Power Rankings: Did Keselowski get knocked off the top spot?
1. Brad Keselowski (LW: 1): The answer to our headline is “No,” even though Keselowski lost ground to points leader Kevin Harvick. Keselowski’s car was not in pristine shape at the end of Sunday’s New Hampshire race and he didn’t make up much track position after a late pit stop. He finished 15th.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): As you likely know, Harvick wasn’t too happy about his team’s performance throughout Sunday’s race. He might have had the best car but when you keep losing track position at a track position track like New Hampshire, well, it’s hard to show off just how good your car is. Harvick finished fourth, and while he was disgusted after the race we’re going to go out on a limb and say he’d take another fourth in the Chase instead of running out of gas like he did last year.
3. Joey Logano (LW: 6): Logano clawed his way to the front thanks to the flurry of late-race restarts and ended up finishing third. Given all of the success Logano has had at Team Penske, his first race win (at New Hampshire, thanks to a strategy play before a thunderstorm) seems like such a distant memory. Maybe Logano still has that lobster somewhere.
4. Kurt Busch (LW: 2): No top-10 for Busch this week. Not long after Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman crashed following flat tires after tire rubs, Busch had a tire rub as well after contact. Instead of playing it safe and pitting to avoid the fate Elliott and Bowman faced, Busch and team hoped it wouldn’t happen to them. Oops. Busch spun and ended up 22nd.
5. Kyle Busch (LW: 5): Kyle Busch led the most laps throughout Sunday’s race but his car wasn’t as fast at the end. Busch led 133 laps but fell to eighth at the finish as teammate Matt Kenseth dominated the final 45 laps of the race. While Busch would have loved to have tied Keselowski with four wins on the season, like Harvick, we can guess he’d be fine with an eighth-place finish at NHMS in September.
6. Tony Stewart (LW: 10): Did anyone see this run of form coming from the No. 14 car? Yeah, Stewart got himself into the Chase at Sonoma, but damn if he hasn’t looked like a driver that could legitimately make the final four at Homestead. Sure, his Kentucky finish was thanks to fuel mileage, but he drove a great race at New Hampshire and had a top-10 car at Michigan.
7. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 4): Catastrophe loves Truex. This time the catastrophe came in the form of a broken shifter. It meant Truex’s car was stuck in fourth gear and he couldn’t accelerate on restarts. Truex ended up finishing a spot behind Keselowski in 16th despite leading 123 laps. We fully anticipate Truex leading 90 percent of a race’s laps (again) on his way to a win as a way to even out this ridiculousness.
8. Matt Kenseth (LW: NR): Welcome to Power Rankings, Matthew. The reason we have Kenseth so low is because of the likelihood his team will receive a penalty for the car failing inspection after the race. But even if Kenseth is penalized, he’s going to keep the win. He’ll just lose the bonus points for the Chase more than likely and his crew chief Jason Ratcliff will probably miss a race or few.
9. Ryan Newman (LW: 10): Newman got through the accident on the backstretch unscathed and ended up finishing seventh. Newman hit Carl Edwards in the back bumper as the field checked up behind Kyle Larson as Larson got loose off turn 2 late in the race. Edwards went spinning, Larson went spinning and Kasey Kahne got damage. Meanwhile, Newman is 12th in the standings, two points behind Chase Elliott.
10. Denny Hamlin (LW: 12): Hamlin’s back from the edge. He finished ninth on Sunday and tried to sneak a win by staying out on old tires. A move that might have worked out in the past at NHMS didn’t with this combination of tires as Hamlin fell back before he came to pit road after he lost the lead.
11. Jimmie Johnson (LW: NR): Johnson had a tough day, but so did some other drivers in last week’s rankings, so he gets to move up a spot. He could have finished in the top 10 but slid through his pit box on his final pit stop and ended up finishing 12th.
12. Jamie McMurray (LW: NR): McMurray is plugging along. He could be the biggest beneficiary of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s absence as he is 14th in the Chase standings, 13 points ahead of Junior now. He’s also now the second-to-last driver in the provisional Chase. Can he stay there?
The Lucky Dog: Greg Biffle finished fifth. Can he crack the top 20 in the standings?
The DNF: Brian Scott finished 38th. It has not been his summer.
Dropped Out: Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson
– – – – – – –
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!
