NASCAR Power Rankings

By Adam Ruggiero
Love of Sports Correspondent

For two weeks, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte hosted NASCAR’s best. And for two weeks, Kasey Kahne out-classed the field.

Two wins and almost $1.5 million later, Kahne leads the series into Dover – a.k.a. the Monster Mile.

In this week’s Power Rankings, the cream is beginning to separate from the crop, but the battle for the final 12 Chase spots is looking like it’ll be a tooth-and-nail fight to the finish.

POWER RANKINGS

1. Kyle Busch (1)

Pretty soon, I’m just going to set up a Word document template that fills in Busch and some inane chatter in this No.1 spot. He finished third and led the third-most laps Sunday, and all that was with a failing battery. I’m thinking maybe he should be the one to ride Big Brown at the Belmont.

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2)

Junior led the most laps Sunday before dropping a tire and skidding into the wall. That wouldn’t have cost him the win, but J.J. Yeley inexplicably slammed into his rear fender as the yellow came out. Even still, NASCAR’s most popular driver motored his damaged Chevy to a fifth-place finish. You can call it bad luck, I guess, but right now Busch is making his own luck. Junior ought to be great, but he’s just very good and nothing more so far.

3. Jeff Burton (5)

Not a thrilling pick, but then again he’s not a thrilling driver. As much as I’d like to reward drivers like Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart, who make legitimate and hard line runs for the win most weeks, I have to give due credit to Burton for the simple fact I’m confident he’ll finish better and earn more points than most others every time he’s on the track. See his eight Top 10s and one win in 12 races.

4. Greg Biffle (7)

This is a big jump for the Biff in this week’s Rankings after a second-place finish at Charlotte. After a rough start, he’s beginning to show in the top spots every week and, coupled with his proven skill, he should win soon and stay in the Chase for the rest of the year.

5. Denny Hamlin (3)

Hamlin gets a lift for driving one of the (as yet) legendary Gibbs Toyotas. He’s an aggressive, eager driver who knows how to put his grill in the clean air out front. But I could probably lead a lap if I were in the #11, #18, or #20, given how fast they are this year. Still, a win, seven Top 10s and four Top 5s don’t lie. He had a solid run going in the 600 before a botched restart resulted in an accordion of crunched cars, of which he was one. Denny’s still a force to be reckoned with.

6. Carl Edwards (4)

You’d do a double-take if you saw that Edwards is tied for the second-most Top 10s and Top 5s and tied for the lead in wins. He’s quietly, though somewhat unimpressively, sixth in points and moving up. He should be higher than this, but the bemoaned Fords at Roush have cost him and his teammates at least 100 points in finishing rewards this year. It seems, though, that things are getting back on track, and that spells trouble for everyone not driving with the #99 on their door.

7. Jimmie Johnson (6)

Jimmie ought to have come home with a Top 5, and arguably a win, but he lost an engine while leading with 49 laps to go – 49 laps in a 400-lap race! All frustrations aside, he and the #48 Lowe’s team have to feel good that they were at the doorstep late in the longest, most mechanically demanding race of the year – a race Johnson and crew have won three times before. It’s called Lowe’s Motor Speedway for a reason, as he’s won there seven times in the last two years! Expect his one win to become two, three and maybe four by the end of year.

8. Tony Stewart (11)

Are you kidding me?! Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. With three laps to go, you blow a tire while leading and end up finishing 18th?! I’d rub your head for luck, but I’m afraid a black cat might break a mirror over my head and knock me under a ladder and into a table full of salt shakers. You, sir, are bad luck. Stewart’s led the fifth-most laps this year, but he’s finished dead last once and 14th or worse five other times. Yet he’s eighth in the Power Rankings and if you’ve watched him race, you know why. He’s incredibly fast, but he’s just got to drive away from obstacles (the wall), keep the gas tank near “F” and the lug nuts tight. I see the Home Depot Camry coming away with two wins in the next month.

9. Kasey Kahne (13)

Winning twice in as many weeks at NASCAR’s highest level – with or without points on the line – will boost a driver’s credentials big time. With his performance in the Coca-Cola 600, Kahne scooted into the bubble position in the Chase standings. Can he stay there? The answer, I think, hinges on the ability of the Dodge engineering package to meet the bar being set by Toyota and Chevy. Until now, the prominent Dodge teams – Evernham, Penske, Ganassi – have struggled to keep pace. But if Kahne and Evernham are on to something, they could make some real waves in the series, as in multiple wins and a shot at the Cup championship.

10. Clint Bowyer (8)

Bowyer still has some clout from his win earlier this year and his surprise third-place championship finish last year. Instead, he’s making withdrawals with performances like last week’s in Charlotte. He finished 25th after starting 39th and making an early unscheduled pit stop that put him behind the eight ball all day. He’s good, but not good enough to skate on reputation alone. He’ll need to pick it up and be more consistent. Fortunately, I think he can.

11. Jeff Gordon (10)

He started in mid-pack (18th) and drove steadily toward the front to finish fourth on Sunday. He led exactly zero laps in the process, while every other Hendrick driver led at least one. He’s beginning to show signs of age (36), which in NASCAR years isn’t that old considering Morgan Shepherd still races and he’s 66. However, Gordon’s already in his 16th year. He’s not the Gordon of old, but he’s still plenty good – good enough to win races and good enough to contend for the championship.

12. David Ragan (9)

I love this kid. Roush is like the friend you had 10 years ago who was starting to see some modest returns on his then unheard-of Google stock. Things were looking good at the time, but no one knew how big they would be. Same with D-Rag (bad nickname?). This kid’s showing awesome potential and putting forth truly impressive runs on a weekly basis, but I’m convinced that in a few seasons, he’ll be knocking Busches and Earnhardts and Johnsons out of his way as he motors toward the checkers.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

13. Kevin Harvick
14. Brian Vickers
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Travis Kvapil
17. Elliott Sadler
18. Bobby Labonte
19. Martin Truex, Jr.
20. Kurt Busch

(Adam’s Power Rankings can be seen in this spot each and every weekend.)