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Christopher Bell (-1)
Season-high: 8th
Season-low: 16th
Comment: Bell's strong recent results came to an abrupt stop at Indy, much like his race did after a crash left him in 36th place. Still, he's a driver on the rise at the moment and averaged a 15.0 finish in a lesser ride in last year's Michigan doubleheader.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Alex Bowman (-1)
Season-high: 5th
Season-low: 17th
Comment: It's hard to believe a Hendrick driver might be glad to see road courses off the docket for a while, but after three straight finishes of 17th or worse on them that might be the case for Bowman. He had a pair of Michigan top 10s in 2019 but landed outside the top 20 in each race of last year's doubleheader.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Tyler Reddick (+2)
Season-high: 10th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Things are going pretty well for you when you finish 21st but still collect the fifth-most points in the race thanks to his stage wins. Michigan wasn't an exceptional weekend for him last year (18th/24th), but it still feels like it's very much his playoff spot to lose.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Kevin Harvick (--)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 12th
Comment: Harvick has at times during his career looked like one of the best road racers in the sport, but he's had a tough time with them this year after a fourth non top-10 in the last five road courses. Obviously, with last year's Michigan sweep and being the winner of four of the last five there it's easy to pick him to finally break through this weekend. It'll be an uphill climb for him, though.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Joey Logano (-1)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 8th
Comment: All of a sudden, Logano has just one top 10 since the end of June, which seems less than ideal with the playoffs two weeks away. He's been stellar in his Penske days at Michigan, however, and a win this weekend would go a long way toward righting the ship at an opportune time.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. William Byron (-1)
Season-high: 3rd
Season-low: 18th
Comment: Byron was one of the unfortunate ones to be included in that late calamity that claimed so many cars, which was especially painful for him after starting on the pole. It resulted in his worst points day of the season (four) and with just one top 10 in six Michigan starts, he isn't likely to have a major rebound this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Ryan Blaney (+2)
Season-high: 5th
Season-low: 15th
Comment: Blaney feels destined for his second win of the season sooner rather than later after his Indy runner-up — his fifth top-six finish in the last seven races. He led laps in both Michigan races last year and finished fourth in the opener.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Martin Truex Jr. (--)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 10th
Comment: Truex appeared to have a strong No. 19 Toyota but was shuffled back to 15th in the fracas at the end of the race. He's been awfully close to a Michigan win in recent years with five finishes of fourth or better from 2017 on.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Kyle Busch (-1)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 14th
Comment: Busch has cooled a bit since his hot stretch earlier in the summer, but not quite of his own doing. The Gibbs cars have been elite in the Irish Hills in recent years, and Busch is no exception -- he has eight straight top 10s there and six straight in the top six.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Denny Hamlin (+1)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 6th
Comment: Say what you want, but Indy was Hamlin's race to lose and it wasn't his doing in any way that he lost it. Still, a playoff spot is now his and the pressure being lifted from the slim possibility of missing the postseason could be weightier than you'd think. I wouldn't rule out a Hamlin tear coming soon, starting at Michigan, where he has two runner-ups in the last three races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 10th
Comment: Elliott's race was derailed after a pit-stop miscue, and yet he managed to still rein in a fourth-place run at Indy. He's a threat to win every weekend at the moment, and that will certainly be the case at Michigan where he rattled off three straight runner-ups in his first three attempts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 14th
Comment: It's going to take a lot for Larson to be bumped from this top spot the way he's running right now, and it very much is not likely to happen after this weekend. He continues to race out of this world and he's sure to be the favorite on Sunday with three straight Michigan wins from 2016-17 to his credit.