BACK TO GALLERIES

Power Rankings: Is it now or never for Martin Truex Jr. at The Glen?

By Pat DeCola | Published: 16 Aug, 2022 21

BACK TO GALLERIES

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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 trending NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Richmond Raceway and before Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

20. Kurt Busch (--)

Season-high: 12

Season-low: Out

Comment: Another week means another opportunity for Busch to potentially make his return since stepping out of the car for injury reasons at Pocono, and it'd be a great weekend to get reacquainted. The 2004 champ, while he's never won at The Glen, loves racing in upstate New York — he's averaged a finish of 8.25 there over the last eight seasons.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

19. Chase Briscoe (-2)

Season-high: 10

Season-low: 20

Comment: What's the advantage of winning early in the season? Just ask Briscoe, who will be in the playoff field barring two new winners these final two weeks — but has finished in the top 10 exactly once since Martinsville. Still, as one of the better road-course racers in the series and SHR's recent resurgence, he could catch a second wind this weekend at WGI.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

18. Bubba Wallace (--)

Season-high: 16

Season-low: Out

Comment: Wallace's top-10 streak ended at four this past weekend at Richmond, but boy, the eyes sure are telling us he looks like a playoff driver. He'll still need a win, however, and it's not likely to come this weekend — Wallace has yet to finish inside the top 20 at the New York road course.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

17. Erik Jones (-3)

Season-high: 14

Season-low: Out

Comment: Jones has alternated finishing inside/outside the top 10 each of the last seven weeks, and unfortunately for him, Richmond was his worst result in that span. Believe it or not, a win this weekend isn't the most far-fetched scenario. Jones opened his WGI career with three finishes inside the top 10, including two in the top five, before placing P27 last year.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

16. Aric Almirola (+3)

Season-high: 11

Season-low: Out

Comment: Almirola needs to win to make it into the playoff field, and while his P8 at Richmond obviously fell short, it did snap a four-race streak where he averaged a finish of 29.0. Don't expect that win to come this weekend, however, as Almirola has never finished in the top 10 there his entire Cup career.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

15. Alex Bowman (-2)

Season-high: 5

Season-low: 15

Comment: While most of his recent poor finishes have been somewhat circumstantial, Bowman probably doesn't feel great about how his summer has gone and the negative momentum he's riding into the postseason. He's had some good road-course runs in the past, but none at Watkins Glen — the No. 48 driver has yet to finish better than 14th there in five tries.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

14. Daniel Suárez (+1)

Season-high: 10

Season-low: Out

Comment: Suárez has had a few rough stretches this season, and he's in one right now. That said, one of the season's fastest drivers should have a shot to end the spell at Watkins Glen, a track type his team has excelled on this year and where he individually has a pair of top-four finishes.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

13. Austin Cindric (+3)

Season-high: 10

Season-low: 19

Comment: Cindric built a nice run of consistency earlier this summer but has been much more hit or miss the past five weeks. One of the "hits" was a runner-up on the Indy road course, so there's a strong chance he gets back on the horse this weekend at The Glen.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

12. Tyler Reddick (-1)

Season-high: 7

Season-low: 20

Comment: Speaking of hits and misses, Reddick has been the poster child for that lately, with three finishes of first or second over the past seven races while also finishing outside the top 10 in the other four. Those wins both came on road courses, however, so look for him to be right up there with Cindric once again, battling for the win.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

11. William Byron (+1)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: 16

Comment: Like Briscoe, Byron has exactly one top 10 since Martinsville (a race he won!), but he's been a lot closer lately, with four finishes of 11th or 12th the last five races. He's finished in the top 10 at The Glen in two of his three starts there, so he could finally break back in this weekend.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

10. Kyle Busch (--)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: 11

Comment: Busch's stint outside the top 10 finally ended at Richmond, but the No. 18 car is still a ways off from the Bristol to Nashville stretch in which he led laps in eight of nine races. He's a two-time WGI winner and while neither of those have come since 2013, he does have six top-11 finishes there since.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

9. Kyle Larson (-3)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: 6

Comment: Larson has uncharacteristically led in just two of the previous eight races, though did pace the field for double digit laps before finishing 14th at Richmond. He's the defending Watkins Glen winner and could remind everyone this weekend why he's the reigning champ.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

8. Christopher Bell (+1)

Season-high: 7

Season-low: Out

Comment: Bell continues to race at a high level among the leaders and though his four-race stint of leading at least 14 laps came to an end at Richmond, he did finish runner-up. He's an underrated road racer, as well, and landed a P7 in his first Watkins Glen attempt last year.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

7. Martin Truex Jr. (-3)

Season-high: 4

Season-low: 10

Comment: Truex has as many top 10s in the last five weeks as Briscoe has all season, but you already know the story about who's currently in/out of the playoff field. That's the power of winning, folks. Thankfully for Truex, he's got one more excellent chance this weekend as the 2017 Watkins Glen winner. He hasn't finished worse than third there in the last four races.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

6. Denny Hamlin (+1)

Season-high: 4

Season-low: 20

Comment: The No. 11 team is finally building consistency (just have to clean some things up on pit road still) and Hamlin is rounding into title-contending form at the right time. He's been quite good at The Glen recently as well, with a win and four top fives the last five times out there.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

5. Kevin Harvick (+3)

Season-high: 5

Season-low: 14

Comment: Harvick loves proving people wrong and he sure is doing exactly that right now, becoming the first driver to go back-to-back all season. He's got some mixed results at Watkins Glen, though he does come into the weekend with three straight top 10s there. He also won in 2006.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

4. Ross Chastain (-1)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: Out

Comment: Is Chastain starting to slip a bit? Probably not, as he's led double-digit laps in three of the last four races, but he also hasn't finished better than 18th in that span. Trackhouse has been exceptional on road courses this year, however, and he could pick up win No. 3 on Sunday.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

3. Joey Logano (+2)

Season-high: 2

Season-low: 11

Comment: While he came up short at Richmond, Logano is clearly picking up a head of steam at the right time after leading a race-high 222 laps in Virginia — more than half his total for the entire season. Another recent WGI winner (2015), the No 22 driver actually could struggle this weekend, having finished no better than 22nd there since a runner-up finish in 2016.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

2. Ryan Blaney (--)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: 10

Comment: Blaney essentially just needs to points race — and cross his fingers there aren't two fresh winners these next two races — but he likely isn't feeling too comfortable despite his provisional status on the right side of the bubble. He's kept it clean historically at WGI (no finishes outside the top 20) and if he's able to maintain that he could walk out in good position before Daytona.

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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

1. Chase Elliott (--)

Season-high: 1

Season-low: 4

Comment: Elliott landed back in the top 10 at Richmond after a brief, two-race cool-off period following a five-race scorcher of a stint that saw three wins and two runner ups. He's got a similar stretch going at The Glen, with two wins and a runner-up in his last three starts there. Sunday's likely favorite.