Sporting News Power Poll after Bristol

Sporting News Power Poll after Bristol

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(August 29, 2011)

The voting was tight, but Kyle Busch was able to hold onto the top spot in the weekly Sporting News Power Poll despite finishing outside the top three Saturday night (14th) for the first time in four weeks. Busch just edged out Jimmie Johnson, who finished fourth at Bristol for his fifth top five in the past seven races. Jeff Gordon finished third, to remain third in the poll, and Brad Keselowski remained fourth after his second victory in four races. The power poll is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.

1. Kyle Busch (last week: 1st) Only a Nationwide win in a three-race week at Bristol? That’s the upset of the year.

 2. Jimmie Johnson (2nd) Ho-hum, just another top-five finish. He’s not winning, but you just know the rest of this year’s Chasers are already sweating Five-Time.

 3. Jeff Gordon (3rd) Gordon started fourth at Bristol, was second at midrace and finished third. That kind of performance is why the drive-for-five is alive, baby!

 4. Brad Keselowski (4th) No one else is close to the 1.75 average finish Kez has posted over the past four races. Even Jeff Gordon says Keselowski’s “on fire.”

 5. Matt Kenseth (6th) Kenseth led 110 laps and had one of the cars to beat at Bristol. He also clinched a Chase spot. Now, can he really contend?

 6. Carl Edwards (5th) Edwards has an average finish of 15.2 over the past six races. That won’t cut it in the Chase.

 7. Ryan Newman (7th) Newman scored his 48th career pole and finished eighth. He continues to outshine his boss.

 8. Kevin Harvick (8th) The TV show “Lost” is making a comeback, with Kevin Harvick starring.

 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th) He’s not as fast as he was early in the season, but he’s fast enough to make the Chase with so many struggling behind him.

 10. Kurt Busch (11th) The team was losing its momentum, and Busch killed it at Bristol with two pit-road speeding penalties.

 11. Denny Hamlin (16th) Hamlin is backing into that last Chase spot. He just has to survive at Atlanta where he has one career top-five, to get to Richmond, where he is pretty much automatic.

 12. Tony Stewart (9th) Smoke was the slowest car in qualifying and didn’t find any additional speed for the race. After that dismal performance, Darian Grubb must be feeling the heat.

 13. AJ Allmendinger (17th) Hanging in the top 15 in points, AJ is just close enough to have a (long) shot at the Chase, but he has to figure out a way to win.

 14. Clint Bowyer (12th) On a night where he could have made up major ground on Stewart, Bowyer was nearly as bad as the No. 14, finishing 26th.

 15. Kasey Kahne (15th) At 15th, Kahne isn’t out of the running for the wild card. But he’ll need one and maybe two wins to make it. It’s not impossible — see Keselowski  — but it’s not looking good.

 16. Martin Truex Jr. (21st) Forget trying to figure out this team. Truex’s runner-up finish at Bristol was his best result in a points race since 2007.

 17. Greg Biffle (13th) With Stewart struggling, the Biff’s average finish at Michigan and Bristol would have been a big boost—instead he’s fading fast.

 18. Joey Logano (18th) Logano was bad then good then mediocre. He finished 13th Saturday.

 19. Marcos Ambrose (23rd) Ambrose scored another Bristol top 10, his third in six starts. Watkins Glen is the only track at which he has more (four).

 20. Mark Martin (14th) Good feelings lingered from a top five at Michigan, but Martins’ run-in with Brian Vickers at Bristol left those and his car in tatters.

 21. Paul Menard (20th) Every RCR car looked lost at Bristol, and Menard was the worst. His 30th-place run dropped him to 20th. A bad run at Atlanta could push him out of wild-card contention.

 22. David Ragan (19th) Ragan dropped out of top 20 in points with a 20th-place finish, and the guy in 20th now is Menard. It’s not boding well for Ragan’s wild-card chances.

 23. Regan Smith (22nd) Smith finished 18th at Bristol, his second-best effort at the track in eight starts.

 24. Jeff Burton (24th) Six top-20 finishes in the last seven races are pretty good—for Andy Lally.

 25. Jamie McMurray (NR) McMurray has two top fives in the past five weeks. It’s not last year’s success, but it’s not this year’s doldrums, either.