Sporting News Power Poll

Jimmie Johnson’s misfortune was to Carl Edwards’ benefit in this week’s Sporting News Power Poll. With Edwards’ third straight top-five finish (and sixth in the past seven races), the driver of the No. 99 climbed back atop our list. Johnson, meanwhile, took a hard tumble to sixth. The power poll is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

1. Carl Edwards (last week: 2nd) At the top of the standings after another top five, Edwards now faces his real test—back-to-back races at Talladega and Martinsville.

 2. Matt Kenseth (5th) Look out, sly old Kenseth is now in position to steal this championship after his big win at Charlotte.

 3. Kevin Harvick (3rd) He says he’s right where he needs to be with five races left. Considering his recent success at the remaining five tracks, you can’t disagree with him.

 4. Kyle Busch (8th) Despite a second-place finish to Edwards' third, Busch made little headway in the standings. He's right. He needs a win to get in the game.

 5. Tony Stewart (6th) Smoke had the dominant car for the first half of the race and led 94 laps. An eighth-place finish had to be disappointing.

 6. Jimmie Johnson (1st) Johnson’s wreck at Charlotte was as surprising as it was damaging to his championship bid, but count him out at your own peril.

 7. Brad Keselowski (4th) At Charlotte, NASCAR's wunderkind was, well, ordinary. How "off" was the car? Salvaging 16th was a triumph.

 8. Kurt Busch (7th) Another mediocre run cost him valuable ground in the Chase. He may need to win again to climb back in the race.

 9. Kasey Kahne (11th) After three straight top-fives, Kahne and Red Bull are in high gear. They’ve been so strong at intermediate tracks that they should be among the favorites at Texas in three weeks.

 10. Ryan Newman (14th) Gave up a few spots when others pitted for fresh tires and he stayed on the track late in the race. Held on to earn second top-10 finish in Chase, though.

 11. Jeff Gordon (9th) Gordon has finished worse than 20th in three of the five Chase races and is now ranked behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ouch.

 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th) An unscheduled stop for a loose wheel didn’t help on a night when Junior was stuck in the middle of the pack.

 13. Denny Hamlin (16th) After Harvick questioned Hamlin’s mental toughness in last year’s Chase, Hamlin got his first top 10 since Richmond.

 14. Greg Biffle (13th) Charlotte wasn’t the first time this season that the 16 was the fastest car but had trouble (caught by the caution, wrecked).

 15. Marcos Ambrose (17th) That’s three top 10s in a row for the first time in Ambrose’s career. Is he building toward an oval win in 2012?

 16. AJ Allmendinger (18th) During a hit-or-miss season, Charlotte was a hit for AJ—all the Fords were fast on Saturday.

 17. Clint Bowyer (12th) Open wide and yawn at a 24th-place finish.

 18. David Ragan (19th) Jack Roush said the No. 17 would run with or without sponsorship next year after teammate Matt Kenseth won at Charlotte. Unfortunately for Ragan, that does not hold true for the No. 6.

 19. Juan Pablo Montoya (21st) Finished 14th, and on the lead lap, at Charlotte. For this team, that’s progress.

 20. Paul Menard (20th) In the 11 races since he won at Indy and entered the fight for the Chase wild card, Menard’s average finish is a lackluster 21.4. Time to start working on 2012 setups.

 21. Jeff Burton (22nd) Still amazing that a driver of his caliber has only one top 10 on the season.

 22. Mark Martin (15th) Broken wheel hub sent Martin to the garage, and team used balance of the race as test session once he returned to the track. Five to go in Hendrick swan song.

 23. Martin Truex Jr. (25th) Hasn’t had a top-10 finish since Bristol in August.

 24. Joey Logano (NR) A 12th-place run was his best finish in his last nine races.

 25. Regan Smith (23rd) The series returns to Talladega, site of Smith’s near win in 2008. Wouldn’t it be something if Smith actually won, giving him two wins for the year?