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Power Rankings: Denny Hamlin taking shape, shooting for Richmond sweep
By Pat DeCola | Published: August 9, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 trending NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Michigan International Speedway and before Sunday's race at Richmond Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Kurt Busch (-1)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: It's still too soon to tell if Busch will be back this weekend at Richmond, but it might not be the most fruitful weekend for him even if he does. The 2004 champ has eight straight finishes outside the top 10 there, though he did win there in 2015.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Aric Almirola (-1)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: After looking like one of the most consistent drivers to start the season, Almirola has been anything but since, with two straight finishes outside the top 30 and just one top 10 since Gateway. Despite that, it could be an interesting weekend for him. Stewart-Haas Racing could potentially be a force again, and he has two top-eight finishes at Richmond in the past four races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Bubba Wallace (+2)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Wallace was expectedly tough on himself after a near-miss on an opportunity to get into the playoffs at Michigan. Daytona looks good for him still, but Richmond presents a challenge — he's never finished better than 12th there in eight tries with a 25.1 average finish overall.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Chase Briscoe (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 20
Comment: Briscoe was starting to establish some consistency, with four straight top-16 results from Road America to Pocono but now has two straight of 20th or worse. He's gotten better in each Richmond start so far and nearly broke into the top 10 in the spring, so he could be one to watch.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Austin Cindric (-5)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: Cindric was the unlucky recipient of an express pass to a last-place finish after getting caught up in an early wreck at Michigan, fresh off a runner-up result the previous week at Indy. Sunday will be his third time racing at Richmond in Cup, and he'll look to top this spring's 20th-place run.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Daniel Suárez (-1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suárez looked stout at Michigan and appeared, at one point, set to claim his second win of the season before getting shuffled back late for a second straight finish outside the top 20. Richmond has been an above-average track for him, with a 15.1 average finish and three top 10s in 10 starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Erik Jones (+2)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out
Comment: Jones is enjoying one of the most underrated seasons in the series, closing in on the numbers he put up in his final season at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020. His lone top 10 at Richmond came during that tenure as well, all the way back in 2017.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Alex Bowman (+2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 15
Comment: When Bowman finishes races, he fares reasonably well — as proven by the last three in which he has, at Michigan, Pocono and Road America (all top 12s). He won at Richmond last year and has been strong there the past four times out so he could be poised to regain his early-season showings.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. William Byron (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 16
Comment: Like his teammate, Byron is starting to piece things back together a bit after falling off, turning in three top 12s in the past four races. After a P3 at Richmond in the spring, there's a good chance he lands his first top 10 since Sonoma on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Tyler Reddick (-1)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 20
Comment: Reddick continues to turn in a mixed bag of results, notching his first two career wins, a runner-up and three finishes outside the top 20 just since Nashville alone. Richmond has been an interesting one for him so far, with no top 10s but he's been right there with no finishes outside the top 20 and an average finish of 14.5.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Kyle Busch (-4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11
Comment: If there's any consolation for Busch regarding the career-worst streak he's currently on, it's that brighter days are surely ahead and probably sooner than later. Richmond marks as good a spot as any for him to turn things around, with six total wins there and nine straight top 10s heading into Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Christopher Bell (-2)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: Out
Comment: You could make an argument that Bell has been the best of the bunch among JGR drivers in recent weeks and was heading toward a much better finish at Michigan before crashing and landing P26. He could very well be a winner once again this weekend, as Richmond is one of his best tracks so far in his young career (7.0 average finish across four starts).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Kevin Harvick (+4)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 14
Comment: Heeeeeeeere's Happy. Much like the everlasting Jack Nicholson, Harvick reminded everyone on Sunday why old guys can still rule, reinserting himself into both the playoff and championship picture with his first win since 2020. As the most recent runner-up at Richmond (a place he's won three times) he might just go out this weekend and become the season's first back-to-back winner.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Denny Hamlin (+2)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 20
Comment: Hamlin does something notable in basically every race, and in this instance he admirably clawed back from a pit penalty at Michigan to rebound for third. He's clearly a championship-capable driver this year, and we could certainly be looking at him as a favorite if he sweeps Richmond this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kyle Larson (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 6
Comment: Larson is still Larson obviously and he's still a great pick to win a second straight title, but he does seem to not be able to drive to the front as easily as the majority of last season. He's a former Richmond winner — in his Ganassi days — but has led just eight laps there since that 2017 victory.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Joey Logano (+3)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: Logano's picking up steam and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him pick up one more win before the playoffs, and Richmond could be the place. He had a rough go of it there in the spring, but otherwise has two wins from 2014-on and led at least 25 laps in eight of the last 16 there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Martin Truex Jr. (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 10
Comment: Truex, fourth in points, is doing just about everything right to make the playoffs ... except winning. He still has a great shot to do so before Daytona, with the next two tracks among his best. Richmond is first up, and he's been the man to beat there lately with three wins amid his current seven-race top-five streak.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Ross Chastain (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: Out
Comment: Chastain drives fast and makes his peers furious — and sometimes it works ... but the last three weeks he's finished outside the top 20 after notable incidents. He landed his first Richmond top 10 in this race last year and it's likely he'll be bringing some action to the track on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Ryan Blaney (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Though Harvick's win doesn't necessarily help Blaney, he now looks to be the odds-on favorite to make it on points — assuming anybody does. A win would certainly ease his mind, but it's not likely this weekend. Blaney has just two top 10s in 12 Richmond starts, though they have come in the most recent two races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Elliott hasn't finished in the top 10 in two straight races — time to panic? Kidding, of course. The No. 9 team is still the one to beat at the moment, and the 2020 champ could very well roll to his first Richmond win this weekend after posting top fives there in two of the last four races.