
Power Rankings: Kyle Busch set to ride COTA fury to Richmond win?
1 of 21

NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series contenders after William Byron's win at Circuit of The Americas and before Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
2 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Austin Cindric (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Cindric often does make himself known on road courses, and while he finished 18th on the results sheet, he was top five in Stage 1 and picked up more points than he did in the previous three races combined. Cindric has a fair bit of experience at Richmond, but he's still in search of both his first top 10 and laps led at the Virginia track.
3 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Joey Logano (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 20
Comment: It wasn't much -- and only netted him three more points than last weekend's 22nd-place finish at Bristol -- but for now, Logano's 11th-place run at COTA was enough to stop the bleeding. Richmond actually could be the spot he turns it all around at. Dating back to his first of two wins there in spring 2014 (19 races), the two-time champ has finished outside the top 10 just three times, with a worst finish of 17th.
4 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Bubba Wallace (+1)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: After starting with a bang, Wallace has fallen off quite a bit; Sunday's P15 was his best run since opening the season with back-to-back top fives. Unfortunately for him, he could be looking at another finish outside the top 20 this weekend -- he's only finished inside of it in three of his 11 Richmond starts, with zero top 10s.
5 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. John Hunter Nemechek (-2)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: Out
Comment: Nemechek appeared set to contend for a second straight top 10, finishing seventh in Stage 2 but faded to just outside the top 20 by the race's end. He's off to a solid start overall, however, and will look to make it work again this weekend at Richmond, where his lone Cup start there came nearly four years ago.
6 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Chase Briscoe (+2)
Season-high: 16
Season-low: Out
Comment: Briscoe is still trying to find the front of the field (one lap led) but appears to be in the process of putting together his best season to date, though it's still early. No. 14 has a great shot to keep it rolling at Richmond, where he's finished just outside the top 10 in three of the past four races.
7 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Daniel Suárez (-2)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: It's kind of wild that Suárez still has just one top 10 so far, yet is currently on pace for a better average finish than he turned in last year in a non-playoff season for him. If he's going to pick up top 10 No. 2 this weekend, it'll be somewhat of a feat. No. 99 hasn't landed in the top 10 at Richmond since 2019.
8 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Brad Keselowski (-3)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 17
Comment: I don't think he'll end up there, but Keselowski is on pace for his worst average finish -- even including his first year at RFK, when he finished 24th in points -- since his rookie season in 2010. He'll be thrilled to get to Richmond, where the 2012 champ has two wins and the RFK bunch seemed to have a handle last season.
9 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Kyle Busch (+4)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 17
Comment: Not only did Busch pick up his second top 10 of 2024 -- ending a three-race streak outside the top 20 -- but he walked out of COTA with a chip on his shoulder after getting into it with his former teammate and protegé in Christopher Bell. Nobody, and I mean nobody, takes it to a new level behind the wheel while driving mad better than Rowdy, and it's entirely conceivable he turns his season around and rides that fury to a seventh career Richmond win on Sunday.
10 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Chris Buescher (+2)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: 16
Comment: Buescher started from the back and didn't get any stage points, yet still turned in an impressive P8 at COTA to continue his strong road-course acumen. He's been percolating all season, and -- as the most recent Richmond winner -- it could boil over into Victory Lane in Virginia.
11 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Chase Elliott (-3)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 17
Comment: Elliott continues to not be "bad," but we're rapidly approaching April and yet he remains with just one top 10 since last year's Charlotte Roval race -- in October. Richmond is an interesting track for him; strong from an average finish standpoint (11.2) and a place he's capable of winning at, but just kind of middle-of-the-road in terms of results, with no victories, 95 laps led and just six top 10s in 15 starts.
12 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Alex Bowman (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 17
Comment: That's now consecutive fourth-place runs for Bowman, though each netted just 33 points total due to a lack of stage points. Still, No. 48 is on pace for -- by far -- a career-best average finish (12.5). He's a semi-recent Richmond winner (spring 2021), and this could be the weekend he fully breaks back out and reminds everyone why he's driving the number formerly inhabited by a seven-time champion.
13 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Tyler Reddick (+1)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 14
Comment: Reddick will certainly take his COTA result -- i.e. his second top five of the season -- but almost everybody had him pegged as the guy to beat entering the weekend. Instead, he leaves Texas still winless and averaging his worst-career finish to date (17.7). The frustration might be compounded by what lies ahead in Richmond, where he led 81 laps from the pole last summer ... but has still failed to land a top-10 finish in seven tries.
14 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Ross Chastain (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 14
Comment: Chastain continues to be strong -- last week's solid 15th-place Bristol run was arguably his "worst" showing of the season -- though just a hair off from winning-pace, but you've got to like where he and this team are headed. No. 1's overall Richmond stats aren't great but has found the front of the field there lately with 96 total laps led in the last three races combined.
15 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 7
Comment: Blaney's finish outside the top 10 at COTA was a deceptive one -- he actually scored just as many points (34) as fifth-place finisher Tyler Reddick to sit third in the standings. The reigning champ's Richmond struggles are well-documented, but he's turned it around there to a degree lately, with his only three top 10s coming in the last five races at the track.
16 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Christopher Bell (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 11
Comment: If it weren't for a abysmal races at Atlanta and Vegas in which he collected eight total points, we'd probably be looking at Christopher Bell, points leader. There's a good chance he gets there at some point, and at the very least, it's quite possible he adds his second win of 2024 this weekend at Richmond -- before last fall's P20, he'd finished in the top six in five straight races there.
17 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Denny Hamlin (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: He's still scoring plenty of points, so it's of little concern, but it's semi-noteworthy that Hamlin has just two top 10s so far in a season where JGR once again looks like a powerhouse. If he looks off at Richmond, however -- big if -- then we might start to question things, but entering the weekend, he may actually be the favorite to win.
18 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Ty Gibbs (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 8
Comment: Gibbs has almost been too good to start the season, and now there are nothing but eyes on him on top of the added pressure that builds the longer it takes to collect win No. 1. He picked up a top 10 in his first attempt at the Richmond spring race last year, and it really would not come as a surprise if he breaks into Victory Lane on Sunday.
19 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Kyle Larson (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: Honestly, it's pretty impressive for a driver to net just two top 10s to this point and still be fifth in points. For Richmond, Larson does have a pair of wins there, and nobody expects him to be bad, but it's certainly not been a dominant track for him compared to some others. The 2021 champ has finished outside the top 10 there more often than he's finished inside it in 18 starts.
20 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Martin Truex Jr. (--)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 10
Comment: The past two seasons saw some dropoff, but Truex looks like a top-10 machine again like he was when he turned in 20-plus in six of seven seasons from 2015-21. Feel free to go ahead and pencil in another one this weekend as Truex has three Richmond wins and eight top 10s from 2019-on alone.
21 of 21

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. William Byron (+6)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: This feels like the year, right? Absolutely everything is coming together for Byron, who looks to be about as polished as we've seen him to date with no ceiling in sight. Thankfully, we get a bit of a heat check to know if he's for real for real this weekend at Richmond, where he has just a pair of top-10 finishes in 11 starts. He's led 117 or more laps in two of the last four races there, though, so expect more sizzle.