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Power Rankings: Is Bell set to break through for first 2023 win at COTA?
By Pat DeCola | Published: March 21, 2023 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 20 hottest Cup Series drivers after the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and before Sunday's race at Circuit of The Americas (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Bubba Wallace (-4)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Wallace got loose and found himself off the pace at Atlanta, ultimately finishing 27th to snap a decent two-race stretch. He'll look to improve upon what's been an abysmal introduction to COTA, with a crash and a suspension issue taking him out of the first two races there, respectively, for 39th- and 38th-place finishes.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Erik Jones (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 19
Season-low: Out
Comment: Jones' final lap at Atlanta was a thing of beauty, rocketing himself into the top 10 to solidify his appearance in these rankings. Perhaps it'll spark him, and he has a good shot at back-to-back top 10s after landing P9 last year at COTA.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Corey LaJoie (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Behold -- after more than 200 Cup Series starts -- LaJoie's first-ever Power Rankings appearance, and he's earned it. Though his fourth-place run at Atlanta was his first top 10 of the year, LaJoie is averaging a 15.2 result in 2023, which is more than nine positions better than his career-best set last year (24.3). He landed in the top 20 in the first running at COTA, too.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Chris Buescher (-2)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: Out
Comment: Atlanta set up well for a strong race for Buescher -- and it was looking like it was going to be -- but he was caught up in the big wreck in the Final Stage. He's an underrated road racer, though, and should have a shot to crack his first Austin top 10 this weekend to get back on the horse.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+1)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: The reigning Daytona 500 winner was unable to corral a second 2023 superspeedway-style win, but did slot in a reasonable 17th after leading seven laps. He could be in for a rough weekend ahead, however -- he's yet to finish inside the top 20 at COTA, and road-course racing hasn't typically yielded exceptional results for him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Austin Cindric (+3)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: 19
Comment: Cindric narrowly missed landing his second top 10 of the year, finishing 11th at Atlanta and leading five laps while adding a playoff point, too. The accomplished road racer will be licking his chops to get back out there this weekend at COTA.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Martin Truex Jr. (-2)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 14
Comment: Still no need to worry, but we're five races in and the 2017 champ has just one top 10 coming off his worst season in nearly a decade. He's so talented, however, that the four-time road-course winner could walk out of Texas with a trophy on Sunday and we'd forget all about the tepid start.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Daniel Suárez (-3)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 14
Comment: Despite having speed in his No. 99 seemingly all season, Suárez has led just three total laps through five races. COTA hasn't gone well for him so far (33rd, 24th) but he did lead 15 laps in this race last year before his teammate won it. Keep an eye on him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Alex Bowman (-5)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 15
Comment: Even *after* finishing 14th at Atlanta, Bowman is averaging easily a career-best 7.8 finish. He very nearly won last year's COTA race and was top 10 the season before, so he should mark as one of the weekend's favorites.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 11
Comment: Top-six finish, 14 laps led and the fourth-most points on the day -- Hamlin knows how to capitalize in superspeedway races even if he doesn't win. He surprisingly has just one road-course win in his career but overall has 19 top 10s in 45 starts -- though none at COTA.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Tyler Reddick (+3)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 15
Comment: Reddick took a page from his owner's playbook on Sunday and nearly picked up a gutsy win while battling illness all afternoon. He settled for his second top 10 -- and top five -- of the season and one of NASCAR's best road racers should be strong this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Brad Keselowski (+5)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: Out
Comment: Boy, has the narrative shifted on Keselowski and RFK Racing. We wondered aloud here last week if they'd be the ones to topple Chevy in the early going of the season, and the 2012 champ nearly delivered before settling for second. He can be hit or miss as a road racer, but with the run he's on right now why not look at him this weekend?
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Kyle Larson (-5)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 8
Comment: Larson just never seems to wind up with a solid result on superspeedways and, as we saw at Atlanta, can hardly be faulted for this. Track types that he does tend to finish well -- and win -- at? Road courses.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Ross Chastain (-3)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: It doesn't seem possible given how well he's run overall but Chastain is still stuck on just two top 10s. There is literally no reason to be concerned here, however, as the No. 1 is still continually fast and, oh yeah, he picked up his first Cup win at COTA last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 11
Comment: For the second straight race, Harvick was in a strong position late in the day before things went sideways (literally, in Atlanta's case). He'll have his last shot ever to land his first-ever COTA top 10 this weekend in Austin.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Kyle Busch (-3)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 5
Comment: With just 20 of them in 71 career starts at Daytona and Talladega, Busch did something at Atlanta he usually doesn't do at the other superspeedway tracks -- finish in the top 10. He did that in the first COTA race in 2021 as well, and given how strong this car and team were on road courses in 2022 he should be a threat this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Ryan Blaney (+5)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 13
Comment: If you're not paying attention, Blaney might sneak up on a lot of people this year because he and his team look destined for multiple wins -- a year after not amassing any. Last year's pole winner, the strong road racer just might break through this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. William Byron (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: Not quite three in a row for Mr. Byron, whose Atlanta result was a good metaphor for his week after dropping to 28th in the standings after a penalty. An improving road racer in his own right, look for a strong rebound from one of 2023's best this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Christopher Bell (+6)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 10
Comment: Is there going to be a race where CBell doesn't look like an easy top five? There sure hasn't been one yet, and he'd easily have an average finish inside the top five if his run at Fontana from the pole didn't get squandered with a wreck. After last year's P3 at COTA, mark him down as one to watch on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Joey Logano (+4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: And he's back. Logano took a two-week break from the top of these rankings, but the defending champ is back where he started after his first 2023 breakthrough. He's led in both COTA races and paced the field for 14 circuits in the inaugural event before landing third. Back-to-back wins is very much on the table.