Power Rankings: Chase Elliott enters playoffs on top — his title to lose?

16. Alex Bowman (-1)

Season-high: 5


Season-low: 16


Comment: One top 10 in the 12 races leading up to the playoffs is basically the opposite of the momentum a driver is looking for as he gears up for the postseason, but it's the situation Bowman currently finds himself in. There is some reasoning to think the trend is about to end, however. The No. 48 driver notched a runner-up at Darlington in spring 2020 and followed that with a sixth-place running in the Southern 500 later that year. Just don't look at the rest of his Darlington stats.

15. Chase Briscoe (+3)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: 20


Comment: Briscoe's streak outside the top 10 also stretches back to Charlotte, and he hasn't even seen a finish better than 20th since Pocono. Still, there's reason to think he could get off to a respectable start in the playoffs as a former Darlington Xfinity Series winner who nearly picked up a top 10 in his first Cup start there (no easy feat for a rookie in 2021).

14. Austin Dillon (Not ranked last week)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: Out


Comment: Dillon's Daytona win -- and postseason-ticket punch -- was certainly surprising, but not shocking. He's a former Daytona winner, and had reeled off four finishes of 17th or better in the past five races, so he's carrying a bit more momentum than some other playoff drivers. Amazingly, it won't be shocking to see him reel off two in a row, either -- Darlington is arguably his best track, with five top 10s in 12 races including a runner-up in the 2020 Southern 500. 

13. Daniel Suárez (--)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: Out


Comment: Could either of the Trackhouse Racing drivers make it to the Championship 4? Yes. Is there cause for concern for both? Yes. For Suárez, it's more of the same -- speed all year, but a true mixed bag of finishes, with four of 19th or worse mixed in with a P5 in the past five weeks. He picked up his first-ever Darlington top 10 in the spring, so perhaps he finds some even footing this weekend.

12. Austin Cindric (+2)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: 19


Comment: Cindric very nearly pulled off a Daytona sweep -- the last guy to do it was Jimmie Johnson, if that tells you anything -- but settled for P3 after getting bumped out of the way by his fellow Austin. The second half of his regular season was good overall and while his Darlington Cup debut was nothing special (P18), it's reasonable to think he could keep it rolling Sunday.

11. William Byron (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 16


Comment: In a similar vein to Bowman and Briscoe, Byron has just one top 10 since Martinsville and has next to no momentum going into the postseason. That said, he does enter them fifth in the standings thanks to his playoff points and reeled off a pair of top fives at Darlington with one each in 2020 and 2021. He could rebound sooner than later.

10. Tyler Reddick (--)

Season-high: 7


Season-low: 20


Comment: Reddick has a handful of really strong recent results (2nd, 1st, 7th, 2nd at Pocono, Indy, The Glen and Daytona, respectively) and a couple not great ones (29th, 31st at Michigan and Richmond) but you get the sense things are really clicking for this team at the moment. His racing style is tailor-made for Darlington, as evidenced by his runner-up this spring. He could be the first to advance.

9. Christopher Bell (--)

Season-high: 7


Season-low: Out


Comment: Bell was one of the first out at Daytona after a wreck saddled him with a P36, but overall he's been an upper echelon driver for most of the summer. He's led in all three of the most recent Darlington races (for just a total of 16 laps, however) including a sixth-place effort there this spring.

8. Kyle Busch (+3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 11


Comment: That's now two top 10s in the last three races for Busch, so perhaps the tide is turning after his career-worst streak outside of it. Certainly a title contender, Busch will be looking to add his first Darlington win since 2008 to his collection this weekend.

7. Kevin Harvick (-1)

Season-high: 5


Season-low: 14


Comment: Two wins followed by two finishes outside the top 10 -- such is Harvick's 2022 season. Still, we weren't looking at him as a serious championship contender even a month ago, and yet the Darlington master (three wins, 13 straight top nines) could leave South Carolina as the overall favorite.

6. Ryan Blaney (-3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 10


Comment: Not that long ago Blaney was in the conversation for Regular Season Champion ... and then he averaged a finish of 18.7 over the final seven races, nearly missing the playoffs entirely. Tough road ahead for him, too, with exactly one Darlington top 10 in 11 starts at the track for an overall 19.1 average finish.

5. Ross Chastain (-1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: Out


Comment: As alluded to earlier, there's cause for concern over Chastain's playoff prospects. First, there's the chance that he, uh, might not be the one to control his fate, so to speak, but the team also has not landed a top 10 since Loudon all the way back in mid-July. While not always there in the results column he's looked plenty capable at Darlington over his expansive career, however, and could certainly quiet a lot of people with a win Sunday.

4. Kyle Larson (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 9


Comment: Larson has alternated top 10s each of the last seven weeks, and a sour engine sent the Daytona pole sitter to an early (albeit delayed) exit. He had an engine issue earlier this season at Darlington as well, but with four finishes of third or better in the previous four races in South Carolina, there's reason to think he'll extend the trend and land in the top 10 once more, or win outright.

3. Denny Hamlin (+4)

Season-high: 4


Season-low: 20


Comment: Hamlin was starting to build some consistency but has now finished 20th or worse each of the past two weeks. Still, nearly everything about this team looks championship-ready (some things to clean up on pit road, of course) and a fourth Southern 500 win is clearly on the table for one of the championship hopefuls.

2. Joey Logano (+1)

Season-high: 2


Season-low: 11


Comment: Logano is rounding into form at exactly the wrong time (in his competitors' eyes that is), with a 6.2 average finish over the past five races to close out the regular season. He had a strong handle on Darlington in the spring, leading 107 laps en route to victory and could be the favorite to win and move on this Sunday.

1. Chase Elliott (--)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 4


Comment: We've got a long way to go, of course, but it's pretty clear that this championship is Elliott's to lose, as the best driver for nearly the entire 2022 season. As good as he's been, we've seen recent regular-season dominators not win the title (ahem, Hamlin and Harvick in 2020) so nothing is a guarantee. He's yet to win at Darlington and while he's looked strong there at times (led 114 laps from the pole in 2020 Southern 500) he's also been snakebitten with three finishes of 20th or worse in the last five races there.