8/17/11
Just two weeks ago, Brad Keselowski was 19th in Sporting News' Power Poll and on the outside looking in at a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth. Now, with a victory at Pocono (his second of the season) and a second-place finish in Monday's rain-delayed race at Watkins Glen, Keselowski is now seventh in this week's poll. That almost assures him of a Chase spot as long as he stays in the top 20 in Cup points. The poll is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.
1. Kyle Busch (last week: 1st). Even though he blew the first corner on the final restart at Watkins Glen, Busch grabbed a share of the points lead.
2. Jimmie Johnson (3rd). Johnson got his 14th top-10 finish, tied for most in the series with Busch and Carl Edwards. One stat that's all his: Only driver with no finish 30th or worse.
3. Carl Edwards (2nd). With the contract out of the way, the sport's top headline maker this year turned in another strong, below-the-radar performance.
4. Jeff Gordon (4th). Gordon finished 13th at the Glen. His 7.2 average finish over the past 10 races is tops in the series. Bring on the Chase.
5. Kevin Harvick (7th). Of Harvick's six top-10 finishes at Watkins Glen, he has finished sixth three times. And one of those times was Monday.
6. Matt Kenseth (8th). After having to get pushed around the track by his teammate after running out of fuel, he'll take 14th.
7. Brad Keselowski (12th). In successive weeks he was 1-2, and he can't even buckle his shoe.
8. Kurt Busch (5th). Kurt "The Mouth" Busch got a mouthful of aggravation at Watkins Glen, wrecking twice and finishing 38th after a nasty collision with a tire barrier.
9. Ryan Newman (6th). He and crew chief Tony Gibson admitted they played it safe at Watkins Glen. The result was a quiet 16th-place finish that kept Newman eighth in points.
10. Tony Stewart (9th). Smoke finished 27th at Watkins Glen, his worst finish in 13 career starts there and his third-worst finish in 26 Cup starts on road courses.
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th). A top 15 at the Glen looks a lot like a win. Now Junior has four good tracks coming up, and he needs to capitalize.
12. Denny Hamlin (11th). Hamlin's crash was scary. But his continued slide in qualifying for the Chase—he slipped another spot to 12th in points—is scarier.
13. Clint Bowyer (15th). Poor performances of those around him, not Bowyer himself, have kept him on the Chase bubble. Bowyer hasn't finished in the top 10 since he was fourth at Infineon.
14. Joey Logano (16th). Logano didn't race Juan Pablo Montoya hard when he could have—then used his track position and late pass of Montoya to finish fifth.
15. Greg Biffle (14th). He's 49 points out of 10th and winless.
16. Paul Menard (13th). Menard's late wreck left him 27 points behind Hamlin. As it stands now, Menard needs a second win or to pass Hamlin for the final wild card. The clock is ticking.
17. AJ Allmendinger (20th). Allmendinger started on the front row and finished eighth at the Glen. That wasn't as good as his teammate, but pretty good just the same.
18. Marcos Ambrose (22nd). Ambrose broke through for his first Cup win, but at 22nd in the points, it's probably not enough to earn him a wild-card Chase berth.
19. Martin Truex Jr. (21st). Truex finished a season-best fourth, which also was a career high at Watkins Glen.
20. Mark Martin (17th). Martin finished 25th, his second-worst finish at the Glen in his career. The 2011 nightmare drones on.
21. Kasey Kahne (18th). Kahne has won at Infineon but hasn't figured out Watkins Glen. Barring a miracle, Kahne can focus on decorating his office at Hendrick from here on out.
22. Juan Pablo Montoya (24th). Montoya ran in the top 10 for most of the day but never could get to the front. At least he ended up with his first top 10 since Daytona in July.
23. David Ragan (19th). Ragan's vicious wreck at the end of an eventful run led to strong words about the track's safety shortcomings. Bottom line: The 28th-place finish put a serious dent in Ragan's wild-card hopes.
24. Jeff Burton (25th). It took him only 22 races, but Burton finally got his first top 10 of the season. Funny that it came at the track where he has his worst career average finish.
25. Regan Smith (23rd). Smith's year of making progress extended to Watkins Glen: His 23rd-place finish beat his previous best at the Glen by 11 positions.
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