Power Rankings: Make no mistake — Ross Chastain is here to stay as elite Cup talent
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 20 hottest Cup Series drivers after the race at Richmond and before Sunday's Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Corey LaJoie (-2)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: We mentioned here last week that Richmond has been a challenge for LaJoie, but -- while he didn't pick up his first top 20 there Sunday -- he did match his career-best finish there in his 11th start (21st). The arrow continues to point up, and he'll look to pick up another decent Bristol dirt finish (19th last year) this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Ty Gibbs (+1)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Gibbs has settled in nicely the last few weeks as a top-10 driver, turning in three straight P9s for his three best points days of the season. He may have a hard time maintaining that pace at Bristol, however, as one of the only drivers with no experience in any series on dirt there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Chris Buescher (-2)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: Out
Comment: Buescher has, unfortunately, now surrounded his only non-Daytona top 10 with two finishes outside the top 30 and the early-season shine has lost some of its luster. He's landed a top 15 in each of the first two Bristol dirt races, however, so he could be due for a rebound.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-3)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: Stenhouse remains on pace for his best average finish ever (16.4) but turned in his worst result of the season (35th, two points) at Richmond. He has a good shot to become the season's second two-time winner Sunday at Bristol, however, and the dirt maven was runner-up in the inaugural event in 2021.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Daniel Suarez (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 16
Comment: Suarez appeared to be in lockstep with his teammate the first three races of 2023 -- all top 10s -- but has since not finished inside the top 20 while Chastain continues to turn in front-of-the-pack performances. Suarez has been one of the brighter surprises in the first two Bristol dirt races, though, leading 58 laps and 64 laps in each of the first two, respectively.
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15. Michael McDowell (+4)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: Out
Comment: Not only did McDowell land his first top 10 of the season Sunday, but he also did so at one of the more unlikely spots for him to do it -- he was previously 0-for-23 in doing so at Richmond. He's been quite solid on dirt at Bristol, averaging a 10.5 finish across the first two events.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Austin Cindric (-4)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: Cindric's 2023 has been a real mixed bag, clearly showing speeds at times but also turning in now four finishes of 23rd or worse through seven races. He had a decent showing in his first crack at Bristol dirt last year, finishing 16th.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Ryan Blaney (-4)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 13
Comment: We're not even a month removed from a runner-up at Phoenix, but overall it sure feels like things could be going a whole lot smoother for Blaney and the No. 12 group. He's yet to lead a lap on Bristol's dirt, but he does have the rare distinction of landing a top 10 in each of first two races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 12
Comment: Certainly a frustrating result for Hamlin, who must feel that Richmond -- a race he won last year -- will be looked back on as a missed opportunity. He was the third-place finisher in the first Bristol Dirt Race, but an engine issue saddled him in 35th last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Brad Keselowski (+6)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: Out
Comment: It's been neat to see the 2012 champ seemingly regain form in his second year as a driver/owner, and Keselowski is now halfway to his entire top-10 total from 2022 (six). Keep an eye on him Sunday -- while he has no top 10s on Bristol dirt, he was 11th in each race so far.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Martin Truex Jr. (+3)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 14
Comment: Somehow Truex -- who won the Busch Light Clash preseason event -- still has just one top 10 through the season's first seven races and was looking like perhaps the man to beat at Richmond.He dominated the first Bristol Dirt Race (126 laps led) before fading to finish 19th, so maybe he gets it going Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Tyler Reddick (-3)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 15
Comment: Leave it to Richmond to stop a hot streak. Reddick entered the weekend as the most recent winner, riding a three-race top-five streak ... one that ended in Virginia with a P16. Luckily for him he'll enter this weekend as one of the favorites after nearly winning last year's dirt race.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Kyle Busch (-7)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 8
Comment: Busch takes a bit of a tumble here -- mainly due to a points shuffle that had nothing to do with him -- but make no mistake, he's been fast and strong all year. He'll look to defend his Bristol Dirt crown this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Joey Logano (-4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: Logano failed to find the lead at Richmond -- a bit of a rarity for him, and only the second time he's failed to do so this year -- but still turned in a decent P7-showing. As the inaugural Bristol Dirt champ and defending Cup champ, he has to feel pretty good about going into the weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (+2)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 11
Comment: It feels like he honestly hasn't even kicked it into full gear yet (only one race with more than five laps led) but Harvick is already on a better path than he was a year ago, despite winding up with two wins in 2022. He'll get his final crack at the Bristol Dirt race (24.5 average finish) on Sunday, and I suspect after that he'll start to really tear it up as the weather warms.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Kyle Larson (+6)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: Larson is remarkably on pace to match both his average start (7.9) and finish (14.1) from a season ago, but don't get used to those numbers -- he's about to better them in a big way. The Richmond winner is essentially the de facto favorite for every dirt race he's in and, while the first two could have gone better for him, Sunday might be his for the taking.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. William Byron (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14
Comment: If Byron continues to dominate races at the clip he is -- nearly 400 laps led in the past five races, more than half his entire 2022 total -- he'll definitely have more days like Vegas and Phoenix (wins) than Richmond, where he unfortunately got caught up in a deal late and wound up 24th despite 117 laps led. Byron had a good showing (sixth) in the inaugural dirt race, too, and he should be a threat on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Christopher Bell (+4)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 10
Comment: Honestly, a case could be made for Bell to be the No. 1 this week after another top-six run -- the only kinds of finishes he's had this year in races he's actually, well, finished -- and he very well might be after this week. If Larson is 1A, Bell is 1B in terms of dirt prowess and he'll have a strong shot to compete this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Alex Bowman (+2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 15
Comment: Bowman led for eight laps en route to an eighth-place finish at Richmond, surely a fitting tribute to his past days of driving the No. 88. After starting *ahem* eighth in last year's dirt race, the accomplished dirt racer landed sixth.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Ross Chastain (+4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: The fact that Chastain is averaging a top 10, while only finishing in the top 10 in four of the seven races ... and yet remaining winless ... shows how strong he's been in those results. Make no mistake, he's here to stay as a top-five talent in the series and the 2023 wins will be coming in short order. He'll be thrilled if the first comes at Bristol's dirt race, where he has yet to complete the full distance (crash in 2021; engine in '22).