BACK TO GALLERIES
Power Rankings: Kurt Busch, No. 45 team bringing speed week in, week out
By Pat DeCola | Published: July 19, 2022 21
1 of 21
NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and before Sunday's event at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).
2 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Austin Dillon (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: Dillon didn't do much — he finished P23 at NH — to earn his re-entrance into the top 20, but it did stop a two-race skid of finishes outside the top 30. His stay could be a brief one, as the Richard Childress Racing driver has never finished in the top 10 at Pocono in 16 tries, though he's finished in the top 20 in six of the last eight there.
3 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Erik Jones (-1)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: Jones has alternated finishes inside and outside the top 10 for each of the last six races, placing fourth last week at Atlanta before a 19th-place result at Loudon. With four top fives at Pocono from 2018-on alone, there's a good chance he continues the trend at the Tricky Triangle.
4 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Chase Briscoe (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 20
Comment: Briscoe is still hanging around the top 15 pretty consistently, but the No. 14 team doesn't look like it has very lengthy playoff legs at the moment. He ran pretty similar, uninspiring back-to-back races at Pocono last year, starting and finishing in the 20s in both.
5 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Tyler Reddick (-1)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 20
Comment: Thank goodness for his Road America win, otherwise Reddick would be in serious playoff peril with a fifth finish in the last six races outside the top 15. His rookie year was rough on him at Pocono (30th, 35th) but he averaged a 10.0 finish in the two races last year so it could be a nice rebound spot.
6 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Aric Almirola (-1)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola was unable to match his NH win from last year, but overall is still enjoying a much better season than last year — so far. He's still looking for a win and a playoff spot, and believe it or not Pocono could be a sneaky place for him to accomplish it. He reeled off back-to-back top fives there in 2020.
7 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Alex Bowman (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 13
Comment: Where have you gone, Alex Bowman? Damaged race cars galore have plagued his recent races, so it's tough to say if the No. 48 has even lost it from his earlier stretch of strong runs, but it's certainly a frustrating period for him. The consolation? He's a defending Pocono winner and led double-digit laps in both races last year.
8 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Kurt Busch (+5)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: Busch's No. 45 was one of the fastest cars on track all weekend, and it was certainly better than the 10th-place finish that it resulted in. The finishes have been a little up and down lately, but he's still performing at a high clip throughout the race and picking up tons of points consistently. Look for the three-time Pocono winner to keep it rolling this weekend and potentially claim win No. 2 of 2022.
9 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Austin Cindric (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: He'll need to pick up the pace a bit to make it deep into the playoffs, but for New Hampshire's 13th-place run to be his worst result since the Coca-Cola 600 — that's pretty good above-average consistency. He was pretty killer at Pocono in the Xfinity Series, with three top sevens and a win in his four starts there.
10 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. William Byron (+2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 16
Comment: It's not much, but Byron's near top 10 at Loudon (11th) is a step in the right direction for a team that, for one reason or another, has not landed itself in the top 10 often during this middle stretch of the season. Feels like that might've been a turning point, though, and Pocono has been one of his best tracks to date with a 9.1 average finish across eight starts. Could be the start of another strong Byron run.
11 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Daniel Suárez (--)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: As so much focus has been put on his teammate for both the amazing and sometimes questionable moves he's making on track, Suárez is quietly plodding along in one of the best stretches of his career (7.2 average finish, one win in the last five races). He'll have speed at Pocono and he once finished runner-up there in 2018. Just saying.
12 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Joey Logano (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 10
Comment: Logano is in his worst stretch of finishes since a four-race stretch outside the top 20 from The Glen to Daytona last year — a similar time frame. Perhaps the No. 22 is just getting it out of its system now and Logano rolls to his second-career — and first for Penske — Pocono win.
13 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 20
Comment: Hamlin was battling all race long at Loudon and scrapped his way to an encouraging P6 for the No. 11 to get back to the top 10 for the first time since Nashville. He's arguably the driver to beat at Pocono, with six wins under his belt — including two from 2019 on.
14 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Christopher Bell (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: Way to shake it all up, Christopher. Bell really put the pressure on a fair amount of his fellow drivers after his Loudon win, and it'll be quite interesting to see how far the No. 20 can make it through the playoffs. He once landed P4 at Pocono while running the No. 95 and it wouldn't be the biggest shock to see him hit two in a row.
15 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Kyle Busch (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11
Comment: After Sunday's 12th-place run, Busch has now finished outside the top 10 for five straight races for the first time since 2014 — not the kind of anecdotal stats he's looking for. Thankfully for him, he's lights out at Pocono and enters the weekend as the most recent winner there.
16 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 14
Comment: Removing his result from a crash at Gateway, Harvick has an 8.2 average finish in the other 10 races since Bristol dirt — and yet he's a driver currently outside the playoff picture. He's only got one career win at Pocono 42 starts, but it came in 2020 and he's been nothing short of exceptional there overall in his SHR days.
17 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Kyle Larson (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 6
Comment: Sure, Larson finished 14th at Loudon, but he scored 37 points — more than he got for his P3 at Road America and just three fewer than his P2 at Kansas. He seems destined to win at Pocono at some point, and after a runner-up finish in the most recent race there it could be this weekend.
18 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Ryan Blaney (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Blaney sure would like to get a win to firmly secure his tenuous playoff positioning, but he's only found the front of the field for double-digit laps (12, Gateway) just once since Talladega. Pocono has been plentiful for him over the years, including being the site of his first career victory in 2017.
19 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Martin Truex Jr. (+2)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 10
Comment: Truex's situation turned from nothing to worry about to cause for concern real quick at Loudon, which is such a frustrating result for the No. 19 team which appeared to have the fastest, most dominant car of the day. Thankfully for him, Pocono is a place he can take advantage of the speed he continues to show, and the two-time Tricky Triangle winner could turn himself back into a title contender this weekend.
20 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Ross Chastain (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: Out
Comment: It's now been a good bit since he reeled off two wins in five races, but Chastain is still finishing at the front of the field with seven top-eight finishes from Kansas on. He's been dreadful at Pocono historically, with a 29.3 average finish, but, uh, he's got a good shot to do much, much better than that on Sunday.
21 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Not much appears to be able to slow the No. 9 team and the current championship favorite down at the moment, but we've got a long way to go. Pocono could present a challenge for him, with just one top 10 since 2019 — though we did say pretty much the same thing about New Hampshire and almost won the dang thing.