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Power Rankings: Chase Elliott putting up career bests despite being winless
By Pat DeCola | Published: April 19, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the Bristol Dirt Race and before Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Kurt Busch (-5)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 20
Comment: Busch has a lot of good luck coming his way, you'd think, after an up-and-down start to the season and now his third finish of 32nd or worse the last four weeks. The longtime veteran is a more-than-capable superspeedway racer -- with top 10s in more than half his 42 Talladega starts -- but he's actually never won at the Alabama track.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Chris Buescher (--)
Season-high: 19
Season-low: Out
Comment: For three consecutive weeks, Buescher has finished 15th, scoring exactly 22 points, and you have to respect that kind of consistency. He has a pair of sixth-place finishes in the last four Talladega races and has led at least a lap in four of the last five there so he could be one to watch Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Daniel Suárez (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suárez looked flat-out dominant at times at Bristol, and it really is just a matter of time before he joins his teammate in the win column. Talladega will be an interesting one for him; he hasn't finished inside the top 20 there since 2019 and it could be a good heat check.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Christopher Bell (+3)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: He never found the front of the field, but this year's Bristol Dirt Race went significantly better for the dirt ace. Bell landed a top five at 'Dega last fall and has led multiple laps in three of his four starts there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 16
Comment: We're about to hit a double-digit amount of Cup races this year and one of the sport's elite drivers has just one top 10 (a win, but still). Talladega should offer a chance to get his season going in the right direction, as arguably the best superspeedway racer in the garage is a factor almost every time we visit Alabama.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Aric Almirola (-4)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola has had some strong runs this year, but he's now finished 19th or worse in four of the past five races. Talladega, however, might be the track he has the best handle on -- eight straight top 10s from 2016-20, including a win -- so it could be a nice kick-start weekend ahead for him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Austin Cindric (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 17
Comment: Cindric still isn't quite finding the top 10 consistently, but there are signs he's starting to settle in and get more comfortable in his rookie year. We'll get to see how the Daytona 500 winner's superspeedway skills translate to Talladega's high banks.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Austin Dillon (--)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 20
Comment: Bristol spoiled a three-week run of top 10s for Dillon, but he could rebound pretty quickly this weekend. Taking out a crash in the 2020 spring race, he's averaged a 9.25 finish in the other four most recent Talladega races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Kevin Harvick (-3)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 12
Comment: Harvick did not have a very good time at Bristol, winding up with a 34th-place finish. He can be hit-or-miss at times on superspeedways, but he's been more hit at Talladega lately, with three top 10s in the last four races.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Tyler Reddick (+6)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 17
Comment: It sure looked like Sunday was going to be it, right? Reddick will have to wait at least a little longer for that first win and honestly it could happen this weekend. He's led multiple laps in three of his four starts there and has a pair of seventh-place finishes.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Chase Briscoe (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 15
Comment: Briscoe was in position to win during the rain delay after halfway and it looked like he was set to be another two-time 2022 winner, but Mother Nature had other plans ... and he wound up 22nd. Talladega was decent for him last year, averaging a 12.5 finish in his first two Cup starts at the track.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 9
Comment: Truex was a stud in last year's Bristol Dirt Race, but it just didn't materialize for him on Sunday. He landed his second straight finish outside the top 20. It's not looking likely he gets it going this weekend, either, as the 2017 champ hasn't finished in the top 10 at Talladega since 2015.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Ross Chastain (-4)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: Out
Comment: Chastain was another driver who wasn't quite happy to see the rain stop at Bristol, as once the race got back underway his engine was cooked and it sunk his finishing position. He's yet to land in the top 10 at Talladega across six starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 13
Comment: After two finishes outside the top 20 to start the season, Bowman has averaged a finish of 7.57 across the most recent seven races. He's had a few good spots at Talladega in his Hendrick tenure, but he also has four finishes of 33rd or worse in the last seven races there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 6
Comment: Don't look yet, but Larson led a solid amount of laps at Bristol to notch his second top five in three races, and a stretch of dominance could be incoming. It might not be until after Talladega, however, as he has just two top 10s there in 14 starts and none since 2016.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Kyle Busch (+5)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: Bristol dirt probably wasn't where most expected Busch to stake his first win of the season, but he'll certainly take it. He's another stud that struggles to land good finishes at Talladega, with just one top 10 since 2017.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. William Byron (-3)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 16
Comment: Coming off his Martinsville win, Byron was unable to keep it rolling at Bristol and landed just inside the top 20. He's led at least a lap in six of his eight Talladega starts and was runner-up in this race last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Joey Logano (+2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 9
Comment: Logano now has back-to-back top-three finishes, and win No. 1 of the season could be just around the corner. Talladega marks a great spot for him to make it happen, as he picked up a trio of wins there from 2015-18.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Ryan Blaney (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Blaney is on pace for a career-best 11.2 average finish and he's notched four straight top-seven finishes. He won back-to-back races at Talladega from 2019-20 and it wouldn't be a surprise at all for him to break through this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Chase Elliott (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Elliott is on pace for a career-best average finish as well, and his 10.9 mark is best in the series despite being winless. He's the 2019 winner of this race, and given how strong his cars have looked all season, he's a legit contender to race his way into Victory Lane on Sunday.