Sporting News Power Poll after New Hampshire

Sporting News Power Poll after New Hampshire

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 27, 2011)

Tony Stewart is on top of this week’s Sporting News Power Poll for the first time this season after winning his second race in a row. Stewart followed up his win in the Chase opener at Chicagoland with a victory Sunday at New Hampshire. Second in the poll is Brad Keselowski, who finished second to Stewart at Loudon, for his second straight top-five finish and his sixth in the past eight races. Previous No. 1 Kevin Harvick dropped to fifth after finishing 12th Sunday. The power poll is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

1. Tony Stewart (last week: 4th) Stewart led two laps, his fewest ever en route to a Cup win. But 2 is a popular number these days at Stewart-Haas Racing: Smoke is 2-for-2 in this year’s Chase.

 2. Brad Keselowski (5th) BK and crew chief Paul Wolfe are making something from nothing too often for it to be accidental.

 3. Jeff Gordon (8th) After the race, crew chief Alan Gustafson was very apologetic on the No. 24’s radio. Gordon’s response was a conspicuous silence.

 4. Carl Edwards (2nd) Edwards escaped Loudon with an eighth-place finish and fourth place in points. Mission accomplished.

 5. Kevin Harvick (1st) Harvick complained his way to a 12th-place finish. Those 12 bonus points sure look like they’ll come in handy.

 6. Matt Kenseth (6th) Kenseth wasn’t as strong as he was last week at Chicagoland, but at least he managed his fuel and got a decent finish.

 7. Jimmie Johnson (3rd) Testy exchange with Chad Knaus revealed Five-Time’s frustration. He has never been lower than ninth in the Chase standings. Until now.

 8. Kyle Busch (9th) Busch hasn’t shown the speed he’ll need to be a championship contender. Dover should be better.

 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th) Junior had about the same speed he showed at Chicagoland but not nearly the same luck.

 10. Kurt Busch (7th) Busch’s team failed him at New Hampshire, but his inability to handle adversity will keep him from being a serious title contender.

 11. Ryan Newman (11th) Slow pit stops left Newman deep in the field, and a flat tire at the end of the race only made it worse. At least he didn’t run out of gas like he did at Chicagoland.

 12. Clint Bowyer (12th) Tough break for Bowyer to run out of gas with the lead in the closing laps. He and Stewart were in the exact opposite situations in this race a year ago.

 13. Greg Biffle (19th) The Biff finally finished where he ran. His third at New Hampshire was only his second top five of the year.

 14. David Ragan (15th) Ragan’s in the midst of one of his most productive three-race stretches of the season with an average finish of 7.3 (mirroring his seventh at New Hampshire) and making a case to remain at Roush Fenway in 2012.

 15. Denny Hamlin (14th) And there you have it. Despite having a good car, Hamlin’s fuel cell ran dry with three laps to go and now he sits 66 points behind the leader.

16. Martin Truex Jr. (17th) The team’s flat-track program isn’t up to snuff, but Truex should rebound this week at Dover.

 17. Mark Martin (13th) Martin led 46 laps, ran sixth with 50 to go and was then felled by a flat tire in the waning laps. Martin deserved a much better finish Sunday than 24th.

 18. Kasey Kahne (18th) Kahne had a good weekend. He qualified well and led a bunch of laps. Then, he ran out of gas and saw a strong run go to waste.

 19. Juan Pablo Montoya (21st) The No. 42 was a top-10 car for the final two-thirds of race. Montoya’s ninth-place finish was his first top 10 in his past six starts.

 20. AJ Allmendinger (16th) A so-so day for AJ at New Hampshire. Dover is much more his cup of tea.

 21. Jeff Burton (22nd) With his 13th-place run, he has finished a very Burton-like 12th to 16th in the past five races at Loudon.

 22. Regan Smith (25th) Smith scored his first top 10 since finishing third at the Brickyard two months ago.

 23. Paul Menard (20th) Menard’s 20th-place run was undistinguished. But after teammate Harvick questioned Landon Cassill’s spin, Menard’s legacy may be the suspicion surrounding team orders.

 24. Joey Logano (23rd) Logano struggled but salvaged a 14th-place finish. We shouldn’t be surprised: Logano’s win and other two top 10s at the track have come in the summer races at Loudon. His finishes in the four fall races: 32nd, 21st, 35th and 14th.

 25. Brian Vickers (NR) Vickers led four laps. That might not sound like a big deal, but he hadn’t led a lap all season. His fifth-place finish was his second top five of the year.