Power Poll after Richmond

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished 1-2 in Saturday night’s race at Richmond and are atop this week’s Sporting News Power Poll but with Busch leading the way. The only driver in the Chase who is not ranked in the top 12 is Greg Biffle, who had his second poor race in a row and is 16th. He is replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya (eighth), who has the longest current top-10 streak at five races. The weekly poll is a collaboration of Sporting News and Rowdy.com.

1. Kyle Busch (last week: 2nd) Busch came up one spot short in Richmond, but the Gibbs cars look very, very ready for New Hampshire
2. Denny Hamlin (18th) Hamlin’s win is a huge confidence-builder heading into next weekend. And his season sweep shows Richmond is indeed his track.
3. Carl Edwards (1st) Edwards faded to 10th at Richmond after winning the pole, but he is ready for the Chase.
4. Kevin Harvick (9th) Harvick’s ninth-place run was good, not great, but his win at Michigan still stands as the reason his Chase chances must be taken seriously.
5. Jimmie Johnson (5th) After struggling the past two months, Johnson put together back-to-back third-place finishes entering the Chase. The four-time defending champ has spoken.
6. Tony Stewart (3rd) Was Smoke’s win at Atlanta a flash in the pan? Stewart finished a lap down at Richmond.
7. Clint Bowyer (7th) Bowyer deserves credit for mixing it up with the leaders all night instead of just shadowing Ryan Newman and assuring a Chase spot.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya (8th) Montoya has neither started, nor finished outside of the top 10 since his Watkins Glen victory.
9. Kurt Busch (6th) Busch finished 18th at Richmond just like he did in the spring race. That’s the wrong kind of consistency.
10. Jeff Burton (4th) Burton has one top 10 in his past four races and no laps led since the July Daytona race. He’s headed in the wrong direction.
11. Matt Kenseth (10th) With one top five in the past four months, Kenseth has a tall, banked turn to climb if he is to make any noise in the Chase.
12. Jeff Gordon (11th) One finish better than 10th in the past seven races has to be a source of concern as the Chase starts.
13. Ryan Newman (12th) Newman has a win this season, but five guys without victories made the Chase while he came up short.
14. Marcos Ambrose (14th) Ambrose logged his first top five on an oval in 2010 en route to getting back-to-back top 10s for the first time in his Cup career.
15. Jamie McMurray (15th) Even though he missed the Chase, McMurray has plenty to celebrate with wins in Cup’s two biggest races.
16. Greg Biffle (13th) A very poor run in Richmond means the Biff has a lot to fix heading to New Hampshire.
17. Joey Logano (24th) Would like to give Logano full credit for his top five, but his teammates were just as strong. Partial credit it is.
18. AJ Allmendinger (20th) Allmendinger gets only his second single-digit performance on an oval this season.
19. David Reutimann (16th) Early contact with Kurt Busch laid waste to Rooty’s top-five qualifying effort.
20. Martin Truex Jr. (17th) The 56 team just could not sustain any momentum after briefly cracking the top 12 in May.
21. Mark Martin (19th) Richmond was proof positive the Hendrick cars just do not have the same advantage they had last year—and Martin was a victim.
22. Kasey Kahne (22nd) Ran 43 laps in the top 15. That makes Richmond his fourth-poorest showing of the year.
23. Brad Keselowski (NR) Keselowski finished 15th at Richmond for his first top 15 since May 8 at Darlington.
24. Paul Menard (NR) What happened to the Paul Menard from early in the season?

Sporting News Power Poll after Richmond

By the Sporting News NASCAR