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Power Rankings: Will a rising Joey Logano double-down on Bristol dirt?
By Pat DeCola | Published: April 11, 2022 21
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NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Martinsville Speedway and before Sunday's Bristol Dirt Race (7 p.m. ET, FOX).
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
20. Christopher Bell (-5)
Season-high: 13
Season-low: Out
Comment: Martinsville snapped what was shaping up to be what looked like a nice streak for Bell, but wound up just being a two-race stint in the top six before sinking once again to another finish of 20th or worse, his fifth of the season. If ever there were a weekend for the one of the planet's best dirt racers to rebound, you'd think it would be this one, but we saw last year it's no guarantee he survives the chaos.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
19. Chris Buescher (--)
Season-high: 19
Season-low: Out
Comment: Buescher is quietly on pace for a career-best average finish of 17.1 as one of the season's most consistent drivers continues to be a top-15 threat each week. Aric Almirola has made a few Playoffs employing basically this exact strategy, so don't be surprised if we're looking at Buescher in the bracket come September if he keeps this pace.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
18. Erik Jones (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 18
Season-low: Out
Comment: Jones' second year with the Petty enterprise is going much better than his first, with the team looking like it'll have a few opportunities to battle for a win at some point. He's a former Eldora pole winner and landed one of his six 2021 top 10s in this race last year, so keep an eye on him.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
17. Tyler Reddick (-4)
Season-high: 7
Season-low: 17
Comment: Not much to worry about yet, but Reddick is starting to trend in the wrong direction and wasn't much of a factor at Martinsville. He knows his way around the dirt and landed a P7 last year, so there's optimism he'll get it turned around.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
16. Austin Cindric (+2)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 17
Comment: Cindric still has just two top 10s through eight races ... but just barely missed his third at Martinsville, finishing 11th. One of the most versatile drivers in the garage, No. 2 taking quickly to the dirt at Bristol would come as no surprise.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
15. Kurt Busch (+5)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 20
Comment: Boy, did Busch need a night like he got at Martinsville. The 2004 champ stemmed a two-race stint outside the top 30 with his third top six in the last six races at Martinsville. One of Bristol's best concrete racers, perhaps his success there will translate to dirt this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
14. Denny Hamlin (-4)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 16
Comment: One week after reminding us all why he's one of the best drivers on the track, Hamlin turns in his worst points day since Daytona. The two-time Bristol concrete winner was one of the slickest out there in the dirt last year, so he likely won't be down for long.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
13. Austin Dillon (+5)
Season-high: 12
Season-low: 20
Comment: RCR's notebook on the Next Gen cars is probably one of the most robust in the garage, and it's paying off for Dillon, who is already halfway to his 2021 top-10 total (eight). The inaugural Eldora winner will probably make his presence felt once again on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
12. Chase Briscoe (--)
Season-high: 10
Season-low: 15
Comment: That No. 14 car sure has spent plenty of time in the top 10 this year, as Briscoe continues to show he clearly means business in his sophomore campaign. He's also one of the more established dirt guys in the field and could certainly join William Byron among 2022's two-time winners this weekend.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
11. Aric Almirola (+5)
Season-high: 11
Season-low: Out
Comment: Somehow, after compiling 18 the year before, Almirola only had five top 10s in 2021. Well, he already has four this year after looking strong once again at Martinsville. He did not get along with Bristol dirt last year, however, crashing and finishing 36th.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
10. Kyle Busch (+1)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 11
Comment: Busch hasn't led any meaningful laps since Atlanta, but as his team fine tunes things in the early going he might not mind some routine, consistently above average finishes like he got at Martinsville (seventh). He paced the field for seven laps at Bristol last spring but ultimately wound up 17th.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
9. Kevin Harvick (-1)
Season-high: 5
Season-low: 9
Comment: Harvick, of course, doesn't want to be finishing 14th, but he only earned one fewer point at Martinsville (29) than he did at Fontana (seventh, 30 points), so it was still a productive day. For Bristol, consider him in the same category of last year's victor Joey Logano as "Non-dirt guy that's still so good he can win anywhere."
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
8. Martin Truex Jr. (-4)
Season-high: 4
Season-low: 8
Comment: A red-hot Truex was cooled off at one of his best tracks, on a night JGR as a whole did not look like itself. Hey, did we mention the Next Gen brings parity? He might not strike you as someone that is likely to win on dirt, and he did finish 19th at Bristol last year ... after leading a race-high 126 laps.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
7. Alex Bowman (--)
Season-high: 6
Season-low: 13
Comment: Bowman hasn't earned fewer than 25 points or finished outside the top 14 since Fontana, and his presence feels pretty stuck in that top tier every weekend at the moment. Will the guy who owns his own dirt racing team and has been super strong to open 2022 have a shot at Bristol? Wouldn't bet against it.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
6. Kyle Larson (-4)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 6
Comment: We aren't ringing any alarm bells here, but it might be fair to question why last year's champ doesn't appear to be quite running at his teammates' pace at the moment. Richmond's top five was nice, but it's surrounded by four races with an average finish of 28.0. All that said, no matter what happened in this race last year or up to this point in 2022, he should be viewed as this weekend's favorite.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
5. Joey Logano (+4)
Season-high: 2
Season-low: 9
Comment: Logano nearly gave William Byron a run for his money late at Martinsville, picking up his first top five since Fontana. He's been a points machine, however, never scoring fewer than 21 points in any race this year to keep him inside the top five there despite a couple of rough finishes. Not a dirt guy by trade, he still managed to claim his stake in Bristol dirt last year and it'll be notable if he's able to do it again with so many dirt devils in the field.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
4. Ross Chastain (+1)
Season-high: 3
Season-low: Out
Comment: Alright, the man is officially a top-five robot. He scored more points in last week's 19th-place run, but scooted his way to a P5 late at Martinsville to get back in the swing of things. Just saying, it kind of makes you wonder how watermelon tastes if it's caked in dirt. We might find out.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
3. Ryan Blaney (-2)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 10
Comment: Though he was unable to really assert himself for the win late, Blaney was a top-five presence throughout at Martinsville, landing his fourth top-seven finish in the last five races. No stranger to the dirty stuff, Blaney claimed a top 10 at Bristol last year and should definitely be among the leaders on Sunday.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
2. Chase Elliott (+1)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 4
Comment: Had a round of pit stops gone slightly differently, we easily could've been looking at a complete set of Hendrick drivers already locked into the playoffs, but no such dice. Elliott has been stepping up his dirt appearances the last few years and this honestly could be where he breaks through in '22.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
1. William Byron (+5)
Season-high: 1
Season-low: 16
Comment: It was mentioned here last week that Byron is a laps-led monster right now, and boy did he back that up at Martinsville en route to his second 2022 win. The talent and speed are obviously there, so if the floodgates have opened — he also won the Truck Series race — this could be a season of domination from the No. 24 car a la Larson last year and perhaps another famous incumbent of Byron's ride.