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Power Rankings: Chase Elliott set to complete Hendrick playoff bid sweep?
By Pat DeCola | Published: March 22, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and before Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Austin Dillon (-3)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 20
Comment: A Stage 1 crash saddled Dillon with his worst finish of the season (35th), so he's now finished outside the top 10 three straight weeks after his runner-up at Fontana. Road-course racing isn't typically his strong suit, so a slump-buster may be tough to come by at COTA, though he was 12th in this race last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Brad Keselowski (--)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: 19
Comment: Keselowski is inching closer toward his return to finishing in the top 10 -- which he hasn't done since Daytona -- by finishing 12th at Atlanta. He's yet to find his way to Victory Lane at a road course, though he's had his moments. COTA could wind up being a spot to build some momentum.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Bubba Wallace (+2)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: 20
Comment: Wallace also hasn't seen the top 10 since Daytona, though he was very much a factor right up to the checkered flag at Atlanta. It could be a weekend of struggles ahead for him, however, as the Toyota driver has never picked up a top 10 in 15 road-course starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Austin Cindric (-3)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 17
Comment: We're only a few weeks removed from Cindric being the first rookie in some time to lead the points ... and here he is close to falling out of the top 20 in the standings. And yet, he could be the season's first multi-winner as soon as this weekend. His road-racing chops are no joke.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Daniel Suárez (+2)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suárez has essentially been a top-10 driver this year, with his only truly bad result (37th) coming from a wreck not of his doing at Vegas. It'll be interesting to see if he keeps it up at COTA -- he somewhat surprisingly has just two top 10s in 17 road-course starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Denny Hamlin (-3)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 15
Comment: At some point this year, it's likely Hamlin heats up and goes on a tear -- and his five-race streak outside the top 10 to start the season will be a distant memory. He's only won a single road-course race (Watkins Glen, 2018) but is often in the mix, with top 10s in 19 of his 39 starts.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Aric Almirola (-3)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola wound up with his worst finish of the season at Atlanta (22nd) but has been super consistent overall, with a 10.2 average finish (second best in the series). With just two top 10s in 28 road-course tries, however, there's a better chance than not that stat will take a hit this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Tyler Reddick (-6)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 13
Comment: Reddick triggered a multi-car crash in Stage 2 at Atlanta and the 28th-place result he landed with cut short a two-race top-seven run. Still, the No. 8 will likely be fast at COTA, and he has a strong chance to become the season's sixth winner.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Kurt Busch (+3)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 17
Comment: For all of the talk about Toyotas lagging behind the other two manufacturers at the moment, the driver with the best average finish in the series is behind the wheel of one. Sunday will mark Busch's 50th career road-course start, and he's a good bet to pick up his first win on one since Sonoma in 2011.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. William Byron (+5)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 16
Comment: Byron may only have a 19.2 average finish, but he's provisionally locked into the 2022 playoffs with his thrilling Atlanta win. He finished just outside the top 10 at COTA last year and has the makings of a driver who will eventually be a threat on road courses -- could start this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Chase Briscoe (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 15
Comment: Rain helped the Phoenix winner land on the Atlanta pole, but Briscoe was only able to lead five laps before fading to 15th. He's already one of the better road racers in the series, however, and has a shot at win No. 2 of the season this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Ross Chastain (+4)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: Out
Comment: Chastain, who had 115 career starts entering 2022, only finished in the top five in three of them. Five races into this season he's now doubled that total. Unfortunately for his competitors he isn't likely to let up this weekend, either -- road courses mark his best track type in terms of average finish.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Alex Bowman (+1)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 13
Comment: Bowman came home 10th at Atlanta, marking his second-best points day of the season so far (31). It seems at the moment that any race win is up for grabs among the Hendrick drivers, and with road courses being among his strong suit, he could be a deciding factor on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 10
Comment: Blaney is still in the top five in points, but his finishes (three of 18th or worse) don't match the speed he's displayed. Eventually, the results will swing back his way, and with a win and top 10s in more than half his 19 road-course starts, a rebound appears to be in order.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (--)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 8
Comment: Harvick is on pace for his worst average finish (15.2) since 2009 (19.9), and yet it still feels like a win is headed his way sooner than later. He's won at both of NASCAR's old guard road courses and would love to add one of the new ones to his trophy collection.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Martin Truex Jr. (+3)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 8
Comment: Truex hasn't quite found the pace he's looking for just yet early on, but you get the sense he's going to be a major player as the season progresses. A four-time road-course winner, look for him to really spark things in Texas.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Kyle Busch (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 4
Comment: Busch and superspeedways don't tend to mix well together, and that held true at the revamped Atlanta. He's one of the best on road courses, though, so a nice weekend could be ahead for him at Austin, where he netted a top 10 last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Chase Elliott (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 4
Comment: Probably not too many people out there who pegged Elliott to be the last winless Hendrick driver, but here we are. No need to panic, though -- he's the points leader, and enters the weekend as the defending race winner. He could be joining his teammates in the playoffs shortly.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Joey Logano (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 5
Comment: Logano hasn't been purely dominant to the level of what Hendrick Motorsports is showing across the board, but he's arguably its top competitor right now. He's earned a top 10 in 52% of his road-course races and has a Watkins Glen win under his belt. There's a strong chance we see the No. 22 Ford battling a few fast Chevys at the front of the field Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 1
Comment: OK, with three finishes outside the top 30 through five races it's getting harder to justify keeping Larson in the top spot -- but can you really blame him for any of those poor finishes? Do we not all still think he's the driver to beat this year? Of course we do, until we truly get proven otherwise. A three-time road-course winner in 2021 alone, look for him to be the strongest driver out there on Sunday.