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NASCAR.com Power Rankings: Sonoma/Daytona

Harvick didn't make headlines, but had a pretty great Sonoma race -- leading three laps, finishing sixth and extending his points lead to 35

Another race, another top 10 for Busch -- who continues to hold the series lead in the category with 14.

Sonoma's pole winner appeared to have the inside line to a victory most of the day, leading 24 laps, but had to settle for a third top-five result in his past four tries at the track.

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Team Penske

Look past the result. Keselowski said after the race it's the best he's felt at Sonoma -- which bodes well for his chances at Watkins Glen, where he has three runner-up finishes in six races.

After some ups and downs through the first half of the season, Logano now has strung together three straight top-five finishes.

0
Joe Gibbs Racing

Busch was unable to recapture his 2015 Sonoma magic, but he still stopped the bleeding of not having any top-10 finishes since his Kansas win.

0
Hendrick Motorsports

Johnson hasn't won since March, but Daytona should present a good opportunity for 'Six-Time,' as he finished second in this race last year.

Truex finished in the top five at Sonoma, battling for the lead late. Next stop: the site of the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, of which he was on the losing end. He'll be motivated.

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Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott wasn't expected to perform too well in his first Sonoma Sprint Cup race, and didn't. As the most recent Daytona pole winner, expect him to get back on track this weekend.

Is there a driver happier than Kenseth to leave Sonoma (one top 10 in 17 tries) and head to Daytona (two wins)?

3
Joe Gibbs Racing

Hamlin was leading at Sonoma -- albeit for just a short time -- within sight of the checkered flag before Tony Stewart moved him. The reigning Daytona 500 winner is getting close to tasting victory again, and it could be soon.


MORE: Hamlin comes up short at Sonoma

Larson looked solid at Sonoma, and it'll be interesting to see if he can keep it rolling and build off his first career top-10 finish at Daytona in February.

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Hendrick Motorsports

Looking for Junior to break through for his first 2016 win? How about Daytona, where he's the defending race winner?

The definition of "Newman-ing"? How does an average finish of 10.67 over his last six races sound?

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Richard Childress Racing

Austin Dillon: bad at road courses (zero top 10 in five attempts), but really, really good at Daytona (four top 10s in six races, one top 5). Keep an eye on him this weekend.

Kahne has just six top 10s on the season, but guess what? Three of them have come in the past five races.

Blaney had three straight top 10s from Talladega to Dover. He has just one since.

McMurray's Sonoma career is strange. He has three poles, two in his past four races -- but just two total top 10s in a pretty well-established career.

'Dinger led 20 laps and was in contention for a win before a costly penalty from his pit crew. He's still in good shape in the standings, however, and theoretically could still make the Chase on points if he fails to win.

Welcome back, Mr. Stewart. "Smoke" has taken care of the hard part -- the win -- and now sits a mere nine points out of the top 30 spot he needs to get into the Chase.


MORE: Stewart snaps skid, wins Sonoma