Sporting News Power Poll after Talladega

Sporting News Power Poll after Talladega

 

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(October 25, 2011)

 

What do the top four drivers in this week’s Sporting News Power Poll have in common? They all survived Sunday’s race at Talladega. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth remain 1-2 in the Power Poll and also are 1-2 in the Chase standings. Brad Keselowski finished fourth and moved up to third in the poll and the points standings. Tony Stewart finished seventh and moved up a spot to fourth in the power poll, which is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

 

1. Carl Edwards (last week: 1st) How do you expand your points lead by riding around in the back? Count on your closest competitors to find trouble.

 

2. Matt Kenseth (2nd) Normally, an 18th-place finish would be nothing to shout about. But Kenseth was fifth among the Chase drivers. That’s something to shout about. He’s second in the standings.

 

3. Brad Keselowski (7th) Opportunistic BK helped dancing partner Dave Blaney feed the children at Golden Corral for the first time this year.

 

4. Tony Stewart (5th) Paul Menard was a strong partner until the duo came upon Menard’s front-running RCR teammates. We’re sure that was just a coincidence, though.

 

5. Kevin Harvick (3rd) Dropping to fifth place in points with a 32nd-place finish likely sealed his fate. The only way Harvick gets back in is if the others above him have trouble.

 

6. Kyle Busch (4th) An innocent victim of a six-car pileup on Lap 104, Busch will need a miracle to win the title at this point.

 

7. Kasey Kahne (9th) Chase drivers, consider yourself lucky not to have Kahne breathing down your neck. At Talladega, he narrowly missed his fourth straight top five and is the hottest driver in the garage.

 

8. Jimmie Johnson (6th) The bid for No. 6 is over. He can keep the Five-Time moniker for another year at least.

 

9. Clint Bowyer (17th) A win is a great parting gift. And much to Bowyer’s credit, he’s finishing strong.

 

10. Kurt Busch (8th) Busch was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ran into a sliding wrecked car. He’s now out of the title hunt. At least he had a good seat for Game 5 of the World Series.

 

11. Denny Hamlin (13th) The guy who came within one race of winning the championship last year had trouble finding a drafting partner at Talladega. That pretty much sums up 2011 for Hamlin.

 

12. Jeff Gordon (11th) The Hendrick Motorsports stable chose not to race at Talladega. They deserved the finishes they got … which was in the next county, if we’re not mistaken.

 

13. Greg Biffle (14th) Biffle dedicated himself to teammate Edwards and pushed the No. 99 into a double-digit points lead.

 

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th) Junior was willing to wait with his partner, Johnson, to get to the front. They waited too long.

 

15. Ryan Newman (10th) Newman’s perfectly solid run went awry when boss man turned him on the frontstretch. That’ll happen in big-time auto racing.

 

16. Marcos Ambrose (15th) After being involved in at least three cautions, Ambrose was “thankful … to cross the finish line at the end.”

 

17. AJ Allmendinger (16th) He’s not in the Chase, but AJ’s 43 car played a big role in it when he was turned by teammate Ambrose.

 

18. Paul Menard (20th) Menard is good on the plate tracks; he hasn’t finished worse than 12th in a plate race this year. It’s a shame for Menard that they don’t race at them more frequently.

 

19. Jeff Burton (21st) Burton finished second for his first top five in more than a year. Considering RCR's restrictor-plate power, this finish was not a fluke.

 

20. Martin Truex Jr. (23rd) Truex ended his top-10 drought and was the highest finishing Junior! Yee-haw!

 

21. Mark Martin (22nd) Martin got caught up in the late wreck in what could be his last Cup start at Talladega. Martin has never been a big fan of Talladega, and it’d be an easy skip in any part-time schedule.

 

22. Juan Pablo Montoya (19th) Montoya Led twice for 16 laps, but his 23rd-place finish kicked him back to 20th in points. Is it 2012 yet?

 

23. Brian Vickers (NR) Great day for Vickers as he drafted with Kahne to fifth. If anything, that could help him get a Daytona 500 ride for next year.

 

24. David Ragan (18th) Ragan ran out of engine power and luck during the green-white-checkered finish. He may be out of a Cup ride in one month’s time, as well.

 

25. Joey Logano (24th) Finishing just behind Logano were Earnhardt, Johnson and Gordon. Unfortunately, Logano finished 24th.