Power Rankings: It’s Team Penske and then it’s everyone else
1. Brad Keselowski (LW: 1): Kes gets to keep the top spot because of his bounceback after hitting the wall on lap 195. Thanks to a fuel-only pit stop on the next caution, Keselowski was in position to take the lead for 41 more laps before ultimately falling back and finishing seventh after a couple other perilous moments on the inside of other cars. If, for some crazy reason, you had reservations about the No. 2 team’s effort in Chase races two and three with advancement guaranteed, those reservations are gone.
2. Joey Logano (LW: 4): Logano now has the second-most wins in the Cup Series behind the man (and teammate) in front of him. You could tell how serious Logano was about wanting to win a race at New Hampshire the way he did on Sunday. While his first career race win isn’t illegitimate, the fact that he immediately referenced winning Sunday straight up versus what happened in 2009 was telling. You can’t call Sunday, or Logano’s title chances, fluky.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 2): After qualifying on Friday, Harvick said some words that were certainly not appreciated by the NASCAR trumpets that can only play a sound that champions winning. “I think the whole winning thing is really overrated,” Harvick said. “Obviously you want to win. You want to win every week and you show up to try to win, but you can’t take any unnecessary chances and that is kind of the box that the point system puts you in.” Amen to that, Kevin. And with finishes of fifth and third in two Chase races, Harvick is going to advance with no problem.
4. Kyle Busch (LW: 5): Is Sunday’s race a sign of good things to come for Busch this Chase? Yes, he went spinning off the bumpers of Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne and ended up in the grass with a beat up car but thanks to a bunch of perserverance, hard work by his crew and good driving, Busch finished 8th. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to envision how that race could have seen bad things mushroom after the spin. Instead, it was a top 10 and Busch will likely advance.
5. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 10): Oh hi, I’m Jimmie Johnson, six-time champion. Don’t mind me, I’m just getting a top-five after narrowly missing a crash that could have ruined my day. And I’m now heading to a track where I have nine wins and 18 top 10s in 25 starts. Am I already thinking towards the next round? No, because my crew chief Chad would like us to win this race first. But I’ll see you there with a yellow bumper.
6. Jeff Gordon (LW: 3): Gordon is far from the danger zone at this point. With a 21-point cushion and a bunch of drivers between himself and 12th, something is going to have to go wrong with a bunch of things going right for other people at Dover. But still, going from a guaranteed top-10 to a 26th place finish with less than 10 laps to go is a punch to the gut.
7. Kyle Larson (LW: 11): Imagine what it would be like if Larson had snuck into the Chase at Richmond? He’d be near the top of the points standings and a virtual lock to advance to the next round. Instead, he and Jamie McMurray are looking like the most formidable Chase spoilers since Tony Stewart went wild in 2006 and won three races during the Chase.
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 9): It feels a little bit like 2012 and 2013 Dale Earnhardt Jr. over the last two weeks. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, as Junior was consistent those two seasons and was consistently near the top 10. He just didn’t have the outright speed he’s shown at times this season. That speed needs to be there in the latter half of the Chase. But for this round and the next three races after that, an average finish of 10th should be plenty good enough.
9. Matt Kenseth (LW: 8): Given that Kenseth was taken out by Paul Menard with less than 30 laps to go and still finished 21st isn’t horrible. Granted, the day could have been a lot better, but the misfortune of others means Kenseth is eight points and four spots ahead of not advancing. After spinning on pit road at Chicago last week, survive and advance is an apt description for Kenseth’s Chase efforts.
10. A.J. Allmendinger (LW: NR): Could this be the chance for the Dinger to advance? He finished 13th at New Hampshire and is 10th in the points standings. He also has three top 10 finishes at Dover. However, all three of them came with Richard Petty Motorsports. In his time at JTG-Daugherty, he’s finished 26th and 21st. 21st may not be enough to hold on.
11. Jamie McMurray (LW: NR): Is McMurray or Larson going to win a Chase race first this season? McMurray looks like he could repeat what he pulled off at Talladega last year, and why not at Talladega again? He’ll likely have a good car there again. Or it could happen at Charlotte, site of his All-Star Race win. We’ll take McMurray.
12. Aric Almirola (LW: NR): A poor run at New Hampshire could have guaranteed Almirola’s elimination. Instead he went out and got his second-best New Hampshire finish by finishing sixth. His best Dover finish is sixth. 12th is his second best. He’ll likely need a new second-best to advance, but considering the alternatives, it’s a challenge Almirola is glad to undertake.
Lucky Dog: We’re going to go with Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin who, thanks to the misfortune of others, are in a better spot in the standings than they could be in.
The DNF: It’s not a DNF, but Tony Stewart finished two laps down and was 30th.
Dropped Out: Busch, Hamlin, Newman.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
