Sporting News Power Poll after Chicagoland
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 21, 2011)
That Tony Stewart had been winless all year is now a footnote to the Sprint Cup season. Smoke's victory in the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the opening race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, jumped him to second in the Cup standings and to fourth in the weekly Sporting News Power Poll. Stewart had been 10th in the poll. Kevin Harvick, who ran second Monday, moved from fifth to first in the power poll, which is a weekly collaboration of Sporting News, SceneDaily.com, Rowdy.com and NASCAR Illustrated.
1. Kevin Harvick (last week: 5th). A great day for Harvick: He didn't run out of gas, he came home second and he grabbed the Chase lead.
2. Carl Edwards (4th). The master of fuel mileage saved a top-five finish by saving gas while others failed.
3. Jimmie Johnson (3rd). Johnson saw a likely third-place result go by the board when he ran dry on fuel nearing the finish. Is his luck running dry as well?
4. Tony Stewart (10th). First win of the season, first race of the Chase. Pretty good timing for Smoke.
5. Brad Keselowski (6th). Chase butterflies? You've got to be kidding. Keselowski still finished fifth after a gutsy pit call got squelched by a caution.
6. Matt Kenseth (8th). Kenseth had a strong run going until fuel mileage entered the equation and then got a really bad break when JJ Yeley pushed his out-of-gas car on the final lap.
7. Kurt Busch (7th). Busch was having a miserable day and lost his cool until fuel mileage played in his favor.
8. Jeff Gordon (1st). Started 23rd, was 25th at the halfway point and finished 24th. That's the wrong kind of consistency, Jeff.
9. Kyle Busch (2nd). Busch was burned by flying debris and a fuel shortage. Yet another rocky start for a top seed in the Chase.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th). Junior's Chicagoland run looked a lot like the strong start to the 2011 regular season—saving enough gas to run third was nice, too.
11. Ryan Newman (9th). His owner-teammate got the win, but Newman was the picture of consistency at Chicagoland. He finished eighth despite running out of gas on the final lap.
12. Clint Bowyer (16th). If he signs with Michael Waltrip Racing for more money than he could get at Richard Childress Racing, it's still a step down in his career.
13. Mark Martin (15th). "Old Man Winner" cranked out a top-10 finish. He's not going quietly into that great night of semi-retirement.
14. Denny Hamlin (11th). Hamlin had a better car than his 31st-place finish indicates. But he's already 41 points behind the leader. One race into the Chase, and Hamlin's already a long shot.
15. David Ragan (17th). Running for his professional life in Cup, Ragan was forced to conserve too much fuel at Chicago. Given that, his 11th-place result was better than it appeared.
16. AJ Allmendinger (13th). No speed in Chicago for the Dinger, and he loses the lucky 13th spot in the standings to Bowyer, too.
17. Martin Truex Jr. (18th). Strategy put him out front, but a top-five finish was doomed because of fuel mileage.
18. Kasey Kahne (19th). Kahne recovered from hitting the wall to finish 12th. He had a good car at Chicagoland and must be looking forward to Loudon, where he finished sixth in July.
19. Greg Biffle (14th). It's a long, long way from 2008 when Biffle ran 1-1-3 in the first three Chase races.
20. Paul Menard (23rd). Can we consider the week a success because Menard had no suspicious spins? Controversy notwithstanding, Menard qualified second then slipped through the field. He has fallen to 23rd in the points now.
21. Juan Pablo Montoya (20th). It wasn't a sterling run for the 42 team, but it still scraped a top-15 finish out of it.
22. Jeff Burton (24th). Burton has developed Allmendinger's top-15 consistency, but what's good for the Dinger isn't good for the Burton.
23. Joey Logano (25th). It was a pure struggle at Chicagoland. Logano finished 16th and that was about as high as he ran all day after falling back from 10th in the first 50 laps.
24. Marcos Ambrose (22nd). Ambrose recorded his 16th lead-lap finish, which equals his season mark from a year ago.
25. Regan Smith (NR). Smith did a fine job saving fuel and was rewarded with his 13th top 20 of the season. His 17th-place finish was better than four Chasers.
2. Carl Edwards (4th). The master of fuel mileage saved a top-five finish by saving gas while others failed.
3. Jimmie Johnson (3rd). Johnson saw a likely third-place result go by the board when he ran dry on fuel nearing the finish. Is his luck running dry as well?
4. Tony Stewart (10th). First win of the season, first race of the Chase. Pretty good timing for Smoke.
5. Brad Keselowski (6th). Chase butterflies? You've got to be kidding. Keselowski still finished fifth after a gutsy pit call got squelched by a caution.
6. Matt Kenseth (8th). Kenseth had a strong run going until fuel mileage entered the equation and then got a really bad break when JJ Yeley pushed his out-of-gas car on the final lap.
7. Kurt Busch (7th). Busch was having a miserable day and lost his cool until fuel mileage played in his favor.
8. Jeff Gordon (1st). Started 23rd, was 25th at the halfway point and finished 24th. That's the wrong kind of consistency, Jeff.
9. Kyle Busch (2nd). Busch was burned by flying debris and a fuel shortage. Yet another rocky start for a top seed in the Chase.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th). Junior's Chicagoland run looked a lot like the strong start to the 2011 regular season—saving enough gas to run third was nice, too.
11. Ryan Newman (9th). His owner-teammate got the win, but Newman was the picture of consistency at Chicagoland. He finished eighth despite running out of gas on the final lap.
12. Clint Bowyer (16th). If he signs with Michael Waltrip Racing for more money than he could get at Richard Childress Racing, it's still a step down in his career.
13. Mark Martin (15th). "Old Man Winner" cranked out a top-10 finish. He's not going quietly into that great night of semi-retirement.
14. Denny Hamlin (11th). Hamlin had a better car than his 31st-place finish indicates. But he's already 41 points behind the leader. One race into the Chase, and Hamlin's already a long shot.
15. David Ragan (17th). Running for his professional life in Cup, Ragan was forced to conserve too much fuel at Chicago. Given that, his 11th-place result was better than it appeared.
16. AJ Allmendinger (13th). No speed in Chicago for the Dinger, and he loses the lucky 13th spot in the standings to Bowyer, too.
17. Martin Truex Jr. (18th). Strategy put him out front, but a top-five finish was doomed because of fuel mileage.
18. Kasey Kahne (19th). Kahne recovered from hitting the wall to finish 12th. He had a good car at Chicagoland and must be looking forward to Loudon, where he finished sixth in July.
19. Greg Biffle (14th). It's a long, long way from 2008 when Biffle ran 1-1-3 in the first three Chase races.
20. Paul Menard (23rd). Can we consider the week a success because Menard had no suspicious spins? Controversy notwithstanding, Menard qualified second then slipped through the field. He has fallen to 23rd in the points now.
21. Juan Pablo Montoya (20th). It wasn't a sterling run for the 42 team, but it still scraped a top-15 finish out of it.
22. Jeff Burton (24th). Burton has developed Allmendinger's top-15 consistency, but what's good for the Dinger isn't good for the Burton.
23. Joey Logano (25th). It was a pure struggle at Chicagoland. Logano finished 16th and that was about as high as he ran all day after falling back from 10th in the first 50 laps.
24. Marcos Ambrose (22nd). Ambrose recorded his 16th lead-lap finish, which equals his season mark from a year ago.
25. Regan Smith (NR). Smith did a fine job saving fuel and was rewarded with his 13th top 20 of the season. His 17th-place finish was better than four Chasers.
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