BACK TO GALLERIES
Power Rankings: Will the Kevin Harvick of old dominate in the desert?
By Pat DeCola | Published: March 7, 2023 21
1 of 21
NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 20 hottest Cup Series drivers after the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and before Sunday's race at Phoenix Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
2 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-4)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Stenhouse's season is going to be an uphill challenge as the team is in comedown mode from a thrilling Daytona 500 win, seeing his results trail in the races since. Phoenix doesn't mark a good spot for him to turn it around, either, with just two top 10s in 20 starts, both of which came in 2017.
3 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Chris Buescher (-2)
Season-high: 17
Season-low: Out
Comment: Expect most of Buescher's finishes this year to consistently be in the 15th to 20th range, ramping up in places where RFK can really hit its sweet spots. He's basically been exactly that at Phoenix the last half decade, turning in seven such finishes in the last nine races, with the other two not far off (21st, 25th).
4 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Brad Keselowski (--)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Keselowski isn't quite looking capable of a win just yet, but certainly in a much better position than last year at this time and a trophy will be on the table for him at some point this season. Despite being winless in the desert, his Phoenix numbers are strong (13.7 average finish, eight top fives) though all of his good runs came while driving for Team Penske.
5 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Bubba Wallace (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 17
Season-low: Out
Comment: Wallace picked up his first top 10 -- and top five -- of the season in a strong day at Las Vegas. His success could be short-lived, however, as he averages a finish outside the top 20 at Phoenix and has just one top 10 in 10 starts there.
6 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Austin Cindric (+3)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: 19
Comment: Though he probably wishes he'd gotten more in the stage points department, Cindric turned in his best race of the season at Vegas. He was held out of the top 10 at Phoenix in his first two Cup starts there last year, though just narrowly missed out in the fall (11th).
7 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Tyler Reddick (-2)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 15
Comment: Preseason darling Reddick is still in search of his first 2023 top 10, but he's getting closer. Though he has just one top 10 in six Phoenix tries, it was a P3 in this race last year and I'll boldly go out on a limb and say he won't leave the desert with a '0' in the top-10 column.
8 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Austin Dillon (-1)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 16
Comment: Not a banner race for Dillon at Las Vegas, where he just narrowly scraped together double-digit points day with a 27th-place finish. We'll see how strong the Kyle Busch-effect is on him at Phoenix, a place where Rowdy has excelled -- but Dillon has just two top 10s in 18 starts.
9 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Ryan Blaney (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 13
Comment: Blaney cut his finish in half from Auto Club (26th) to Vegas (13th) but only managed to score an additional four points in the process. A Phoenix win has always felt like a strong possibility for him, however, and he nearly beat the Championship 4 drivers there in the fall before finishing second. Could be his weekend ahead.
10 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Chase Elliott (-8)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 12
Comment: Elliott, unfortunately, takes a hit here given we don't know the extent of how long he'll be out or if he'll be championship-eligible when he does return from injury. The No. 9 team will look to stay sharp in the meantime, working with a -- as of this writing -- yet to be announced driver in the interim.
11 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. William Byron (+3)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 14
Comment: There was no denying that Byron, driving the fastest car of the race supremely well, deserved to win Sunday, and he did. He got off to a hot start last year as well, and it'll be interesting to see if any lessons learned from fading down the stretch in 2022 will carry over. As far as going two in a row, though he's led in just two of his 10 Phoenix starts, he does have four top 10s in the last six races there so he'll likely be racing up front.
12 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Daniel Suárez (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 14
Comment: Another race, another top 10 for Suárez, now three-for-three. He picked up his first top 10 at Phoenix since 2018 in this race last year and with the speed he and Trackhouse Racing as a whole are showing a win is very much in the cards.
13 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Martin Truex Jr. (--)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 9
Comment: Truex landed his first top 10 on Sunday, and overall he and the No. 19 look more formidable thus far after a down 2022. His first Phoenix win came in this race in 2021 and he followed that up by a runner-up in the title race. It's possible things really get going for him this weekend.
14 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Alex Bowman (+3)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 15
Comment: We're only three races in, but the eye test sure declares Bowman a title contender in the early going here. Phoenix is a great spot to test that theory -- it's a place Bowman is dying to win at (it's his home track) but one at which he's never produced a top 10 as a full-time driver.
15 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 8
Comment: Hamlin doesn't look quite as dominant as usual so far, but still strong in the first few races of 2023. Phoenix offers a great spot for him to flex, however, with five top fives and a win in the last eight races there.
16 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (+2)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 11
Comment: Harvick continues to remind everyone that he's going to be retiring at the top of his game, as he consistently get much, much more out of his cars each weekend than the other Stewart-Haas Racing entries and looks every bit like a championship contender right now. This weekend's race at Phoenix -- a place that has meant so much to him over the years -- is no doubt important to the 2014 champ, and feels like a slam-dunk opportunity for him to capitalize on.
17 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Christopher Bell (+1)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 10
Comment: There was a 14-point difference between Bell in fifth place and Cindric in sixth, as the No. 20 driver continues to be in great position when stage points are up for grabs. He's landed in the top 10 in three of the past four Phoenix races as well, and he could start to find a really nice rhythm here as the season takes hold.
18 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Kyle Larson (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 5
Comment: The season hasn't quite gone accordingly for Larson, and he endured one of the more painful runner-up finishes we're likely to see this year after a late caution stole assured victory from him at Vegas. Still a strong weekend for the No. 5 team, however, as Larson looks to be once again among the favorites at Phoenix, where he's been exceptional.
19 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Joey Logano (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 3
Comment: The defending champ dips out of the top spot for the first time this season after a spin at Vegas saddled him with a last-place finish. He's the defending champ, of course, because he won last fall's Phoenix race -- he'll turn it back around on Sunday.
20 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Kyle Busch (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 3
Comment: Busch stands as the current odds-on favorite to win the championship, a remarkable ramp up of his 2023 outlook from where things were looking even just a few weeks ago. With three wins and a ridiculous 25 top 10s at Phoenix to his name, there's a strong chance he further establishes himself as the man to beat again this weekend.
21 of 21
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Ross Chastain (+2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: That said, it seems like there's one particular Chevrolet that's leading the charge in the bowtie-brand's 2023 resurgence -- and it's the No. 1 of Chastain. He's been fast in every race so far and is racking up points at an equally quick rate to hold the standings lead. He completely changed his Phoenix history last year, not only notching his first top 10s in nine total starts, they were a P2 and P3, the latter of which was as a Championship 4 driver.