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Power Rankings: Austin Dillon makes early playoff statement
By Pat DeCola | Tuesday, September 8, 2020
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 16 NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers after the race at Darlington Raceway and before Richmond Raceway.
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16. Matt DiBenedetto (-1)
Comment: After being held out of the top 20 at Darlington, DiBenedetto could find himself in pretty dire territory very soon. The Wood Brothers Racing driver has no top 10s in 10 career Richmond starts, though his best finish (14th) was last fall.
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15. Ryan Blaney (-8)
Comment: Perhaps bad luck is just the story of Blaney's 2020 season and the turnaround isn't coming. After another set of setbacks at Darlington that resulted in a major dip in the standings, things aren't likely to shift at Richmond. The No. 12 driver has no top 10s in eight starts there, with a best finish of 17th and average finish of 25.5.
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14. Cole Custer (+2)
Comment: Custer is basically playing with house money at this point, and while a 12th-place finish at Darlington isn't going to get it done, he's certainly still afloat. He has one career start at Richmond (in 2018!) that resulted in a P26, but he's likely to fare a lot better this time around given his team's general success there.
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13. Clint Bowyer (+1)
Comment: Bowyer is one of Custer's teammates, and Richmond is one of his best tracks. With two wins in the Virginia capital to his credit, Bowyer has also tacked on four straight top 10s there for an average finish of 12.5.
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12. Aric Almirola (-3)
Comment: Perhaps those Bowyer/Kevin Harvick Richmond notes will make their way over to Almirola this week as well, as the playoff sleeper could find his season drying up shortly based on his track history. The No. 10 driver has no wins and just five top 10s -- just two since 2015 -- in 16 starts. He's led one lap to date.
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11. Kurt Busch (--)
Comment: Busch is off to a good start in terms of advancement, and he'll need to keep it rolling at Richmond. It'll be interesting to see how he fares, as he has no top 10s since 2017 but had six in his previous seven -- including a win -- before that.
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10. Kyle Busch (-2)
Comment: If Busch can just keep putting together top 10s, it still seems more likely than not that he'll win, and that combination is his path to a title defense. He has a high likelihood of another foundation-laying weekend ahead of him, having swept the track in 2018 and leading a race-high 202 laps en route to a P2 last fall.
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9. William Byron (+1)
Comment: In four career Richmond starts Byron has yet to land a top 10, but the playoffs sometimes have shown that momentum can carry a lot more weight than track history. With three straight top fives and a championship-winning crew chief atop the box, there's no reason to rule him out this weekend.
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8. Austin Dillon (+5)
Comment: Austin Dillon must not have gotten the memo that he was deemed to be an underdog in these playoffs, coming out with a statement runner-up finish and near-win in one of NASCAR's biggest races. We'll see if he keeps flexing this weekend at Richmond, where he has a pair of sixth-place showings in the last three races.
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7. Alex Bowman (+5)
Comment: The sixth-place run for Bowman at Darlington was a strong reminder of his early season success but he could fall back into obscurity again this weekend. In eight career Richmond starts, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has no top 10s and an average finish of 25.6.
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6. Brad Keselowski (-1)
Comment: The 11th-place finish at Darlington wasn't how the No. 2 driver wanted his playoffs to start, but it could've been much worse. He'll have a great shot to get things going at Richmond, where he has just one finish worse than 11th the last 12 races, including a win.
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5. Joey Logano (+1)
Comment: Logano has been a consistent contender at Richmond since joining Team Penske, winning the spring races in 2014 and '17. Coming off a P3 at Darlington as well, there's a strong chance we'll be talking about Logano as a championship contender from this weekend on.
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4. Chase Elliott (--)
Comment: Elliott was within 15 laps of winning his first Southern 500, despite the 20th-place result. He's still a championship hopeful and Richmond could provide respite, though it's no guarantee. He had three straight top 10s from 2017-18, but has none in his other six starts at the track.
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3. Martin Truex Jr. (--)
Comment: Truex drove with a purpose at Darlington, nearly pulling off the winning move on Chase Elliott before essentially wrecking both of them. You can afford to be that aggressive when your car is as fast as the No. 19 has been all year and you go into the next track (Richmond) having swept it a year ago.
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2. Denny Hamlin (--)
Comment: Hamlin wound up being mostly a non-factor at Darlington, with a pedestrian 13th-place finish. He's almost never not a contender at his home track at Richmond, however, where he last won in fall 2016.
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1. Kevin Harvick (--)
Comment: It's really starting to feel like this is Harvick's thing to lose, and his grip is a tight one. The Southern 500 winner is exceptional at Richmond as well, with an average finish of 9.8 -- though his last win there came in 2013.
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