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Power Rankings: Chase Elliott about to take command of Cup playoffs?
By Pat DeCola | Tuesday, October 6, 2020
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the 12 remaining Cup Series playoff drivers after the race at Talladega Superspeedway and before the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
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12. Aric Almirola (-1)
Comment: After a Talladega wreck resulted in a missed opportunity at one of his best tracks, Almirola finds himself in need of a win in order to advance this weekend. With just two top 10s in 20 career road-course races, it appears his playoff run is over.
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11. Clint Bowyer (-1)
Comment: Bowyer, like his teammate above, wrecked out at Talladega -- also one of his best tracks. His situation is not as dire at Almirola's, but he's in near-must-win territory. Unlike the Bacon Man, however, that's something Bowyer has shown to be capable of, with a win and 12 top fives in 31 road-course starts.
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10. Kyle Busch (-1)
Comment: Is this it? The defending champ finds himself with his back against the wall, on the wrong side of the cutline entering the cutoff race at Charlotte's Roval -- a track he's had simply dreadful results at through two races. Overall on road courses, however, Busch is one of the better competitors in the series, with four wins in 33 races.
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9. Austin Dillon (+3)
Comment: Sitting in 10th place in the playoff standings, Dillon could still point his way in to the Round of 8, but needing to do it at the Roval is just about worst-case scenario for the Texas winner. In 14 career races at road courses, Dillon has averaged a 24.5 finish and has yet to notch a top 10.
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8. Joey Logano (-1)
Comment: Logano has just two top 10s (a pair of third-place finishes at Darlington and Richmond) over his last six races ... not exactly an encouraging sign for a continued playoff run. That said, he's still 21 points to the good over his rival and he's shown he can win at road courses. He could take things into his own hands and ensure his quest for title No. 2 lives on by landing in Victory Lane.
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7. Alex Bowman (-1)
Comment: Bowman sits in seventh place, 22 points ahead of the cutline as we head to a track that he has arguably taken to the best out of any driver thus far (runner-up last year, fourth-place in 2018). Long story short, Bowman likely would need to get caught up in a wreck not of his doing in order to get knocked out -- not impossible, but not the most likely scenario.
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6. Martin Truex Jr. (-3)
Comment: One of the likely favorites with a comfortable lead over the cutline heading into the weekend, Truex is still positioned to advance to the Round of 8 as one of the better road racers in the sport. The fact that he's nowhere near a sure thing, despite being the third-best driver for most of the season, points to his lack of wins and the extra points that could've come in handy right about now.
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5. Kurt Busch (-1)
Comment: Thank goodness for Busch that he already has a win locking him into the Round of 8 and he's compiled decent results at those tracks, because his showings over the past two months have been not so great. Sure, he has the win, but it stands as one of just two top 10s in the last nine races.
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4. Brad Keselowski (+1)
Comment: Keselowski is putting together perhaps his best season since his title run in 2012 (though if you want to point to his six-win 2014 season, that's fine, too) and he should have a nice Round of 8 that could result in a Championship 4 appearance. He could re-spark some of his mojo this weekend at the Roval, where he placed fifth last year and led 29 laps in 2018 before crashing out.
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3. Chase Elliott (+5)
Comment: Other than race winner Denny Hamlin, Elliott was seemingly one of the only playoff drivers to escape calamity at Talladega ... and now heads to the Roval where he's the defending winner. He's also arguably the best road racer in the series at the moment, and a date with the Round of 8 and possibly beyond is only a formality at this point.
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2. Kevin Harvick (-1)
Comment: Harvick has endured a simply miserable -- by his lofty standards -- two-race stretch the past couple of weeks, averaging a finish of 15.0. Thanks to this tremendous fall from grace, he has yet to notch a spot in the Round of 8 and could be in danger of ... just kidding. After a P3 and 34 Roval laps led last year, Harvick should cruise through to the next round and very likely the Championship 4 after that.
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1. Denny Hamlin (+1)
Comment: There's no question that Hamlin is the best superspeedway racer in the sport, but as it pertains to this weekend -- he's a pretty accomplished road racer, too. The Championship 4 hopeful only has to shoot for the victory this weekend before a very favorable Round of 8, and multiple Hamlin wins in the final five races is certainly not out of the question.
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