Power Rankings: Logano, No. 22 team in need of a spark — and it might come in All-Star Race
1 of 21
2 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Todd Gilliland (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 20
Season-low: Out
Comment: I certainly wasn't expecting Gilliland — who before the season wasn't slated to run a full 36-race campaign — to make an appearance here this year, but he's earned it. The No. 38 driver currently owns a better average finish than the likes of Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley and Daniel Suárez — all somewhat recent Cup Series winners. Gilliland has four finishes of 11th or better in the past eight weeks, and it's clear he deserves his spot in Cup.
3 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Austin Cindric (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: Things certainly aren't going "well" for Cindric and the No. 2 group, but Darlington did result in his best points day since Bristol, even if it was only for 18 points. He got his first taste of All-Star Race action last year, leading seven laps and finishing a strong third.
4 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Ty Gibbs (+2)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: After looking like he was starting to knock on the door of a win with four straight top 10s, Gibbs has exactly ... none in the five races since. Still, Darlington resulted in his second-best points day during this dip, and he still has the equipment under him to win races. Eventually, the experience will match the speed.
5 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Chase Briscoe (+2)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: Briscoe did rebound from two straight weeks of 30th-or-worse finishes, but his P17 at Darlington, a track he has the talent to win at, is a far cry from his three straight top fives from Bristol to 'Dega. His first All-Star Race didn't go super well last year — Briscoe finished as the last car on the lead lap (18th).
6 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-2)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., permanent fixture in the top 15 of the running order this year. Riding a vast career-best average finish of 14.0, the 2023 Daytona 500 winner has finished outside the top 15 just once since Atlanta, and it's starting to look like he could legitimately advance to at least the Round of 12 in the playoffs later this year. He'll be looking for his first-ever All-Star Race top 10 in his fifth attempt this weekend.
7 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Chris Buescher (+1)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: We're just a hair over 1/3 of the way through the season, and Buescher is halfway to his 2022 top-10 total while averaging a career-best 15.2 finish — RFK Racing is head and shoulders above where it was last year. Despite a down 2022, he still picked up his first All-Star Race top 10 last season, so perhaps Sunday could go even better for him.
8 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Bubba Wallace (+1)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: There were plenty of missteps in the early going of 2023, but Wallace the past five weeks has looked every bit the contender, with Darlington's 40 points marking his second-best showing of the season. The No. 23 driver will look to match — or better — his best All-Star Race showing in 2019 when he finished fifth at Charlotte.
9 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Joey Logano (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 13
Comment: If there ever was a team in need of a jolt, it's the defending champion No. 22 bunch. Logano and Co. have had some bright spots this year, of course (i.e. an Atlanta win and runner-up at Daytona and Martinsville), but overall, it's hard to look past a 16.8 average finish — by far his worst showing yet in Penske equipment. All that said ... would you be even remotely surprised to see Logano, a frequent victor of "new" situations, go out and win NASCAR's triumphant return to North Wilkesboro? Me neither.
10 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Tyler Reddick (-3)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 15
Comment: Reddick has clearly had speed for most of the season but has finished exactly 16th or 22nd in four of the past seven races as he has been consistently inconsistent. He sort of feels due for another breakout (despite the win earlier this year), and North Wilkesboro feels like a stellar place for it to happen for him.
11 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Brad Keselowski (+2)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: Out
Comment: The No. 6 car now has six top 10s on the season — matching the number of top 10s the No. 6 car put on the board a year ago. Everything has turned around for RFK Racing as it establishes itself as a serious contender, and what better time for the three-time All-Star Race runner-up to snag his first win as one?
12 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Ryan Blaney (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 13
Comment: Blaney still looks a notch or two short of putting together a dominant, race-winning performance, but he's shown speed over the past month and is otherwise right there. As the defending All-Star Race winner — which marks the last NASCAR win of his of any kind — Blaney will look to capitalize and build more momentum this weekend.
13 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Chase Elliott (+3)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: Out
Comment: We sure are getting closer. Elliott hasn't had a bad race yet since his return from injury and just turned in his second-best finish of the season at Darlington. There's no bigger star in the sport, and the 2020 All-Star Race winner has a chance to really announce he's back in a big way with a win Sunday at North Wilkesboro.
14 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Christopher Bell (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: On the one hand, Bell has finished outside the top 10 in back-to-back races for the first time this season, but on the other, his 14th-place finish at Darlington netted him the same number of points (29) as he notched in his P8 Talladega run, so no sweat off his brow here. One of the season's best and fastest drivers should have something in store Sunday night.
15 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Kyle Busch (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 8
Comment: Busch definitely needed that P7 at Darlington, but it still came on the heels of a five-race stretch with four finishes outside the top 20 (the fifth finish, naturally, was a win). Busch typically performs quite well in the All-Star Race — and often leads plenty of laps — but somewhat surprisingly has just one win to his credit (2017).
16 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 12
Comment: Hamlin led multiple laps for the fifth consecutive 2023 race at Darlington as he hangs around the top five in points. Last year's All-Star runner-up will look to add his second-career All-Star victory (2015) Sunday night.
17 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Martin Truex Jr. (-2)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 14
Comment: Truex was dominant again at Darlington, but unfortunately wound up saddled with his worst finish of 2023 after a crash, but still — it's been a month-plus of serious speed out of that No. 19 car. Look for him to be among the favorites at North Wilkesboro this weekend as he looks for his first-ever All-Star Race win.
18 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Kyle Larson (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11
Comment: Larson's last six races have included finishes of 35th, 33rd, 32nd and 20th and in absolutely no way is that much of a reflection on him — he very easily could be leading the series in wins at this point if he'd been able to control his own destiny, so to speak. Larson already has two All-Star wins to his credit, and it's unlikely he won't win any more in his career — the next one could come Sunday.
19 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Kevin Harvick (+4)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 11
Comment: It's wild to think that Harvick is rebounding from 2022 — a year in which he landed two wins — but his 2023 has been somewhat of a renaissance, with shades vintage Happy popping up on a weekly basis. A win in Sunday's All-Star Race might not mean more to any other driver, and he certainly has the speed to do it.
20 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. William Byron (+4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: Barely a third of the way through the season, and Byron already has a career high in wins ... with no signs of slowing. The No. 24 car looks like the dominant No. 24 of old, and it'll be interesting to see how far Byron can take things. He's led laps in each of the last two All-Star Races but is still looking for his defining "All-Star" moment.
21 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Ross Chastain (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: Still ruffling feathers, still the points leader. The wins will likely come at some point, but in the meantime, all eyes are on Chastain and how he's racing against his peers. He's got the shot here to turn himself into a megastar of the sport, and I can think of no better situation to vault himself into that echelon than taking it to them in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.