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Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney shines after All-Star win
By Zach Sturniolo | Published: May 24, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Zach Sturniolo drops in to rank the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the All-Star Race at Texas and before Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, FOX).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Tyler Reddick (-2)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 20
Comment: Reddick's struggles are mounting in a hurry, even after an exhibition weekend. The No. 8 Chevrolet was running second with eight laps left in the Open and crashed, wiping away any chance to make the All-Star Race.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Erik Jones (-2)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: The famed No. 43 made it back to the big show Sunday night thanks to the fan vote, but Jones' night ended early after a crash at the exit of Turn 4. Bad luck has bitten Jones lately. He'll have 600 miles to right the ship this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Chase Briscoe (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 18
Comment: Briscoe got to experience the bright lights of the All-Star Race for the first time at Texas, but the No. 14 Ford was nowhere to be found. An 18th-place finish in the 24-car field wasn't what he envisioned and continues a middling stretch for the sophomore shoe.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Kurt Busch (--)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: Busch was never much of a factor in his 21st straight All-Star Race. But the No. 45 Toyota frequently battled inside the top 10, averaging a 9.5 running position according to loop data statistics. He'll look to regain his Kansas momentum ahead in Charlotte.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Daniel Suárez (+4)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: A win in the All-Star Open propelled Suárez into Sunday's main event, and boy did he make the most of it. Suárez was in the mix all night, averaging the fourth-best running position and coming away with a fifth-place finish. He's still looking for consistent results in points events, but a good run at Texas may bode well for the No. 99 team's future events.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Austin Dillon (-3)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 20
Comment: The three-time Cup race winner wasn't quite able to burst into the All-Star Race after what proved to be a challenging weekend for his Richard Childress Racing team. Ahead is the Coca-Cola 600, though, where Dillon scored his first victory five years ago.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Aric Almirola (--)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola returned as an All-Star contender thanks to his New Hampshire victory a season ago, but the No. 10 car never shined at Texas this weekend. The good news is that he's finished inside the top 20 in three of his last four starts. Will that translate to success at Charlotte? A 26th-place finish at Kansas makes that questionable.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Kevin Harvick (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 13
Comment: Harvick's 22nd consecutive All-Star appearance was forgettable at best. The 2014 champion finished 17th after a dismal evening. Thankfully, neither the race nor result count against him, and his streak of four straight top-15 finishes remains intact entering Charlotte.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Austin Cindric (+3)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: The Daytona 500 champion finally came back to life Sunday night. In his inaugural All-Star Race, Cindric managed to win Stage 2 and vault to a third-place finish at the 1.5-mile Texas track. He's still searching for his first true top 10 since Circuit of The Americas in March, but Texas proved to be a good step forward for the Team Penske rookie.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Christopher Bell (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: Bell appeared on his way to a strong run in his second All-Star showing, but that went awry at Lap 76 when he lost control of his No. 20 Toyota and crashed at the exit of Turn 4 while running second. Bell has shown plenty of speed lately, including a pole and top-five run at Kansas. That seems likely to continue in the Coca-Cola 600.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 10
Comment: In Texas, Truex appeared off from the Kansas speed he displayed just one week earlier. Truex finished the All-Star Race 14th and never seemed like a true contender. The No. 19 team ran sixth at Kansas, so maybe the results will be back on pace in Charlotte.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Denny Hamlin (+4)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 20
Comment: Can it be? Real momentum for the No. 11 team? After weeks (months?) of dismal luck and results, Hamlin is finally back on the upswing, following a fourth-place Kansas result with a runner-up effort in Sunday's All-Star Race. He still needs to find long-lasting consistency, especially knowing crew chief Chris Gabehart and two pit crew members will be absent the next four races, but perhaps Hamlin's bad luck is finally shedding away.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. William Byron (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 16
Comment: Byron led a couple of laps in Sunday's All-Star Race and ran toward the front of the field, notching the third-best average running position of the night (6.1) before finishing 11th. His finishes in points results still need work though, still seeking his first top-10 finish since winning at Martinsville.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 13
Comment: Bowman was mired outside the top 10 much of Sunday night but capitalized late for a strong sixth-place result. With seven top 10s in his last nine races, the No. 48 crew is in great shape, regularly knocking out good finishes. No reason to expect that to change any time soon.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kyle Larson (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 6
Comment: Larson entered the All-Star Race with a chance to win his third straight appearance. But the defending Cup champion left empty-handed with a battered car after a flat right-front tire sent his No. 5 Chevrolet careening into the outside wall while running second. Larson has four top fives in his last five races, the lone exception being an engine failure at Darlington. Chances are high he'll be back contending for a win this week at Charlotte.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Ryan Blaney (+3)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Welcome to Victory Lane, Mr. Blaney. The $1 million payday doesn't secure Blaney's spot in the NASCAR Playoffs, but what a shot in the arm for the No. 12 team. Blaney was a consistent threat to win at the beginning of the year but faded heavily in recent weeks. A win in an abbreviated exhibition race doesn't fix everything, especially since he's gone four straight races without a top 10. But leading 84 of 140 laps and winning the All-Star Race is one heck of a way to start bouncing back.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Joey Logano (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 9
Comment: Team Penske proved they figured something out at Texas. While Logano's teammates won stages, the No. 22 team fired off the best pit stop when it mattered to take home a $100,000 bonus. Logano factored inside the top 10 all night and walked away with a fourth-place finish. In the grand scheme of things, he still has work to do -- three of his last six results are of 17th or worse. The good news? The other three finishes are all inside the top three, including a Darlington win.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Kyle Busch (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: Sunday was a night of "what could have been" for Busch. The No. 18 Toyota headed the field for each of the opening 47 laps before his right-rear tire failed, resulting in a gnarly crash that saw his car become a launching pad for Ross Chastain. Overall, the No. 18 crew is showing up to the track with fast cars and putting together great results. They had another one coming if not for their bad luck at Texas.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Ross Chastain (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: Out
Comment: Everything's bigger in Texas, even Chastain's crashes. After taking a brief flight over the rear of Kyle Busch's car, Chastain was relegated to a 22nd-place finish and a DNF. But the No. 1 Chevrolet was fast, running third at the time of his scary incident, and is still showing speed at every venue with his Trackhouse Racing crew. Expect Charlotte to be a good rebound weekend for one of this year's two-time winners.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Elliott remains on the top spot this week despite being collected as collateral damage in the All-Star wreck between Busch and Chastain. The No. 9 Chevrolet ranks second in season-long average running position (10.4) behind only Blaney (10.3). The 2020 champion is quietly phenomenal on the Charlotte oval lately, scoring finishes of second-first-second in his last three starts on the 1.5-mile track. Can he claim his first crown-jewel win in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night?