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Power Rankings: Ross Chastain’s first Cup win imminent?
By Pat DeCola | Published: March 15, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Phoenix Raceway and before Sunday's Folds of Honors QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Bubba Wallace (--)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: 20
Comment: Wallace is trending in the wrong direction after netting 43 points in his runner-up in the season opener and just 46 total points in the three races since. He's yet to land in the top 10 at Atlanta, but he's proven to be a strong superspeedway racer and that should come into play this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Brad Keselowski (-1)
Season-high: 14
Season-low: 19
Comment: Keselowski hasn't finished inside the top 20 since Daytona and he could really use a spark in the early going with his new team. Atlanta should be a good spot for the 2012 champ to capitalize, being a de facto superspeedway race now in addition to being one of his best tracks (two wins).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Daniel Suárez (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Suárez and Trackhouse as a whole continue to make a lot of noise and show they're here to play with the big boys. His previous Atlanta stats aren't exceptional (21.7 average finish), but expect to see him in the top 10 for spurts this weekend and perhaps land there.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Austin Dillon (-3)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 17
Comment: Dillon got caught up in a late wreck at Phoenix but otherwise seems to continue to be fast enough to compete. He could be one to watch this weekend with the new Atlanta track, and he even finished well there last year (9.0 average finish in the two races).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. William Byron (-3)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 16
Comment: While 18th isn't great, 36 points at Phoenix are more than double Byron got in the first two races combined as he continues his climb from the early-season cellar. Hendrick as a whole should be among the fastest at Atlanta, and Byron could make for a sneaky dark-horse winner.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Kurt Busch (+1)
Season-high: 15
Season-low: 17
Comment: Things seem like they're starting to come together for Busch at 23XI Racing, and he might very soon be viewed as a top contender week to week. The four-time Atlanta winner is also the most recent driver to win there, capturing the W last summer.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Austin Cindric (-2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 17
Comment: Cindric is starting to slip back a bit (hey, he's a rookie after all) but he remains in the top 10 in points a month into the season. One of his initial starts last year came at Atlanta where he finished 22nd, but he should have a shot at a top 10 this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Ross Chastain (+4)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: Chastain is only outpacing last year's average finish (18.6) by a hair (18.5), but he sure seems in a whole new class with a win seemingly imminent. His average start and average finish at Atlanta are both 24.0 -- it's likely he brings both of those down on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Denny Hamlin (-3)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 12
Comment: Hamlin did turn in his best finish of the season at Phoenix ... but is still searching for his first top 10 of 2022. We all know the three-time Daytona 500 winner knows how to get it done on superspeedways, so perhaps that translates to Atlanta for him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Aric Almirola (--)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Almirola's top-10 streak to start the season ended at Phoenix, but just barely (12th). He's still one of the better stories to start the season, and as one of the drivers who always seems to find the front at Daytona and Talladega, he should be in the mix this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Chase Briscoe (+5)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 15
Comment: And there he is. We mentioned a few weeks ago that Cindric could have a fellow member in the first-timers club soon, and it could very well be Briscoe. It'll be interesting to see if the nine-time 2020 Xfinity Series winner can find any amount of domination like that in his sophomore season.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Alex Bowman (-2)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 13
Comment: Bowman's only top 10 of 2022 so far? His win at Las Vegas. Surely he'll start to build consistency at some point -- perhaps starting this weekend at Atlanta, where he notched a pair of top-four finishes last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Martin Truex Jr. (-4)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 8
Comment: Truex caught a tough break at Phoenix and wound up with just two points on the day, sending him from second in the standings to outside the top 10. An Atlanta win has been just out of his reach for the past decade, so perhaps he puts it all together for his first '22 win this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Tyler Reddick (+1)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 10
Comment: Is there anybody out there who isn't sold on Reddick looking destined to win his first race this year? He continues to be a factor weekly, so it's only a matter of time. He turned in a sixth-place effort last summer at Atlanta, so it could be Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kevin Harvick (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 8
Comment: He was far from dominant, but there were shades of retro Harvick at Phoenix. Atlanta is another track he's made his playground over the years, so the win drought could end this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Ryan Blaney (+5)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 10
Comment: Blaney turned in his second fourth-place finish of the season, but more importantly it just seemed like the No. 12 was the best car out there Sunday. As the defending winner of this Atlanta race, that vaults him into favorite territory for this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Chase Elliott (-2)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 4
Comment: Elliott finished outside the top 10 at Phoenix after a ninth-place Vegas run, but it was arguably a better race for him with 50 laps led and equal points. An Atlanta win would mean a tremendous amount to the Georgia native, and while he's good there overall (five top 10s in seven starts), an engine issue saddled him with 38th in this race last year.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Joey Logano (+2)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: 5
Comment: Logano is looking like an early Championship 4 favorite and enters the weekend as the points leader. An Atlanta win has eluded him over the years, but he's had a few nice races there in his Team Penske tenure. No reason to think it can't happen Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Kyle Busch (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 4
Comment: Busch is another one that is looking like a Championship 4 favorite and, for all intents and purposes, is "back." How he adapts to the Next Gen at new-look Atlanta should be a story line to watch, though, as superspeedway racing isn't typically a fruitful effort for him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 1
Comment: In the two races his car made it to the finish this year, Larson has a win and a runner-up. He has a pair of runner-ups at Atlanta (including this race last year). If his car is in one piece on Sunday, he'll be there at the finish line with the leaders, and probably ahead of them.