Final Sporting News Power Poll

Final 2011 Sporting News Power Poll

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 22, 2011)

Tony Stewart is the Sprint Cup champion and, no surprise, the unanimous No. 1 in the final weekly Sporting News Power Poll. Stewart won the Chase even though Carl Edwards set a Chase era record with an average finish of 4.9 for the final 10 races. Edwards, also no surprise, is second in the poll. Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne, the only non-Chase driver in the top 10, round out the top five in voting by editors and writers of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

1. Tony Stewart (last week: 1st) Smoke won 50 percent of the Chase races en route to his third Cup championship. Tie goes to the winner.

 2. Carl Edwards (2nd) Will his heartbreaking tiebreaker loss to Stewart haunt or inspire Edwards? We’re betting on the inspiration.

 3. Matt Kenseth (4th) Kenseth had a great season, but he’ll spend the offseason wondering what might have been—and contemplating when and how he’ll get back at Brian Vickers.

 4. Kevin Harvick (3rd) Maybe next year. And maybe folding up KHI will help him focus fully on that elusive Cup championship.

 5. Kasey Kahne (5th) Just how good can Kahne be with Hendrick behind him? The last month or two at Red Bull should have him pretty excited.

 6. Jeff Gordon (10th) Gordon finished 2011 in eighth place. In 19 years as a full-time driver on the Cup circuit, Gordon has ended the season with a single-digit ranking 17 times.

 7. Brad Keselowski (7th) BK had better get used to electronic fuel injection before next season—and stop talking about it.

 8. Jimmie Johnson (6th) Carburetor issues contributed to Five-Time’s 32nd-place finish and left him outside the top five in points for the first time in his career.

 9. Denny Hamlin (9th) Hamlin finished the season on an OK note—four top 10s in the last six races—but if things aren’t better at the No. 11 early next year, expect big changes.

 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th) A seventh-place finish in the points is a major step forward for the 88 team.

 11. Clint Bowyer (12th) Bowyer had seven top 10s during the Chase, nearly doubling the total he had in the first 26 races. And with Michael Waltrip Racing finishing strong, he has to feel good about 2012.

 12. Ryan Newman (8th) Newman ran around the top 10 for most of the day, but he never got the track position needed to contend. Still, a 10th-place points finish was five better than 2010.

 13. Kyle Busch (15th) A 12th-place finish in the Chase is no surprise, considering KyBu ran only nine races.

 14. AJ Allmendinger (14th) AJ finished 2011 with a 15th at Homestead—slightly better than the 16.1 he averaged for the season.

 15. Martin Truex Jr. (21st) Truex finished the season on a solid note with third-place run at Homestead and climbed five spots, to 18th, in the final standings.

 16. Jeff Burton (18th) Burton said during a rain delay how much he wanted to finish in the top 20 in points. Mission accomplished with a 10th-place finish.

 17. Kurt Busch (13th) Busch spent much of the Chase doing his best Angry Birds imitation and berating his crew. Now we find out if crew chief Steve Addington returns.

 18. Greg Biffle (16th) Even Biffle is probably glad it was his engine to go at Homestead, not Edwards’.

 19. Marcos Ambrose (17th) His was one of three Roush Yates engines to go south in South Beach.

 20. Paul Menard (19th) RCR’s shift to three cars next year should actually benefit Menard. His team will be stronger across the board.

 21. Mark Martin (20th) Martin exits Hendrick Motorsports now for part-time duty at Michael Waltrip Racing. Expect a dalliance or two with a full-time schedule in the future.

 22. Joey Logano (24th) About the only good thing about this season is the Lowe’s car didn’t win the championship.

 23. Juan Pablo Montoya (22nd) A variety of issues, including contact with the wall, resulted in a 31st-place finish that knocked Montoya out of the top 20 in points, his worst points finish since 2009.

 24. David Reutimann (23rd) Reutimann capped a miserable season in typical form. Now he must ponder his next career move.

 25. Brian Vickers (NR) Vickers’ season ends with a 17th-place finish in perhaps his last race for Red Bull.