Power Rankings: Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch are 1-2
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.
1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): When you finish third a week after getting a win you’re not going to get dislodged from the top spot. Johnson’s 76 laps led meant he led the most laps of anyone during Sunday’s race, though he didn’t lead at the end of the race. While Johnson used pit strategy to get out front late at Atlanta, a pit stop when others didn’t head to pit road kept Johnson away from the win this time.
2. Kyle Busch (LW: 3): Busch said his car had a vibration in the late laps of Sunday’s race. After he checked out from Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, it was reasonable to think Busch was going to head to a win. After all, he had two fresh tires to Keselowski and Logano’s none. But after Keselowski got past Logano, he got past Busch with ease. Busch ended up fading to fourth.
3. Brad Keselowski (LW: NR): Is Brad Keselowski the new “closer?” Many have liked to bestow the nickname on Kevin Harvick, but it may be more appropriate for the driver of the No. 2. During his last three wins he’s led a combined total of 37 laps. He led 24 on Sunday, including the last six, one at California in 2015 and 12 at Talladega (including a last lap pass) in 2014.
4. Kevin Harvick (LW: 4): Harvick’s pit crew didn’t have the best of days. He lost time on pit road during the final pit stops of the race. He and the car were good enough to make those spots up, but the positions he was gaining on the track were simply making up lost ground rather than making any gains. He’s seven points off the points lead.
5. Denny Hamlin (LW: 2): Hamlin’s only here because of his Daytona 500 win. As the sample size continues to grow, Hamlin’s going to keep dropping assuming his performance doesn’t tick back up. DH finished 19th on Sunday, his second-straight finish outside the top 15. But it’s not even close to time to fret about Hamlin. Given that he’s essentially locked in to the Chase, the No. 11 team just has to be in fighting shape when September rolls around.
6. Joey Logano (LW: 9): Logano helped give Team Penske its first 1-2 finish since the Bristol night race in 2014. Not too shabby. Logano is also now five points behind Kevin Harvick in the points standings, which makes it feel an awful lot like we’ve picked up where we left off in 2015.
7. Kurt Busch (LW: 7): Busch’s race looked like it was toast after he was involved in the four-car two-incident crash that started when Matt Kenseth’s car snapped loose on him. But Busch’s car wasn’t too damaged — at least not as much as Carl Edwards’ was — and he battled back to finish ninth. Busch currently has 102 points, so he’ll officially have a 102-point head start on his 2015 point totals.
8. Austin Dillon (LW: NR): Dillon was mad at us for neglecting him in last week’s power rankings and went out and finished fifth. That fifth-place finish might have also been possible because of his mid-race speeding penalty. Because of the penalty, Dillon and team stayed out with approximately 50 laps to go. Had the No. 3 not been looking for track position, it’s possible the team pits. And thus finishes about 10th or so.
9. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 6): Another solid run for Truex, who finished 11th. We’re getting to the point where it’s going to be uncommon to see the No. 78 outside the top 15. That’s the mark of a very good team. And there’s now been enough of a sample size to start reliably calling Furniture Row a good team.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 8): Junior finished eighth on Sunday for two-straight top-10 finishes after he crashed out of the Daytona 500. Not that Junior wasn’t expected to do well at Atlanta and Las vegas, but you probably could have gotten pretty good odds on a bet of “Junior will finish worse than 35th at Daytona and follow it with two top 10s.”
11. Carl Edwards (LW: 5): Edwards is now seventh in the points standings after he finished 18th at Las Vegas. Had he not gotten caught in that accident with Busch, it’s reasonable to think he finishes somewhere in the top 10. And is in the top five in the standings.
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (LW: NR): Did you know Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in the top 12 in points? Unsurprisingly (to us, anyway), Stenhouse looks to be the biggest gainer from the lower downforce package in the Sprint Cup Series. After finishing 22nd at Daytona, he’s finished 10th and 12th at the 1.5-mile tracks. Can he keep it up? Well, finishing in the 10th-15th range every week has proven to be a reliable Chase-making strategy.
Lucky Dog: Kasey Kahne’s 10th-place finish was his first since he was ninth at Martinsville last fall.
The DNF: Chase Elliott has two DNFs in three races.
Dropped out: Matt Kenseth, Elliott, Aric Almirola
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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!
