Power Rankings: New Hampshire to Pocono

By Pat DeCola | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and before Pocono Raceway.

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20. Chris Buescher (Not ranked last week): The JTG Daugherty Racing driver won this race in 2016 (when he was with Front Row Motorsports) and while it may be a long shot for him to repeat, a solid run isn't out of the question. Buescher has had a knack for finding his way into the top 10 and 15 consistently this year -- even if the results don't always show it -- and he was 14th there earlier this season.

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19. Paul Menard (+1): Menard is on pace for the second-best average finish of his career (16.5), which would only be bested from his 15.5 mark in 2012. He's kept the car clean all year long with consistent finishes in the 15-20 range, which is about what to expect at Pocono.

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18. Jimmie Johnson (-1): Johnson has long enjoyed success at Pocono, with three wins and a career average finish of 12.3. It's been a rough go lately, however, with just one top-10 finish (eighth) in his last seven Tricky Triangle starts, three of which were 35th or worse. Given his current state of performance -- he's on the outside looking in for the playoffs -- it's not likely he turns it around this weekend.

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17. Daniel Suarez (+1): Can we make it five straight weeks with a first-time 2019 winner -- and third first-time ever winner? Suarez offers a great chance for that. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver finished second from the pole in this race last year, leading 29 laps. He led another nine earlier this year and finished eighth.

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16. Clint Bowyer (-1): We're getting dangerously close to the point of the season where we're going to have to say "Bowyer needs to win to get into the Playoffs." Pocono doesn't offer a good opportunity for him to break through, with no wins and just three top fives in 27 starts. That said, one of them was earlier this season.

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15. Kyle Larson (-3): Larson looked to be turning a corner but had a pretty dreadful weekend at NHMS. He pulled out a runner-up finish last year at Pocono and led 35 laps earlier this year, so perhaps he gets things rolling again this weekend.

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14. Ryan Newman (+2): The good: Newman has been great lately, once won a race at Pocono from the pole and was eighth in this race last year. The bad: That win came in 2003, last year's result was his only Pocono top 10 since 2014 and he's led just one lap there since 2013.

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13. Erik Jones (+1): Like his former teammate Suarez, Jones offers a great shot at stretching the run of first-time 2019 winners this weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver seems to have Pocono figured out in the early going with four finishes of eighth or better in his first five starts.

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12. William Byron (+1): Byron might be Hendrick Motorsports' best shot at a quick turnaround this weekend. The young driver earned the Busch Pole there earlier this year, leading 25 laps along the way to his second straight top 10 at the Tricky Triangle.

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11. Ryan Blaney (--): Blaney seems to have really turned a corner lately -- he was almost set for a season-best runner-up finish at Loudon before settling for fourth -- and Pocono could be his official 2019 coming out party. His first-career win came there in 2017 and apart from a 30th place result later that year has never finished outside the top 12 in seven starts.

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10. Alex Bowman (-1): Bowman has seven total Pocono starts -- with just one top 10 -- but just three behind the wheel of the No. 88. That came in last year's running of this race, when Bowman finished a season-best third. He's one to watch this weekend.

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9. Aric Almirola (+1): Almirola has just two top 10s at Pocono to go along with a dismal 24.6 average finish. They've both come in the past two seasons, but he's also only notched three top 10s since Talladega this year. Not exactly confident he has a good weekend in store for him.

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8. Chase Elliott (--): Elliott also presents a stellar opportunity for HMS to get some good juju going their way. The Talladega winner was fourth at Pocono earlier this season, his fifth straight top 10 there.

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7. Kurt Busch (-1): Not only has Busch picked up a win, he was in the mix late at New Hampshire before fading at the very end and he'll have a shot this weekend at Pocono. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has three wins there -- the last one was in 2016 -- and has finished in the top 10 there in 56% of his starts.

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6. Brad Keselowski (-1): Keselowski has just one win at Pocono, back in 2011. He also might be the best driver at the "Tricky Triangle" in the entire series. Taking out a 38th-place finish as a result of a crash in this race last year, the Team Penske driver owns a ridiculous 3.7 average finish in the seven races dating back to '15.

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5. Denny Hamlin (-1): Hamlin was denied his second win of the season on Sunday at NHMS in thrilling fashion, but he should have another shot this weekend. Hamlin has a series-high four wins at Pocono and three top-10 finishes in his last four Tricky Triangle starts.

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4. Kevin Harvick (+3): Harvick is 0-for-37, somehow, at Pocono. That seems odd because 1. He's so talented and 2. That's so many starts. He does have seven finishes of fourth or better in his last 10 starts, however, which shows it can happen any time.

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3. Martin Truex Jr. (--): Loudon broke a very un-Truex like two-race stretch of consecutive finishes of 19th or worse and there's a good chance he keeps the positive momentum rolling this weekend. He's got two wins at Pocono (2015, '18) and the chances of him being shut out of the top 10 at the Tricky Triangle three races in a row are slim to none.

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2. Joey Logano (--): Logano has had good runs at Pocono -- 2012 win, two top 10s in his last three -- but nowhere near to the same level his teammate has. Still, the current points leader feels about due for a win (it's been a month and a half) and Pocono feels like it could provide.

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1. Kyle Busch (--): But then again, like most weekends, every driver has to go through this guy. Busch is the two-time defending winner of the race ... and won at Pocono earlier this year. Look past his pedestrian 15.9 average finish here -- he's the favorite until proven otherwise.