Ten races remain until the Cup playoffs begin, putting the focus on those who need a victory to secure a playoff spot.
Dr. Diandra examined the best chance for several Cup drivers to win a race before the playoffs begin. You can read those here and here.
With the NASCAR Cup Series off last weekend, the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings features the top 10 winless drivers in Cup heading into Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway (7 p.m. ET on NBC).
NBC SPORTS NASCAR POWER RANKINGS OF WINLESS CUP DRIVERS
1. Ross Chastain — He has seven top 10s in the first 16 races of the season. Chastain has led 348 laps, most among drivers without a victory this season. His 131 stage points ranks second overall in Cup and first among drivers without a victory this year.
2. Kevin Harvick — He has finished 11th or better in each of the last five points races. Harvick has run in the top 15 in 77.1% of the laps run this season, the highest percentage among drivers without a win.
3. Chris Buescher — His fourth-place finish at Sonoma marked his fifth top 10 in the last seven points races. He’s gone from 16th to 11th in the points during that streak. Buescher’s seven top 10s through the first 16 races are the most by a Roush driver since Carl Edwards had eight in the same span in 2014.
4. Brad Keselowski — He has six top 10s this year. Keselowski’s 83 stage points rank behind only Chastain (131) and Harvick (104) among drivers without a victory this year.
5. Bubba Wallace — He has five top 10s this season. Four of those finishes are top fives. He has started in the top 10 only three times this year but finished in the top 10 in each of those races. He also has scored 13 of his 36 stage points in those three races.
6. Alex Bowman — Started the year with six top 10s in the first seven races. Does not have a top 10 in his last six starts. Still, his average finish is 12.1, which ranks tied for second with Kyle Busch. Bowman missed three points races after an injury suffered while racing a sprint car.
7. Chase Elliott — Has missed seven of the first 16 races this season. He missed six races due to a snowboarding injury and was suspended a race for hooking Denny Hamlin in retaliation at the Coca-Cola 600. Elliott is the defending race winner at Nashville.
8. Daniel Suarez — After starting the season with three top 10s in a row, he has two top 10s in the last 13 races.
9. Ty Gibbs — He has four top 10s this season. They all came in a row. He placed ninth at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas and Richmond and was 10th on the dirt at Bristol. Gibbs has not finished better than 13th in the eight races since.
10. Michael McDowell — Seventh-place finish at Sonoma was his third top 10 of the season and second in a row.