Power Rankings: Are Alex Bowman, William Byron Hendrick Motorsports’ best shot at title?

16. Kevin Harvick (-1)

Season-high: 5


Season-low: 16


Comment: It's hard to fathom just how quickly Harvick has gone from maybe not making the playoffs to looking like a legit title contender to now appearing to be the most likely driver to be eliminated in the first round, all in the span of not even a month and a half. If there's any driver that has proven to win in tight spots, it's him -- not to mention he won this exact Bristol race two years ago and was last season's runner-up -- but, man, he has the exact opposite of positive momentum at the moment and it'll be no small feat to accomplish it.

15. Chase Briscoe (+1)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: 20


Comment: The playoffs just have not been friendly to Stewart-Haas Racing, with no tops 10s yet in the four combined starts between their drivers and both on the wrong side of the bubble. Briscoe still has a shot to point his way in, however, and he's shown to be able to wheel it at Bristol in the past so there's still some hope for the No. 14 camp to advance, though the odds are stacked against it.

14. Austin Dillon (--)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: Out


Comment: Dillon hasn't been bad in the playoffs so far -- and led three laps on Sunday -- but his results haven't been prosperous enough to vault him over to the good side of the cutline. He's a driver that likes pressure and he'll have plenty of it entering Bristol, where he's only landed three top 10s in 15 career starts and has never led a lap.

13. Kyle Busch (-2)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 13


Comment: Busch looked so strong at Darlington before his engine expired after leading 155 laps, which was then followed by a difficult day at Kansas that resulted in a P26 and dipping below the cutline. The saving grace for him is that his fate lies at Bristol, where he's probably the driver to beat with a whopping eight wins to his credit.

12. Austin Cindric (+1)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: 19


Comment: Cindric is doing just enough to be on the right side of the bubble for now, but he'd certainly like to crack the top 10 for the first time in the playoffs this weekend. It could be a tall order for the rookie's first Cup race at Bristol on concrete, though he was runner-up in his last Xfinity outing there a year ago.

11. Tyler Reddick (-6)

Season-high: 7


Season-low: 20


Comment: Reddick has certainly driven better than his current playoff standing and looked capable of competing for the win on Sunday before wrecking out. The same can be said about the dirt race at Bristol earlier this year, so there's optimism he could find a nice run there, squeak through to the Round of 12 and hope for a nice, three-race reset.

10. Daniel Suárez (+2)

Season-high: 10


Season-low: Out


Comment: Suárez landed his first top 10 since Watkins Glen this past weekend at Kansas, and he's now at the front of the table in the 13-point difference between drivers 10-15 in the standings. It was well-timed, because he could have a tough weekend ahead at Bristol with just two top 10s in nine career starts there.

9. Chase Elliott (-1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 9


Comment: Though Elliott was unable to muster his first top 10 in the playoffs at Kansas, he did score 37 points to stay afloat above the cutline -- but most definitely isn't feeling comfortable where he's at compared to where he spent most of the season (atop the standings). He's often incredibly strong at Bristol -- led at least 23 laps in each of the last six races there -- but he's also prone to having bad days there, with three finishes outside the top 20 in the past seven races.

8. Ross Chastain (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: Out


Comment: Chastain's season is back on the mend following a late-summer stretch where he had been shut out of the top 10 since Loudon back in mid-July. That said, he's no lock to advance with a dismal 26.8 career average finish at Bristol and the prospect of potential payback from a litany of drivers he's butted heads with on track this season.

7. Kyle Larson (-4)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 9


Comment: Larson still has the potential to take things all the way to the Championship 4, but he just hasn't looked at all like his dominant 2021 self. It's entirely possible still that the reigning champ could see an early playoff exit, despite averaging a top 10 in the two playoff races thus far. Then again, he's the defending winner of this race and it's also entirely possible he goes on a rampage and tears off multiple wins from this point on en route to back-to-back titles.

6. Alex Bowman (+4)

Season-high: 5


Season-low: 16


Comment: It sure looks like early-season Bowman is back and right on time, as that No. 48 car has come alive thus far in the playoffs to spark up title sleeper talk again for the Arizonan. We still have plenty of season left and things can still change in a hurry -- especially at Bristol, where he's never led and has three top 10s in 11 starts -- but he's without question back in the conversation.

5. Ryan Blaney (+2)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 10


Comment: Blaney still hasn't been in a winning position in some time, but he's managing to do enough to be relatively comfortable for a spot in a round that suits him well. There's room for him to build momentum at Bristol as well, as he's led 45 or more laps in five of the past seven races there.

4. Joey Logano (-3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 11


Comment: Logano didn't have the best finish at Kansas (17th) but has now led in five straight races and still appears to be among the championship favorites. The two-time Bristol winner has a good shot to further cement his standing this weekend.

3. William Byron (+3)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 16


Comment: It's hard to make the declaration outright, but it's fair to wonder if Byron (and to a slightly lesser extent for now Bowman) offers the Hendrick organization its best shot at the 2022 title given what we've seen through the first fifth of the playoffs. He was third in this Bristol race last year, but otherwise has struggled a bit there with an 18.1 average finish across seven starts.

2. Christopher Bell (+2)

Season-high: 2


Season-low: Out


Comment: We wondered if Bell was a Championship 4 contender in this space last week and he responded with a second straight top five to open the playoffs and become the first driver to advance to the Round of 12. Bristol offers a good test for him, having finished outside the top 20 there in his last two trips (of just three overall).

1. Denny Hamlin (+1)

Season-high: 1


Season-low: 20


Comment: The season's most interesting man continues his unique 2022 campaign by rising to No. 1 for the first time all year -- after once dwelling in the basement in 20th -- after an all-timer of a weekend at Kansas where he finished runner-up to a car he owns. He might be the man to beat overall right now, and as a two-time Bristol Night Race winner may be poised to really catch fire.