Power Rankings: Will Round of 8 belong to Denny Hamlin?

8. Chase Briscoe (--)

Season-high: 8


Season-low: 20


Comment: Only seven times this year has Briscoe topped 30-plus points in a race -- and three of them were in the past four races, with the fourth still netting 28 points. Hence, Briscoe is in the Round of 8 after doing everything in his power short of winning to advance. If he wants his Round of 8 to get started off on the right foot, however, he'll need a little bit of luck in Las Vegas, where he's yet to land in the top 10 and owns a 23.2 average finish across three races.

7. William Byron (+3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 16


Comment: It sure was a roller-coaster few weeks for Byron, but he's onto the Round of 8 -- perhaps at the expense of his title-defending teammate -- and should have an opportunity to reset and capitalize. Byron has led in four straight Las Vegas races and six of the last seven, culminating in his first top five at the track this spring.

6. Ross Chastain (-3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: Out


Comment: Chastain scored his second fewest amount of points since the Indy road course but still managed to sneak through to the Round of 8. He was a force in the first Las Vegas race this year, leading 83 laps en route to his first top 10 there -- and a P3 at that. He could theoretically be the first to lock into the Championship 4 this weekend.

5. Ryan Blaney (-3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 10


Comment: Blaney still hasn't won yet in 2022 and finished just 26th at the Roval ... and yet here he is in the Round of 8. It's possible it could be smooth sailing to Phoenix from here, though, with a Round of 8 that sets up well for him. It all kicks off at Vegas, where he also hasn't won yet -- but averaged a 7.8 finish in 10 races from 2016-21.

4. Joey Logano (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 11


Comment: Logano has fallen on hard times a bit in the playoffs despite his advancement to this point, with just one top 10 (Texas) since Darlington's fourth-place run. All that said, he's arguably in the best position to be the first to advance to Phoenix given he's so tough to beat at Vegas. The No. 22 driver has two wins there from 2019-on, averaged 54 laps led in a nine-race stretch from 2014-20 and has never finished worse than 14th since he started driving for Team Penske in 2013.

3. Denny Hamlin (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 20


Comment: Hamlin has certainly had more fruitful seasons than the 16.7 average finish and two wins he's put on the board in 2022, but the veteran is still one of the best for a reason and struck when he had to in order to make the Round of 8 -- and what a round it could be for him. His average finish at each track ranks among the top 10 among venues he has more than five starts at, with a combined 10 wins split among them.

2. Christopher Bell (+9)

Season-high: 2


Season-low: Out


Comment: It happened right under a lot of people's noses and without the proper amount of buzz, but Bell has developed into an elite Cup Series talent and should be viewed as one of the title favorites entering the Round of 8. He led 32 laps this spring at Vegas and should be a threat to win back-to-back races coming off his thriller at the Roval.

1. Chase Elliott (--)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 9


Comment: Elliott is the title favorite ... and yet has just two top 10s since Watkins Glen. Sure, they were a win and a runner-up, but he isn't steamrolling the field like Kyle Larson in last year's postseason and the Round of 8 is truly there for the taking for any driver. Elliott's points position is quite favorable to him, however, though only one of his 18 career wins has come at the next three tracks. It'll be no cakewalk.