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Power Rankings: Will Matt DiBenedetto come in clutch at Daytona?
By Chase Wilhelm | Tuesday, August 24, 2021
NASCAR Digital Media
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NASCAR.com's Chase Wilhelm ranks the top 20 Cup Series drivers after the race at Michigan International Speedway and before the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
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20. Michael McDowell (-1)
Season-high: 10th
Season-low: Out
Comment: A 20th-place finish at Michigan (first top 20 in six races) wasn’t ideal, but just because he's the Daytona 500 champion, we'll keep him in the top 20. He had shades of solid speed at MIS, but late-race jockeying pushed the No. 34 Ford down the leaderboard. He'll try to rekindle some magic once again at Daytona.
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19. Chris Buescher (-1)
Season-high: 13th
Season-low: Out
Comment: It was just a quiet, run-of-the-mill day for Buescher at Michigan with a 15th-place finish. Obviously, Buescher needs a win to make the postseason, but Daytona has been fairly kind to him, finishing third and ninth there in 2020.
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18. Chase Briscoe (Not ranked last week)
Season-high: 15th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Briscoe hasn't seen the top 20 in our Power Rankings since February when the rookie hype was surrounding him. Now, it looks like Briscoe is slowing coming into his own in the Cup Series after running up front at the Indy Road Course and an 11th-place finish at Michigan. He'll be hard-pressed to earn victory at Daytona to make the playoffs, but anything can happen on the high banks.
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17. Austin Dillon (-2)
Season-high: 11th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Dillon was on rails until he went off the rails following the incident with Brad Keselowski at the end of Stage 2. The No. 3 Chevrolet was fast and Dillon actually had a shot to win the race. But now he sits 25 points behind Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick on the playoff cutline. You'd hate to wish bad luck on a teammate, but that's what the 2017 Daytona 500 champion needs if he's unable to win under the lights at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
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16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (NR)
Season-high: 13th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Nothing lost and nothing gained for Stenhouse after starting 12th at Michigan and finishing in the exact same spot. With an outside chance of making the playoffs with a win at Daytona (home of one of his two Cup victories), he's been trying to piece together more consistent runs. Since his sixth-place result at Nashville, Stenhouse has recorded five finishes of 15th or better in the last eight races. That's worthy of cracking the top 20 on here heading into a good track for him.
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15. Brad Keselowski (-1)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 15th
Comment: A ninth-place finish at Michigan broke a small streak of two results of 24th or worse, but that was overshadowed by his run-in with Austin Dillon after Stage 2. Keselowski has one win in the Daytona summer race in 2016, but hasn't finished better than 10th at the 2.5-mile superspeedway since then.
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14. Tyler Reddick (-4)
Season-high: 10th
Season-low: Out
Comment: A 29th-place showing was not the finish Reddick needed, but thankfully for him, he still holds a 25-point lead over teammate Dillon following his misfortune. He just needs a clean race on Saturday night, but that's easier said than done. In four Cup starts at Daytona, he hasn't finished better than 27th.
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13. Christopher Bell (-1)
Season-high: 8th
Season-low: 16th
Comment: Two races of second and seventh have been followed up by two races outside the top 10 for Bell. The quick slide shouldn't be a huge cause of concern. Bell isn't the strongest superspeedway racer, but he's locked into the playoffs, so he'll be battling hard for stage points and another win to better position himself with bonus points.
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12. Alex Bowman (-1)
Season-high: 5th
Season-low: 17th
Comment: Bowman is on a three-race string with finishes of 16th or worse. Not ideal as we head into the postseason, but the No. 48 team has been known to pick it right back up when we least expect it. He finished seventh in the Daytona summer race last year.
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11. Joey Logano (-3)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 11th
Comment: Logano got caught up in a late-race crash at Michigan, resulting in a 33rd-place finish for the No. 22 driver. That's three straight finishes of 22nd or worse for Logano now. It appears he's in need for the most improvement out of the Team Penske drivers heading into the playoffs.
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10. Matt DiBenedetto (+6)
Season-high: 10th
Season-low: Out
Comment: DiBenedetto is riding a wave of momentum heading into Daytona. He's finished 11th or better the past six races, including a fifth at the Indy Road Course and a sixth at Michigan. With Ford Performance horsepower under the hood, DiBenedetto will be going for broke on Saturday night to score his first career Cup Series victory and make the playoffs in the process.
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9. Kurt Busch (+4)
Season-high: 6th
Season-low: Out
Comment: Busch is another driver rocketing up the rankings this week after a fourth-place showing at Michigan. The 2017 Daytona 500 winner has finished outside of the top 20 in seven of the eight races at Daytona since that triumph. No worries, though, because he's consistent recently with seven top-10 finishes in the last 10 races, including his Atlanta win.
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8. Kevin Harvick (+1)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 12th
Comment: With finishes of 14th the past two races, Harvick and the No. 4 team has been unable to find any sort of consistency this season. Harvick finished fourth in the Daytona 500 earlier this year, but hasn't finished in the top 10 in the summer race since 2015. He's locked into the playoffs, but there is cause for concern as to how far Harvick will make it through the postseason.
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7. Martin Truex Jr. (-2)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 10th
Comment: A 10th place for Truex isn't terrible, but early damage to the left-rear quarter panel caused by teammate Kyle Busch hurt his performance a bit. The No. 19 driver finished fourth in the Daytona summer race last season, but he owns finishes of 22nd or worse in four of past fives races at the superspeedway.
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6. William Byron (+1)
Season-high: 3rd
Season-low: 18th
Comment: Although he had a car worthy of winning the race, a hard-fought second-place finish was a breath of fresh air for Byron and the No. 24 team. He's finished 20th or worse in four of the last six races, but it appears he's back on track in time for the playoffs as we head to the site of his first Cup Series victory last year.
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5. Kyle Busch (-1)
Season-high: 2nd
Season-low: 14th
Comment: Since his victory at Pocono, Busch has finished seventh or better in four of the last six races. The speed has been more consistent in the No. 18 car in recent weeks, just in time to make a championship run in the postseason. As far as finishing out the regular season, Busch has finished 14th or worse the past four races at Daytona, so we'll see if he can break the streak.
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4. Ryan Blaney (+2)
Season-high: 4th
Season-low: 15th
Comment: Winning his second race of the 2021 season at Michigan, Blaney has been the best driver in the Cup field since the first Pocono race with an average finish of 7.3. The No. 12 team is establishing themselves a championship threat at just the right time. He finished sixth in the Daytona summer race last year.
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3. Chase Elliott (-1)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 10th
Comment: Elliott was caught up in some pit strategy that forced him to claw his way back to an eighth-place finish despite stronger car than the result showed at Michigan. Daytona hasn't been too kind to the No. 9 team overall, but he finished second in the 500 this year and pushed teammate William Byron to victory last summer.
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2. Denny Hamlin (+1)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 6th
Comment: Hamlin was in search of gaining some points on Larson for the regular-season championship at Michigan, but Hamlin's fifth-place result wasn't enough. He's locked into the playoffs already, so with nothing to lose points-wise, Hamlin will be going for all the points to give the title one last fight. Hamlin's last five finishes at Daytona are as follows: 1st, 26th, 1st, 3rd, 5th.
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1. Kyle Larson (--)
Season-high: 1st
Season-low: 14th
Comment: With a 28-point lead over Denny Hamlin for the regular-season title, it's Larson's to lose at Daytona. A third-place finish at Michigan gave him a little more cushion, but Daytona isn't his strongest track by any stretch. Larson finished 10th at Daytona earlier in the year, but only has five top 10s in total across 14 career starts.
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