Sporting News Power Poll after Bristol
Despite finishing 14th at Bristol, his worst finish in five weeks, Kevin Harvick retained the top spot in this week’s Sporting News Power Poll. He was able to hold off Kyle Busch, who won Saturday night for his first top-five Cup finish since June 6 at Pocono. Carl Edwards dropped a spot to third, and Clint Bowyer jumped to fourth with his third fourth-place finish in the past six weeks. The weekly poll is a collaboration of Sporting News and Rowdy.com.
1. Kevin Harvick (last week: 1st) Even if Harvick was just the final car on the lead lap at Bristol, settling sponsorship for 2011 is a major win for this team. Now the No. 29 team can focus exclusively on a title.
2. Kyle Busch (11th) Busch finally gets his elusive triple. Too bad Bristol speed doesn’t translate to the Chase very well.
3. Carl Edwards (2nd) Saw his streak of top 10s end at six, thanks to loose lugs in the pits, but Edwards had plenty of speed at Thunder Valley.
4. Clint Bowyer (12th) Bowyer put together a fantastic run when he needed it and now has breathing room for the final two pre-Chase races.
5. Greg Biffle (4th) Workmanlike effort at Bristol should lock him into the postseason.
6. Jeff Gordon (8th) Winless streak hits 53 races, and time is running out on the 2010 season.
7. Jamie McMurray (8th) McMurray leap-frogged to 13th in points with a strong third-place run at Bristol, but he still needs a miracle to overtake Bowyer for the final Chase spot.
8. Kurt Busch (6th) For a guy who has won at Bristol five times, Busch had a pretty quiet evening. He never led but did manage a top-10 finish.
9. Matt Kenseth (9th) After nine consecutive weeks without a top 10, guess who is now tied for the second-longest top-10 streak at two?
10. Juan Pablo Montoya (6th) If Montoya is going to send someone into the wall, he should focus on the guys between him and the Chase. Of course, that’s an awful lot of cars for one man to take out.
11. Tony Stewart (3rd) Though no fault of his own, Stewart had a horrible night at Bristol after Tony Raines ran up his tailpipe.
12. Jeff Burton (7th) All the momentum Burton built earlier this year has vanished. Could frustration be settling in?
13. David Reutimann (20th) After posting a second-place finish at Bristol, one has to wonder whether Reutimann should get food poisoning before all the races.
14. Kasey Kahne (16th) Kahne stepped it up and turned in a top five, but he’s 136 points out of 12th. Stick a fork in him.
15. Denny Hamlin (5th) Laps led in the past nine races: 35. Laps led in the first 15 races: 558. Good news for Hamlin is that Atlanta and Richmond are two good tracks for him.
16. Ryan Newman (19th) His sixth at Bristol matches his highest finish since winning the seventh race of the season, which is precisely why he won’t be running for a championship this year.
17. Jimmie Johnson (10th) Mark our words: If JJ wins at Atlanta or Richmond, all the slump talk will be long forgotten.
18. Martin Truex Jr. (14th) His 17th place at Bristol was his 16th top 20 of the year.
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (25th) Kyle Busch now has one more Cup win than the guy who replaced him at Hendrick Motorsports.
20. Joey Logano (22nd) Disappointing to see him 21st in points when he finished 20th a year ago. Is sliced bread really just chopped liver?
21. Mark Martin (18th) Everyone on the bubble stepped up at Bristol—except for Martin. It’s starting to feel like, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t reach my Chase.”
22. AJ Allmendinger (17th) Allmendinger’s plaintive cry over the radio to crew chief Mike Shiplett said it all: “We are slow out here! We have anything we can try, Mike?”
23. Paul Menard (23rd) Menard finished one lap down. In seven Bristol starts, he has finished on the lead lap once.
24. Brad Keselowski (NR) It had to be painful when Kyle Busch lapped him on Saturday night.
25. Marcos Ambrose (21st) Finishes 20th for his third straight top 20.
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