Power Rankings: Might Austin Dillon win again before the playoffs?
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series drivers after Austin Dillon's win at Richmond Raceway and before Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
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20. Austin Dillon (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 20
Season-low: Out
Comment: Dillon makes a reappearance in these rankings for the first time since the spring of 2023. He's always shown himself to make the most of winning opportunities when they present themselves, so with how fast he was at Richmond, could he actually pick up another one in the remaining three regular-season races? Last year's Richmond winner (Chris Buescher) went on to win Michigan and Daytona as well, and those two tracks stand as two of No. 3's best, with a pair of Daytona wins and two top fives at Michigan. Crazier things have happened.
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19. Austin Cindric (-1)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Pretty inconsequential Richmond race for Cindric, who at this point just needs to find momentum from somewhere or he's likely looking at an early bounce from this year's playoffs. No. 2 placed 12th at Michigan last year -- which would be his second-best finish since an early June win at Gateway were he to repeat it -- but the 2022 Daytona 500 winner is likely more looking ahead to getting to Florida to rekindle some superspeedway magic.
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18. Kyle Busch (+2)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 20
Comment: For just the third time since Charlotte, Busch picked up more than 12 points in a race, which is just ... yeah. It's impossible to say that Richard Childress Racing is "back" after just one race, but the early returns after the Olympic break are solid, even if Busch did still finish outside the top 10. The two-time champ has stated this year that the bigger tracks seem to be where the team excels, so perhaps he's able to capitalize the next two weekends at Michigan and Daytona before shifting to full desperation mode at Darlington, where he could be on the precipice of missing the playoffs.
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17. Chase Briscoe (--)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Briscoe is treading water and is in that "still technically could make it in on points, but a win is likely the only path" part of the season. With his last laps led coming at Talladega (and just three of them at that) a win looks unlikely, especially given he has just three top 10s in 17 combined starts at the remaining regular-season tracks. We could be looking at the final three weeks of Stewart-Haas Racing chasing a championship.
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16. Joey Logano (-1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 20
Comment: The garage likely is none too pleased with Dillon at the moment for the method with which he won Richmond, but his fellow drivers will certainly draw his ire when they realize he might've accidentally activated Championship-Mode Joey. No. 22 is already in the playoffs but overall has plodded through a somewhat down year -- but that might be over. It's totally conceivable that Logano, who likely had a win taken from him by Dillon's bumper, just turns the jets on from here out of sheer willpower and collects a few more wins and his third championship. It could start this weekend for the three-time Michigan winner.
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15. Daniel Suárez (+1)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suárez's 93 circuits out front at Richmond marked a career-high in laps led in a race for him, and it resulted in his third top-11 finish in the past four races as he kindles heat for his playoff momentum. He's had a handful of strong Michigan runs over the years and picked up his first national series win there in the Xfinity Series in 2016. He could keep the ball rolling.
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14. Chris Buescher (-2)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 16
Comment: As the defending winner of three of the final four races of the regular-season, Buescher was exceptionally well-positioned to coast into the playoffs, win or not. Naturally, he walked out of Richmond below the elimination line after a costly pit-stop miscue. It'll be easy for him to look ahead to a rebound at Michigan, where he won last year, but he's most definitely a little uneasier this week than he was last week.
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13. Ty Gibbs (-2)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 15
Comment: Gibbs was consistently strong early on this season, but he's now, for some reason, just turning in consistently mediocre finishes with five of his last seven results in the 22nd-27th range. He's definitely trending toward missing the playoffs -- but still in, for now -- though he could find stability this weekend at Michigan, where his two past results were 10th and 11th.
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12. Ross Chastain (+2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 15
Comment: Chastain turned in his first top five since Sonoma but still managed to drop in the standings, which isn't ideal for his dwindling playoff hopes. A three-point deficit is easily overcome, especially with three races remaining, but it's no guarantee he keeps it going at Michigan, where his first top 10 last year brought his average finish up to 26.0 at the track.
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11. Bubba Wallace (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: Wallace clearly didn't cool down any over the break, maintaining his hot streak at Richmond and firming up his playoff positioning as he tied a career-high in top fives with his fifth of the season on Sunday. Michigan has been a great track for him at 23XI Racing, and there's little reason to think the 2022 runner-up there won't keep padding his (currently small but growing) points cushion.
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10. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 18
Comment: With just 19 points collected the last two races -- and an Olympic break separating them -- Bowman's Chicago win feels like a loooooong time ago, and any momentum from it is all but lost. Michigan has been a rough track for him, too, with a 24.1 average finish and just three top 10s in 14 career starts.
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9. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Though he scored more points than several drivers ahead of him on the results sheet, Truex's last-place finish at Richmond was just about worst-case scenario for him with that race being his best remaining shot to clinch a playoff spot with a win. While he's never won at Michigan, he actually has been quite good there recently, so it could happen this weekend. No. 19 is a four-time runner-up there and owns seven straight top-10s heading into Sunday.
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8. Brad Keselowski (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 18
Comment: Keselowski, defending winner/teammate Chris Buescher and RFK Racing were unable to recreate last year's Richmond magic, but No. 6 is still looking solid for the playoffs as we head to his home state. A Michigan win has forever eluded Keselowski, but he's gotten close over the years. Fifteen laps led en route to a P4 last season indicate that there's a good chance this could be the year.
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7. William Byron (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 8
Comment: All of a sudden this surefire title contender has just two top 10s since mid-June as teams sharpen their tools ahead of the looming playoffs -- not where the No. 24 team wishes to find itself at the moment. Despite just two career Michigan top 10s in nine starts, he could see some refinement this weekend, as he generally runs above average there (16.7 average finish) and was the 2021 runner-up.
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6. Christopher Bell (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 15
Comment: After a brief two-race hiccup at Nashville and Chicago -- two outlier tracks -- Bell has returned to looking like a third straight Championship 4 is in the cards, leading a whopping 122 laps at Richmond before settling in sixth. For his next trick: earning his first top 10 at Michigan, where he's led in three straight races but never finished better than 13th.
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5. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 12
Comment: Blaney's top-10 streak ended at four ... but just narrowly -- No. 12 still turned in a P11 at Richmond. The 2021 Michigan winner always wants to win at the track for team owner Roger Penske, whose ties run deep there, and the way he's running he could certainly add a second to his trophy case this weekend.
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4. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 17
Comment: After three finishes outside of it, Elliott now has three straight finishes inside the top 10 as he continues to hunt down win No. 2 of the season. Somewhat shockingly, Elliott has never won at Michigan despite three straight runner-ups to open his career there and an overall 10.2 average finish. The way he's running this year, however, points to him being one of the favorites Sunday.
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3. Denny Hamlin (+2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: Hamlin wasn't going to win at Richmond, then he was, then, in the blink of an eye, he wasn't once again. Still, he collected a runner-up finish and a race-high 124 laps led as he continues to stabilize after a slew of tough results. His two wins at Michigan came much earlier in his career, but he's been a big-time threat there the past several years and owns six straight top-six finishes.
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2. Tyler Reddick (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: Each of the past two seasons, Reddick has finished with 10 top fives and either 15 or 16 top 10s. His P3 at Richmond was, you guessed it, his 10th top five and 16th top 10 -- only we have plenty more racing left, and he's clearly having a career-best year. He'll get a tremendous heat check this weekend at Michigan, his literal worst track, where four of his five finishes were 24th or worse and hasn't finished better than 18th.
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1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: Hendrick Motorsports didn't quite seem to have it at Richmond -- which is a bit odd, given that the fastest car of the race was a Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon, of all people -- but when the checkered flag fell there was Larson, finishing seventh on a down day in which he still led 17 laps. He's been great at Michigan lately, with four straight top sevens, but it's only a matter of time before "2-mile Kyle" returns and makes a trip to Victory Lane there, like he did three consecutive times from 2016-17.