Power Rankings: Kenseth won the race, but he’s second to Harvick
Our Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it’s the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. And you think we dislike your favorite driver, so it makes sense, right? Direct all your complaints to us at [email protected].
1. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Matt Kenseth is the trendy pick here, but Harvick, the master of second place and the master of not saying anything after the race that would be considered criticism of NASCAR, gets the top spot because he was a spot ahead of Kenseth last week. Do you think we’ll be able to talk about Sunday’s snoozer of a race for the entirety of this Power Rankings column? Let’s find out.
2. Matt Kenseth (LW: 4): Despite being off for the weekend, we watched the final 120 laps from the comfort of the waiting area at an airport gate (thanks, free WiFi!). Boy, was Kenseth good. That car was incredibly fast and no one was going to get a chance to challenge him. While the No. 20 team has to be proud of the super-bad-fast car it built, they’re probably wishing it wasn’t a one-off race when it came to the rules.
3. Kyle Busch (LW: 1): Busch finished 11th after starting from the back with a backup car. He sliced his way through the field on a day where people couldn’t pass. While 11th seems like a bad day given Busch’s recent run of form, every week he avoids a bad finish is a win. And he should be good at Bristol. How crazy would it be if he takes sole possession of the Sprint Cup Series wins lead on Saturday night?
4. Joey Logano (LW: 2): Logano finished seventh. On Monday morning on SiriusXM, NASCAR Vice President Steve O’Donnell admitted that the aero tweaks made at Michigan – we are absolutely sick of typing “package” and are looking for any and all synonyms to replace it – and would make adjustments. O’Donnell did call Kentucky a success, which was good to hear. Hopefully Darlington gets some more rave reviews, because if NASCAR is going to make changes for 2016, it’s pretty obvious that the Michigan and Indy changes aren’t the way to go.
5. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 9): NASCAR announced last week that there would be no more rules tweaks for the Chase and the rules that were in place at the beginning of the season when it comes to tech specs would be the rules for the Chase. In no other sport is “Rules don’t change for playoffs” a headline, but we all know that NASCAR is not like any of the other sports. A driver who is happy about that is Truex, because his team has figured out the 2015 rules as well as anyone. He finished third at Michigan.
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 5): Junior fought back at the end to finish 10th at Michigan. When we tuned in, he was in 19th, mired with other drivers in Hendrick-powered cars. While his teammate we’ll mention below fell and Tony Stewart spun, Junior went towards the front. He got five positions on the final green flag run. And yeah, here’s where we run out of things to say about that parade.
7. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 6): Not a good day for the No. 48 team. Going to really hurt them in the points standings. Oh, what’s that? The points don’t matter? Well, they do matter, but thanks to four wins, they don’t matter for the No. 48. You know that Johnson and Knaus want to be the wins leaders at the end of the year, and you have to think they need to get that fifth win at Bristol or Atlanta. Richmond hasn’t been the kindest of tracks.
8. Brad Keselowski (LW: 7): NASCAR made the teams of Keselowski and Logano change their splitters before the race. While they didn’t necessarily fail inspection, they didn’t pass either. Both cars ended up finishing in the top 10. When asked about his thoughts on NASCAR’s rules, Keselowski provided us with this: “It doesn’t matter what my thoughts and observations are, it is what NASCAR wants. Whatever they want to do.”
9. Denny Hamlin (LW: NR): Hamlin finished fifth. He said “It was tough, definitely tough to pass.” And then he said “We had a great car on the long runs, but restarts are where we really, really struggled and just couldn’t overcome the dirty air once we got singled out or single file out there.” The second of the comments really summarizes the race well. Drivers had essentially two minutes to make a pass and then the race got really strung out and … yeah.
10. Carl Edwards (LW: 11): Here’s what Carl Edwards had to say. Knowing Edwards’ prefrence for minimal downforce, the comments aren’t surprising. “I think it’s pretty clear that the more aerodynamic devices that you put on these cars, the bigger hole they put in the air and the worse it is to drive them and be able to pass,” Edwards said. “As long as NASCAR just keeps going the other way, just as long as they go to real low downforce. Not just a lower downforce, but if this is worse and Kentucky is better then let’s just keep going that direction. I really hope we do. NASCAR says they’re working on it and they want the best product for the fans and this was something that they tried. It could have worked, but I think it was obvious today that it was pretty tough to pass.”
11. Kurt Busch (LW: 10): Busch ended up in 20th after he had a flat tire and had to make a green flag pit stop. Before that, he had one of the best saves of the race. In turns one and two a lesser driver would have crashed the car given how loose it was. But Busch saved it and kept on going. He’s “fallen” all the way to eighth in the standings because of these recent struggles, though they haven’t been because of a lack of speed.
12. Ryan Newman (LW: NR): Newman ended up eighth, which is even more impressive when you consider the damage he got when Clint Bowyer went crashing on the backstretch. Newman’s day – and his Chase hopes – could have taken a big hit, but he’s instead in 12th. Without the 50-point penalty his team received for tire manipulation earlier in the year, Newman would be the top winless driver in the points standings.
Lucky Dog: Austin Dillon, who finished fourth and might have had the fastest car he’s had all season.
The DNF: Clint Bowyer, who went for a spin and now has only 23 points on Aric Almirola for the final spot in the Chase (as of now).
Dropped Out: Bowyer, No one
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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!
