By the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(October 26, 2010)
Denny Hamlin replaced Jimmie Johnson atop this week’s Sporting News Power Poll after his victory in Sunday’s race at Martinsville. Johnson, who finished fifth, dropped to second. Kevin Harvick is third after posting his first top-five finish in 19 starts at Martinsville. The weekly poll is a collaboration of Sporting News and Rowdy.com.
1. Denny Hamlin (last week: 2nd) Three in a row at Martinsville. Too bad the final four races aren’t at that track, too. Would be fun.
2. Jimmie Johnson (1st) How tight is this Chase? Johnson posted his fifth straight top five and loses 35 points off his lead.
3. Kevin Harvick (3rd) Career-best finish at one of his worst tracks. Harvick has to feel confident heading into Talladega, where he won in the spring.
4. Kyle Busch (4th) Apparently David Reutimann isn’t the only one who drives Kyle like an %^&*#@. Now Johnson is on the list, too.
5. Carl Edwards (6th) A solid eighth-place finish gives Edwards his fourth top 10 in the past sixth races at Martinsville—his only top 10s there in 13 starts.
6. Jeff Burton (16th) Burton’s ninth-place run snapped a streak of three straight finishes of 18th or worse and was only his third top 10 in the past two months.
7. Jamie McMurray (5th) Looks like a lock for 13th in the standings.
8. Mark Martin (13th) Oh, so that’s what it feels like to have a fast car at Martinsville. Another 15 laps, and Martin would have won that race in his beat-up 5 car.
9. Jeff Gordon (9th) It wasn’t fourth-and-long, but Gordon got punted.
10. Joey Logano (12th) Logano’s average finish over the past five races is 8.8. A lot of Chase drivers would kill for that.
11. Tony Stewart (10th) A pit-road speeding penalty had him smokin’.
12. Matt Kenseth (8th) How the mighty have fallen: Kenseth finished 15th for his 22nd top-15 finish in 2010. He had 21 last year. If we’re counting top 15s …
13. Kurt Busch (18th) No, Kurt, you don’t get to count injustices rendered upon Rusty Wallace as justification for your punting Gordon.
14. AJ Allmendinger (19th) Finished on the lead lap at Martinsville for the second time in his career.
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (24th) Led a season-high 90 laps, after excellent strategy got him to the front. Where has that been all year?
16. Greg Biffle (7th) Fast in practice, the Biff failed to survive Martinsville, finishing 33rd.
17. Ryan Newman (15th) For the first time since 2003, Newman finished Martinsville in the 30s.
18. Juan Pablo Montoya (17th) His dearth of Chase top 10s continues while his teammate has a Chase average finish of 9.3.
19. Paul Menard (23rd) Menard’s 13th-place finish is his third-best finish in the past 10 races.
20. Clint Bowyer (11th) Well, 12th place in the Chase still pays better than 13th.
21. Brad Keselowski (NR) Keselowski ran 10th at Martinsville, his first top 10 of the Cup season. He has a series-high 26 in the Nationwide Series.
22. David Reutimann (14th) Reutimann seemed poised for an uncharacteristic Martinsville top five until Keselowski reminded him where he was.
23. Kasey Kahne (25th) Ended up 14th in his first Red Bull start. In the spring Martinsville race he finished three positions worse while running for Richard Petty Motorsports.
24. David Ragan (20th) Another solid if not spectacular weekend for Ragan—he managed a 17th at Martinsville—and that’s just what this team needs.
25. Martin Truex Jr. (21st) A forgettable day at Martinsville (29th). Just another downer in a forgettable end to Year 1 at Michael Waltrip Racing.
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