Power Rankings: Ty Gibbs set to be a major factor in 2024 All-Star Race?
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after Brad Keselowski's win at Darlington Raceway and before Sunday's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Noah Gragson (-3)
Season-high: 17
Season-low: Out
Comment: While Gragson was unable to extend his top-10 streak to four races, he did make it four straight top 15s and five in a row inside the top 20 to remain inside the top 20 in points. He'll get his second taste of All-Star action this weekend after sneaking into the main show with the All-Star Fan Vote in 2023.
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19. Josh Berry (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 19
Season-low: Out
Comment: First top 10 of the year for Berry? Why not make it a top five, while we're at it? No. 4 reminded us all why he came so highly regarded and was the team's first choice to replace future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Harvick with a stellar P3 run at Darlington and he has a shot to keep it rolling in North Wilkesboro. The short-track ace has more experience there than most of the rest of the field, if not all of it.
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18. Daniel Suárez (+1)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: Out
Comment: Yes, No. 99 has a W in the win column, but he's only mildly outpacing the numbers he put up in 2021 while Trackhouse Racing was still a fledgling organization — not exactly what you're looking for in Year 4. The weekend ahead could actually be an interesting one for him, however, as Suárez led 55 laps from the pole in last year's All-Star Race and could rekindle some of that much-needed speed.
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17. Joey Logano (+1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 20
Comment: Logano briefly looked to have it all together again from COTA to Texas' 1.5-miler, but now owns just a 22.5 average finish over the four races since. Obviously no stranger to big moments, however, the 2016 All-Star Race winner could spark things up in a big way this weekend, especially now that Ford has cracked the win column in general.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Bubba Wallace (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 19
Comment: Given how most of the afternoon went, Wallace probably wasn't the 23XI Racing driver you expected to land in the top 10 -- but he's the only one who did, snapping a three-race skid outside of it. The All-Star Race has been a pretty favorable one for him and last year's runner-up should be in a good spot to compete once again this weekend.
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15. Christopher Bell (-2)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 15
Comment: Bell's 24 points collected at Darlington aren't awful but after sort of turning the ship around last weekend at Kansas, he was probably looking for a better result Sunday to build on as we enter the second half of the regular season. He's yet to lead a lap or finish better than 10th in an All-Star Race and it's tough to see either of those marks changing at the moment.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Kyle Busch (-4)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 18
Comment: Busch was unable to corral a third straight top 10 Sunday at Darlington, resetting the counter once more as he's yet to do that since putting seven straight together from Darlington to Atlanta last year. A near-perennial leader in the All-Star Race but only one-time winner, expect Busch to see the front at some point on Sunday ... before something happens and he misses out on the checkered, if history is any indication.
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13. Chase Briscoe (+2)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Averaging fewer than one lap led per race isn't exactly championship material, but Briscoe is still trending in the right direction overall and is on pace for several more top 10s than last year's eight total. North Wilkesboro feels like it could be his kind of race track, too, and it's entirely possible he improves upon last year's already impressive P4 run.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Ross Chastain (--)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 14
Comment: Chastain is quietly mired in a seven-race stretch of races outside the top 10, but it hasn't tanked him too much yet as he remains inside the top 10 in points. He's yet to make any sort of impact in the three All-Star Races he's been in, but something about Chastain's style and the all-or-nothing nature of the race feel like it's just a matter of time before that changes.
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11. Ryan Blaney (-4)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: So, the defending champ did not wind up being the first driver to break through for Ford in 2024 -- instead, getting wrecked and finishing dead last in the race in which it happened. That was no fault of his own, though, and Blaney likely had a car to compete at Darlington. The 2022 All-Star Race winner likely will this weekend at North Wilkesboro, too.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Chris Buescher (-1)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 16
Comment: It's tough to have two more frustrating consecutive weekends than Buescher just had, but on the bright side -- he clearly has plenty of speed and 2024 race wins (yes, plural) are coming his way. He started on the front row in last year's All-Star Race before finishing 16th, but did notch a top 10 in it the year before, albeit at Texas.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Brad Keselowski (+5)
Season-high: 9
Season-low: 18
Comment: Things just feel a little more right in the world of NASCAR today, don't they? The 2012 champ's status as a non-winner the past few years just felt kind of off after seeing him as a weekly contender year in and year out for a decade-plus, and his long journey back to Victory Lane on a completely different path was a huge moment. And now for his next trick -- ending an All-Star Race winless streak that dates the entirety of the three-time runner-up's career.
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8. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 8
Season-low: 18
Comment: Bowman continues to put together what's shaping up to be a career-best year with now five top-eight finishes in the past six races. He's got four straight top-eight runs in the All-Star Race, as well, and this could be his big breakout weekend for the season, honestly.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Ty Gibbs (+4)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 11
Comment: Gibbs' rookie season last year was impressive, but what he's doing this year just really shows how ready he is to be a contender at this level, already matching his top-five total from a season ago just 13 races in. He and his pit crew were big stories at least year's All-Star Race, Open and Pit Crew Challenge. With how this season has gone for him, everything might just come fully together for his first Cup win this weekend, even if it's of the exhibition kind.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Chase Elliott (--)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 17
Comment: If Elliott's "off" days are more in the 12th-to-19th range like he's shown this year, he could easily have some staying power throughout the playoffs. No. 9 remains the only driver to finish in the top 20 in every race this year and will try to collect his second career All-Star Race win on Sunday after landing in the top five in three of the past four.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Tyler Reddick (+1)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 14
Comment: No driver ever wants to wind up getting yelled at on pit road after the race, but especially not after dominating all afternoon in what likely should've been an easy victory on Throwback Weekend. Last year's third-place finisher in the All-Star Race will likely have another rocket at North Wilkesboro; it's just a matter of making it to the end in that one -- if the No. 17 lets him.
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4. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Truex had a frustrating afternoon at Darlington and walked away with his worst finish of the season at one of his best race tracks. The All-Star Race isn't one to ease his frustration much, unfortunately, as he's never won and has only finished better than 10th just one time in his long career.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. William Byron (+2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 7
Comment: Byron's "slump" was, as expected, extremely short and he snapped a two-race stint outside the top 10 with a decent P6 at Darlington. He's yet to win -- or even find much success in -- an All-Star Race, but boy, that feels like that won't be the case for much longer, right?
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2. Denny Hamlin (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 9
Comment: Yet another top five for Hamlin at Darlington, though not much to show in the stage points department so not the most lucrative result. The All-Star Race feels like his kind of event, though he's only won it once and has led double-digit laps just twice and not since 2015.
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1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 5
Comment: Larson has been so good this season that he can swallow a crash that left him with a 34th-place finish and still walk out of the track with a 30-point lead in the standings after Race 13. He's the hottest driver in the series in terms of All-Star Races, having won three of the past four he entered, and he'll once again be the guy to beat on Sunday.