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Power Rankings: Brad Keselowski laying foundation for Championship 4 bid
By Pat DeCola | Tuesday, September 15, 2020
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 16 NASCAR Playoffs drivers after the race at Richmond Raceway and before the Bristol Night Race.
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16. Ryan Blaney (-1)
Comment: After Kyle Busch, Blaney's season might be the most perplexing -- and it's on its last legs. Blaney essentially needs the opposite of his spring Bristol finish -- 40th -- to keep his championship hopes alive.
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15. Matt DiBenedetto (+1)
Comment: DiBenedetto might drive with more heart than anybody else in NASCAR, and he'll need a lot of it Saturday night at Bristol. After a slow start to the playoffs, he's in must-win territory. He famously came close in this race last year, so we'll see.
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14. William Byron (-5)
Comment: Byron's momentum seems to have fallen flat overnight, as he's now on the wrong side of the bubble just two weeks after his first career victory. He's yet to lead a lap at Bristol and has a not-so-great 17.2 average finish there, but did notch a top 10 in the spring (8th).
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13. Cole Custer (+1)
Comment: Custer has to put in a strong night's work at Bristol, otherwise that could be his last stand in the 2020 playoffs. A mid-race crash and 35th-place finish from the spring race doesn't give us much to go off, but he's had his moments this year. It's not impossible.
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12. Clint Bowyer (+1)
Comment: Despite a decent start to the playoffs, Bowyer is still on extremely shaky ground in terms of advancing. Luckily for him it comes down to a his strong suit in a short track; he's got five straight top-eight finishes at Bristol.
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11. Kurt Busch (--)
Comment: Busch certainly can't afford a bad race at Bristol, a track where his six wins rank second only to his brother among active drivers. That should give him plenty of confidence heading into the weekend, though he has won just once since 2006.
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10. Aric Almirola (+2)
Comment: Almirola is very much not in the clear to advance to the Round of 12, and his Bristol history indicates he could be in for a struggle on Saturday. The SHR driver has just three top 10s there in 22 starts, and his one top five came all the way back in 2014.
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9. Kyle Busch (+1)
Comment: Here we are at another "is this the weekend he does it?" scenario. Bristol is one of Busch's best tracks, with a series-best eight wins and the most points scored over the last six races. If this weekend comes and goes without a victory, it just might not be in the cards for Rowdy this year.
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8. Alex Bowman (-1)
Comment: Things are looking good for Bowman to at least advance to the Round of 12, but he needs to be a lot more like his 2018 self at Bristol (6.5 average finish) than his other seven starts there (27.29 average finish).
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7. Austin Dillon (+1)
Comment: Easily the story of the playoffs so far, it's fair to wonder when Dillon's magic might run out but let's just sit back and enjoy the ride while that No. 3 car is battling for wins. With a sixth-place finish at Bristol in the spring, he could keep it rolling this weekend despite a checkered history there.
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6. Chase Elliott (-2)
Comment: Elliott tends to find the front of the field at Bristol -- 33 or more laps led in four straight races -- though his finishes (two top 10 in last six races) don't always reflect such. Still, you have to think he'll be in the mix this weekend.
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5. Joey Logano (--)
Comment: Logano absolutely is not done making noise this year and could very possibly still find himself in Championship 4 chatter, perhaps as soon as this weekend. The Team Penske driver owns the most Bristol points over the last 10 races there.
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4. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Comment: Hamlin has started to show some fallibility -- an age-old argument against his title chances. Perhaps he can quiet doubters this weekend, as he heads into the Bristol Night Race as the defending winner only in search of a win having already advanced.
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3. Brad Keselowski (+3)
Comment: There's only a handful of drivers with no pressure this weekend at Bristol, one of the series' most-stressful tracks, and Keselowski is one of them. As the most recent winner at the track, to boot, Saturday night could have a leisurely Sunday drive feel for the 2012 champ. He's looking good for a Championship 4 bid at the moment.
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2. Martin Truex Jr. (+1)
Comment: Truex's propensity to rack up top fives might be the most impressive feat of any driver in 2020, but the 2017 champ faces one of his biggest tests this weekend at Bristol. In 29 career starts there, Truex has no wins, just three top 10s and only one since 2012.
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1. Kevin Harvick (--)
Comment: Harvick is already through to the next round and will be trophy hunting this weekend. He's compiled a very un-Harvick-like 18.25 average finish over the four previous Bristol races, but rattled off six straight top 10s and a win before that.
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