Power Rankings: Post-Atlanta endorsement edition

Welcome to the 2016 season’s Power Rankings. As always, Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it’s the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. Direct all your complaints to us at [email protected] and we’ll try to have some fun.

On the heels of NASCAR CEO Brian France’s very public “personal private decision” to endorse Donald Trump for president, we’re going to have some fun with endorsements. Below are our top 12 drivers this week with the usual paragraph about them. Then, as an added bonus, we’re adding a favorite commercial from each driver. Let’s get to it.

1. Jimmie Johnson: It’s never a question of if Jimmie Johnson will win a race, it’s when. And for the second season in a row, the “when” was answered in the second race of the season. Unsurprisingly, Chad Knaus also showed why he’s still the best crew chief in the garage with his decision to pit early. Combined with Kevin Harvick’s slow pit stop, Johnson was in front so far that he wasn’t challenged on pit road bfore the green-white-checker restart. Favorite endorsement:

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin was the fastest car Sunday … for about 10 laps. After that, he started falling back and never replicated that speed the rest of the day. He ended up finishing 16th, two laps down. We’re positive Hamlin was occupied the entire race while in the car, but if he wanted to doze off, we can’t blame him. He said Friday he had gotten 24 hours of sleep all week after winning the Daytona 500. Oh, and what the hell is this commercial? We’re using “favorite” quite liberally here. Favorite endorsement:

3. Kyle Busch: Busch was passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. just before the caution flag came out for the final time. The pass meant two-straight third-place finishes to start the season and the title of points leader. Consistency may be Kyle’s new forte. Oh, remember, he started the race last. Favorite endorsement:

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led the most laps on Sunday but couldn’t catch Johnson over the final laps. And it was a predictable coincidence that the moment the Fox announcing booth started keeping a detailed track of Harvick’s interval to Johnson that Harvick stopped making up ground on the leader. Once Harvick got within about six seconds of Johnson, he hit a virtual wall. Favorite endorsement:

5. Carl Edwards: Edwards said he spent a bunch of time turning right on Sunday. That’s a very good thing. Sure, there was only one multi-car accident and it came on the final green flag lap. But the race was a very good one. Drivers had fun, there was ample passing and multi-groove racing. At least for one race, drivers were forced to muscle their cars in the corners rather than glide through them. Favorite endorsement:

6. Martin Truex Jr.: After one race with the low downforce package it seems that Truex and Furniture Row weren’t a product of the 2015 rules package. He spent most of his day near the front of the field and finished seventh. Favorite endorsement:

7. Kurt Busch: The older Busch led for a bit at the beginning of the race but didn’t lead again after lap 79. He ended up finishing fourth after starting on the pole. With 31 points at Las Vegas, Busch can have 100 (or more) points in the first three races and a triple-digit head start on where he started his season in 2015. Favorite endorsement:

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior was a happy camper after getting out of the car. Yeah, he finished second, but we’re going to guess he would have been happy had he finished seventh. He compared it to NASCAR of the 1980s and 1990s, which surely made all the nostalgia-types happy. If it’s good enough for Junior, it should be good enough for a lot of his fans. Favorite endorsement:

9. Joey Logano: Sliced Bread (is that still a thing?) was a nonfactor throughout Sunday’s race. He finished 12th, the last car on the lead lap. He was slow in qualifying too. After winning the pole in 2015, he started 26th in 2016. We’re not too worried about him though. Favorite endorsement:

10. Matt Kenseth: It’s not Kenseth’s fault that he ended up losing two laps because of the pit road penalty. But it simply should not have happened. It was still a heck of a recovery for the team to maintain that two-lap disadvantage and finish 19th. It was evidence that Kenseth’s car was fast. Imagine if he would have been able to get his lap back. Favorite endorsement:

11. Chase Elliott: The precocious rookie endorsed Donald Trump a day after he finished eighth at Atlanta. We’re going to worry about that finish because it’s much, uh, less controversial, than the political move. Though we do have to admit that it’s a bit odd to see the public political endorsement of someone who can’t drink legally. Favorite endorsement:

12. Aric Almirola: We gave the final spot in Power Rankings to Almirola because he finished 15th on Sunday. With his car on fire! That’s an impressive feat right there. And we’re going to refrain from making cooked bacon jokes and instead say that we need better Almirola commercials. Favorite endorsement: