Power Rankings: Kyle Busch could build some heat as playoff pressure sizzles
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after Alex Bowman's win at the Chicago Street Race and before Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
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20. Daniel Suárez (-2)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: While Chicago didn't go quite as planned for the race's defending winner, it's clear Trackhouse Racing has the track dialed in to a degree and that extends to Suárez, who turned in his second-best finish on Sunday since Texas in mid-April. Certainly still in need of some pre-postseason momentum, No. 99 could keep it rolling at Pocono, where he once turned a pole into a runner-up (2018) and netted a P3 in 2022.
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19. Austin Cindric (-2)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Nothing wrong with a top 15 for Cindric, especially where he's got the win in hand already, but this was a race where No. 2 could've continued to build on the recent Team Penske momentum -- instead, Ryan Blaney was the only top-10 finisher of the three, in 10th. It's still three straight top 20s for him, though, but if he wants to keep that streak alive he'll have to do it at Pocono, where his best finish is 23rd.
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18. Todd Gilliland (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Front Row Motorsports' success on road courses extends beyond Michael McDowell -- and Gilliland proved it at Chicago while actually scoring more points than his top-five-finishing teammate. He's actually been on a sensational run of late, having not finished worse than 17th since Dover -- in April. There's no reason to think he won't have a shot this weekend, too. Gilliland was strong at Pocono in each of his four Truck Series starts there and turned in a top 15 in his second Cup attempt at the "Tricky Triangle" last year. Keep an eye on him.
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17. Chase Briscoe (-1)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: The strong road racer Briscoe worked his way to the front early but the messy nature of Sunday wound up shuffling him way, way back after scoring a top five in Stage 1. Apart from a strong Loudon runner-up he remains in a prolonged skid and it's tough to see that turning around at Pocono, where he has just one top 15 and a 22.3 average finish in four races.
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16. Kyle Busch (+4)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 20
Comment: Baby steps, but Busch will definitely be happy to be the Kyle finishing in the top 10 while the other turns in a finish in the 30s for a change. Rowdy nets his first top 10 since Kansas -- still hard to believe -- and actually could build some heat here as Pocono has been arguably his most lucrative track over the past half-decade-plus. From 2017-on, No. 8 owns four wins, another pair of top threes and 499 laps led.
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15. Bubba Wallace (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: Wallace carried speed throughout the weekend, even scoring some stage points in what was quite an eventful race for him before settling in 13th. Something has clicked for him at Pocono in recent years, too, so he should find his way around to the front of the field this weekend as well, you'd think.
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14. Joey Logano (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 20
Comment: Logano has alternated top 10s/non-top 10s for the last seven weeks, following his Nashville win with a 23rd-place result and no stage points at Chicago. That trend will be tested at Pocono, however, where No. 22 has just four top 10s since 2016.
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13. Ross Chastain (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 14
Comment: With Bowman off the board, a lot of eyes will now shift to Chastain as one of just a handful of drivers in the provisional playoff field without a win. He'll really need to shock the world if it happens this weekend, too -- No. 1 has just one finish better than 24th there, when he placed a meager 13th last year.
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12. Chris Buescher (-2)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 16
Comment: After three top fives in the four races leading up to it, a top-10 Chicago finish seemed like a slam dunk for Buescher, arguably the most consistent road racer in the Next Gen era -- but alas. Obviously you look at him as a past Pocono winner to get back on track this weekend, but that 2016 victory stands as just one of two top 10s he has in 14 starts there.
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11. Brad Keselowski (-2)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 18
Comment: Buescher's boss and teammate Keselowski didn't fare a whole lot better in the finishing order at Chicago, though he did land a P3 in Stage 2 to turn his 18th-place run into a respectable, 27-point day. Though the 2012 champ has just one Pocono win -- and it came two generations of cars ago, in 2011 -- it's largely been a super strong track for him with just one finish outside the top 16 since 2015 and an overall 10.9 average finish.
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10. Alex Bowman (+4)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 18
Comment: In some ways it was only a matter of time, but Bowman's Chicago victory surely came as a surprise with so much attention on SVG and his Hendrick teammates coming into the weekend and very few targeting him. That's classic Alex Bowman, though, and lo and behold -- the 2021 Pocono winner could make it two in a row this weekend and really stamp it home that he's a contender this year.
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9. Ty Gibbs (+4)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 15
Comment: Gibbs hasn't won a Cup race, period, yet it feels evident he'll collect several road-course victories throughout his career, doesn't it? The sophomore once again hung around with the big wigs out front as he looks to break through for No. 1 and after last year's top five at Pocono -- where he actually made his Cup debut in 2022 -- it feels entirely possible it happens Sunday.
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8. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: If you're wondering if Chicago will be on Truex's list of potential races in limited duty next year, you can confidently scratch that one out after frustrating runs of 32nd and 33rd in the first two events. He'll be more than happy to return to the friendly confines of Pocono, where he owns a pair of victories from 2015-on and was P3 last year.
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7. William Byron (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 8
Comment: The No. 24 team still hasn't quite found its early season dominance, but the pieces are starting to fall back together, despite no laps led for Byron since May. He's the defending pole winner at Pocono and overall has a 9.9 average finish there, but no top 10s since 2021.
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6. Ryan Blaney (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 12
Comment: Bit of a dry (no pun intended) top 10 at Chicago for Blaney, netting just 27 points after getting shut out on stage points, but still extending a nice past month-plus for him. The reigning champ's first Cup win came at Pocono, but it's been somewhat hit or miss for him since, with three finishes outside the top 20 in the last five -- but also two top sixes.
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5. Christopher Bell (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 15
Comment: After resuming the race it looked like Bell was going to once again emerge victoriously in the wet but ultimately crashed out in the closing laps. That's now two straight crummy finishes that don't tell the true story of the race for Bell, who otherwise had a legit shot at three straight wins. He should be strong once at at Pocono this weekend, after averaging a top five there the past two seasons.
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4. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: Hamlin is still every bit the title contender he's been all season, but it feels worth noting that he hasn't finished better than 12th since Gateway, and four of those finishes were 24th or worse. He's one of the all-time greats at Pocono, however, and there's a strong chance he adds an eighth win there and turns it all around.
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3. Chase Elliott (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 17
Comment: The top-20 streak is over -- just barely -- and his move up here is mostly about Hamlin dropping from in front of him. That said, Elliott should be viewed as a threat to rebound in a big way this weekend, with Pocono lining up as a great track for him and one he won at in 2022.
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2. Tyler Reddick (+3)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 14
Comment: Reddick continues to battle admirably for the win, and continues to come up just short. He's clearly about to break through once again, though, and as the back-to-back runner-up at Pocono ... it's very likley it happens sooner than later.
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1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: Larson's detour into the tires at Chicago was unfortunate, but didn't derail the pole winner's championship hopes in any way. In fact, it's quite possible he picks up what will -- somehow -- be his first Pocono win this weekend. No. 5 has a pair of runner-ups there from 2018-on and overall has a strong 11.6 average finish.