Sporting News Power Poll after New Hampshire

Sporting News Power Poll after New Hampshire

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 19, 2011)

For a third straight week, we have a new leader in the Sporting News Power Poll. Two weeks ago, it was Kevin Harvick. Last week it was Kyle Busch. And now we have Carl Edwards, though he finished only 13th in the race at New Hampshire . The power poll is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

1. Carl Edwards (last week: 2nd). What are the odds a driver could retake the points lead with a 13th-place finish? That's what Edwards did at Loudon.

2. Jimmie Johnson (4th). Johnson rallied to a top-five finish after late contact and spin with Juan Pablo Montoya. Gutty effort and what championships are made of.

3. Kurt Busch (3rd). Busch ran strong but faded in the end. He still finished 10th to gain a spot in the points standings.

4. Kyle Busch (1st). Kyle is no dummy. He blamed his tire, not contact with
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevy, for a hard hit against the Turn 2 wall.

5. Ryan Newman (8th). Newman turned in a dominant performance at a most opportune time. He heads into the break with a win and a bit of breathing room inside the top 10.

6. Kevin Harvick (5th). Uh-oh: A second straight race where none of the RCR cars were part of the story. Harvick's last top five came six races ago, which has to be cause for some concern.

7. Jeff Gordon (7th). He just keeps going and going and going …

8. Denny Hamlin (9th). Hamlin didn't lead a lap for the first time in eight races. On the other hand, he finished third despite going for a spin.

9. Matt Kenseth (6th). Kenseth was practically invisible at New Hampshire and came home with a ho-hum 20th-place finish.

10. Tony Stewart (10th). Stewart-Haas finished right where it started, 1-2. Unfortunately for Smoke, he was the 2.

11. David Ragan (13th). Don't look now but Ragan is 13th in points. He may not need a wild card to make the Chase at this rate.

12. Joey Logano (18th). A fourth-place finish put Logano 18th in points. If only the season had just started a month ago, Logano would be leading, as he has the most points in the last four races.

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th). Junior's not panicking, but with a cushion of seven points over 11th, it might be time for his fans to start.

14. Kasey Kahne (15th). Kahne finished sixth and moved up three spots in the standings to 14th. He hasn't been this high since the fifth race of the season when he was ninth.

15. Clint Bowyer (12th). Bowyer's time spent in the shop didn't help his performance at New Hampshire . His hole is getting bigger with seven races left before the Chase field is set.

16. AJ Allmendinger (22nd). A quiet 12th place at New Hampshire was AJ's fourth top 15 in the last five races—but that wasn't enough to save crew chief Mike Shiplett's job.

17. Greg Biffle (17th). Eighteenth isn't going to get it done for the Biff. He's now 15th in the points and fading.

18. Marcos Ambrose (23rd). A ninth-place finish moved Ambrose to five points of the top 20. BTW, Bobby Labonte finished two spots ahead of him in the car he left behind to go to RPM.

19. Martin Truex Jr. (24th). Truex's eighth-place run was badly needed after stumbling at Daytona and Kentucky . But back-to-back top 10s have been a rarity for this team.

20. Mark Martin (19th). Martin had a midpack finish Sunday highlighted by a spin in front of the field. He's probably ready to move on to 2012 right about now.

21. Juan Pablo Montoya (16th). Montoya drew the ire of Five-Time after contact between the two, then ran out of gas coming to the finish to fall four spots in the points standings.

22. Brad Keselowski (14th). Keselowski's wild-card chances took a serious hit about the same time the Blue Deuce hit the Turn 4 wall.

23. Paul Menard (20th). Menard finished 24th for the second week in a row and third time this season. Yawn.

24. David Reutimann (21st). Reutimann finished 19th a week after finishing second. Typical of his season.

25. Jeff Burton (NR). Somehow, he was the best RCR car, finishing 16th, but that's still not saying much for him or RCR.