Power Rankings: Bubba Wallace a firm contender in 2023 NASCAR Playoffs

NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the Cup Series Playoffs drivers after the opener at Darlington Raceway and before Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

16. Michael McDowell (-1)

Season-high: 14
Season-low: Out

Comment: Darlington was a frustrating one for McDowell, who was looking to start the playoffs with a spark. He instead got a fizzle and the lowest finish of any of the postseason competitors, scoring just six total points. He's not yet in "must-win" mode, but he's landed just one top 10 since Atlanta, and two strong races to close out the round and advance seems, perhaps, unlikely. That said, the aforemetioned top 10? It was a win. 

15. Christopher Bell (-7)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 15

Comment: Darlington was not the kind of race Bell was hoping for after securing the pole, but a pit issue (with his new crew) derailed him early. That just seemed to set the tone for his race, landing 23rd, picking up minimal stage points and being held out of the top 10 for the fourth time in the last six races. He's led in each of the past three Kansas races -- all of which were won by Toyotas -- so he'll likely be fast this weekend and have a shot to rebound.

14. Kevin Harvick (-7)

Season-high: 3
Season-low: 14

Comment: Harvick briefly looked sporty late at Darlington but ... then things, shall we say, unraveled. A P4 Stage 1 finish buoyed his points day, but things overall don't look encouraging for one of three winless drivers in the playoffs. Poor runs at Kansas are nearly non-existent in his SHR days, however, so it still wouldn't be the biggest shock to see him rip off a fourth win there since 2013.

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+3)

Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out

Comment: Stenhouse scored 22 points at Darlington -- his second-most since collecting 30 in July at Pocono. That won't quite cut it, but perhaps the Southern 500 can be a nice building block for the No. 47 group to finish the Round of 16 strong, especially when Kansas hasn't been an exceptional track for him (one top 10 in 21 starts).

12. Joey Logano (-1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14

Comment: Logano was a bit of a non-factor at Darlington, landing just outside the top 10 and picking up no stage points -- not exactly how you want to kick off a title defense. He's led just nine laps since Pocono, but there's a solid chance he finds the front this weekend at Kansas, where he has three wins and has led multiple laps in eight of the past 11 races.

11. Bubba Wallace (+3)

Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out

Comment: It was only his seventh top 10 of the season, but it was significant because it was his first-ever race in the playoffs. He now has the fortune of going to a race track that he, his manufacturer and his car owner have dominated recently. No sleeper status here, Wallace is a contender this fall.

10. Ryan Blaney (+3)

Season-high: 3
Season-low: 15

Comment: For the past five weeks Blaney has alternated finishes of outside the top 10 or exactly ninth place, and if the trend continues, Kansas won't exactly be kind to him. With just one top 10 in his last five races there, it seems likely.

9. Kyle Busch (+1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11

Comment: Darlington is a long race, but Busch still nearly managed to squeeze out a top 10 after needing to work his way from the back of the field to start, even picking up stage points in Stage 2. Overall, though, he'd love to really get it going after finding the top 10 just once in the past five races. Though there was a period he appeared to have tamed his former nemesis in Kansas Speedway, it's begun to bite back the past few years -- he has three finishes of 26th or worse there in the last four races.

8. Ross Chastain (+1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9

Comment: Is Chastain back? We've seen a few different versions of the No. 1 driver this year, but he appears to be locked in for the playoffs, securing his first top five since his June win at Nashville. He feels like a lock for another solid run this weekend, having never finished worse than seventh in three Kansas races with Trackhouse.

7. Brad Keselowski (-1)

Season-high: 6
Season-low: Out

Comment: Keselowski seems to always come alive in the Southern 500 in some shape or fashion and had a heck of a race on Sunday, picking up 38 points and a sixth finish of sixth or better in the last nine races. He's found magic at Kansas in the past (two wins, seven top fives) but will have to rekindle some of it after finishing no higher than 14th there in the last four races.

6. Martin Truex Jr. (-5)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14

Comment: Darlington probably could've gone better for the former Southern 500 winner, landing 18th and nowhere to be found in stage points. That's back-to-back finishes outside the top 10 for the title contender, but he'll need some serious misfortune to not break back in at Kansas -- where he has one finish outside the top 10 since 2016 (13 races).

5. Tyler Reddick (+7)

Season-high: 3
Season-low: 15

Comment: Reddick's season has seen its ups and downs, but he should be happy that one of the "ups" coincides with the start of the playoffs after his Darlington runner-up gave him a third top 10 in the last four races. He's led 91 laps at Kansas scattered over the last four races there, and it feels inevitable that he'll win there eventually. Might be this weekend, and if so, watch out.

4. Denny Hamlin (-1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 12

Comment: Hey, the speed's there, at least. Hamlin had a dominant run at Darlington go sour late, but the sting was at least soothed by 32 points -- as many as fifth-place finisher Ross Chastain -- despite the P25. It probably also helps that his contract is now squared away and he enters the weekend as the favorite to win on Sunday.

3. Chris Buescher (-1)

Season-high: 2
Season-low: Out

Comment: In terms of unexpected seasons, is Buescher this year's Ross Chastain? He's arguably having a better season than the No. 1 did last year, when Chastain rode his way into the Championship 4, so the sky's the limit here. Kansas should offer a good test as the Texan has just three top 10s in 15 career starts there.

2. William Byron (+2)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 14

Comment: His teammate walked out with the trophy and Round of 12 spot, but Byron walked out with the points lead and some breathing room after another strong outing. With seven top 10s in 11 starts, a Kansas win is certainly in his future. With how he's running, it could be Sunday.

1. Kyle Larson (-+1)

Season-high: 1
Season-low: 11

Comment: Uh oh. If there was one driver the garage didn't want to see get hot to start the playoffs, most of them would probably agree on this guy. Tough luck. Larson and the No. 5 team look completely dialed in at the moment; the kind of dialed in that could last, oh, 10 races or so. He's also been near-untouchable at Kansas with Hendrick, leading a ton of laps in four of his five races, winning one of them and landing runner-up in two of the others. Still early, of course, but this might be his championship to lose.