Playoff Projections: Ryan Blaney & Post-Michigan

 

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    Ryan Blaney pulled off a slightly stunning win at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 22nd. The victory was Blaney's 2nd of the 2021 Season, making him the only Ford driver as of right now (8/27/21) to have more than one win.

This is last week's Top 16 after the Indianapolis Road Course:

Liam Marshall-Stark/Stock Car Media

And now for this week's Top 16 after Michigan:

1. Kyle Larson [No. 5 Chevrolet / Hendrick Motorsports] 1004 Points [5 Wins, 12 Stage Points]
2. Denny Hamlin [No. 11 Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing] 976 Points [5 Stage Points]
3. Kyle Busch [No. 18 Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing] 838 Points [2 Wins, 4 Stage Points] (+1)
4. William Byron [No. 24 Chevrolet / Hendrick Motorsports] 833 Points [1 Win, 3 Stage Points]
5. Chase Elliott [No. 9 Chevrolet / Hendrick Motorsports] 820 Points [2 Wins, 1 Stage Point]
6. Martin Truex, Jr. [No. 19 Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing] 789 Points [3 Wins, 5 Stage Points] (+1)
7. Ryan Blaney [No. 12 Ford / Team Penske] 787 Points [2 Wins, 4 Stage Points (+1)
8. Joey Logano [No. 22 Ford / Team Penske] 772 Points [1 Win, 4 Stage Points] (-2)
9. Kevin Harvick [No. 4 Ford / Stewart-Haas Racing] 756 Points
10. Brad Keselowski [No. 2 Ford / Team Penske] 729 Points [1 Win, 2 Stage Points] 
11. Tyler Reddick [No. 8 Chevrolet / Richard Childress Racing] 677 Points [3 Stage Points] 
12. Alex Bowman [No. 48 Chevrolet / Hendrick Motorsports] 674 Points [3 Wins]
13. Austin Dillon [No. 3 Chevrolet / Richard Childress Racing] 652 Points
14. Kurt Busch [No. 1 Chevrolet / Chip Ganassi Racing] 643 Points [1 Win, 3 Stage Points]
15. Christopher Bell [No. 20 Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing] 595 Points [1 Win]
16. Matt DiBenedetto [No. 21 Ford / Wood Brothers Racing] 557 Points

  

    - Who has moved around inside the top 16?

Kyle Larson has increased his points lead over Denny Hamlin from 22 to 28 points for the regular season points race. Martin Truex, Jr. and Ryan Blaney have both moved up one position in points, causing Joey Logano to fall two places. Austin Dillon has closed the gap between himself and Tyler Reddick by three points. 

No one has left or moved up into the Top 16, so I'll skip that section this week.

The current Playoff field looks like this:

1. [No. 5] Kyle Larson / 5 Wins / 1004
2. [No. 19] Martin Truex, Jr. / 3 Wins / 789
3. [No. 48] Alex Bowman / 3 Wins / 674
4. [No. 18] Kyle Busch / 2 Wins / 838
5. [No. 9] Chase Elliott / 2 Wins / 820
6. [No. 12] Ryan Blaney / 2 Wins / 787
7. [No. 24] William Byron / 1 Win / 833
8. [No. 22] Joey Logano / 1 Win / 772
9. [No. 2] Brad Keselowski / 1 Win / 729
10. [No. 1] Kurt Busch / 1 Win / 643
11. [No. 20] Christopher Bell / 1 Win / 595
12. [No. 34] Michael McDowell / 1 Win / 497
13. [No. 10] Aric Almirola / 1 Win / 436
14. [No. 11] Denny Hamlin / 976
15. [No. 4] Kevin Harvick / 756
16. [No. 8] Tyler Reddick / 677
17. [No. 3] Austin Dillon / 652
18. [No. 21] Matt DiBenedetto / 557
19. [No. 17] Chris Buescher / 542
20. [No. 47] Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 504