SCS NASCAR Power Rankings: Talladega
The boys of NASCAR were in Talladega this week. Who danced to Victory Lane and who got dumped? We’ve got you covered!
Jimmie Johnson was this week’s winner, and he moves up two spots in the rankings to second. Carl Edwards holds the top spot. Clint Bowyer was the big winner in the rankings, up four spots. The big loser is David Ragan, down five slots after a crash/blown engine.
New this week are Joey Logano and David Gilliland. They replace Marcos Ambrose and Kasey Kahne.
So without further adieu, here are this week’s SCS NASCAR Power Rankings:
1. Carl Edwards(Last Week: 1[+/-0]): Carl was leading on the final lap of the Aaron’s 499 for the second time in three years. He still lost the race, but fortunately he kept it on all four wheels this time and held on to the points lead.
2. Jimmie Johnson(LW: 4[+2]):Jimmie finally got a win in 2011. And who woulda’ thunk it would come at Talladega, and not be smothered in some kind of controversy.
3. Kevin Harvick(LW: 5[+2]): If I could speak three words to anybody in the world, I would say these three words to Not-So-Happy: Kids eat free.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr(LW: 6[+2]): Junior has now strung together 6 straight top 12 finishes and sits third in the standings. Yes, that Junior.
5. Matt Kenseth(LW: 2[-3]): It’s unfortunate Matt got taken out, but what you have to realize is that he and Kurt Busch would have had to switch at some point and that he would have been taken out eventually anyway.
6. Kyle Busch(LW: 3[-3]): Another tough break for Kyle, who had another top 10 run go awry. Somebody please tell this guy the Chase hasn’t started yet.
7. Clint Bowyer(LW: 11[+4]):With Matt Kenseth’s problems, The Boy just became the hottest driver in NASCAR. With another runner-up finish(this one a bit closer than the last), Clint now sits in a Chase spot at 10th.
8. Kurt Busch(LW: 9[+1]):You have to excuse Kurt. He wanted to take out more cars at Talladega, but he only just received his license from the Michael Waltrip School of Drafting.
9. Paul Menard(LW: 10[+1]): Paul was fast once again this week. 12th probably isn’t what he was looking for, but I’m sure he and the team will take it.
10. Ryan Newman(LW: 7[-3]):Look, Rocketman never took flight and kept it on all four wheels. I don’t know what more you could want from him at Talladega.
11. Juan Pablo Montoya(LW: 8[-3]): Juan ran well, but was an innocent victim of circumstances. And Ryan Newman owes him a thank you card.
12. Jeff Gordon(LW: 16[+4]): Gordon hung out at the back all day, but when the chips were down he ate up the competition. Except Jimmie.
13. Mark Martin(LW: 15[+2]): See: Gordon, Jeff.
14. AJ Allmendinger(LW: 14[+/-0]):Another finish in the 11-19 range for Dinger. Not bad, but it cost him two spots in the standings.
15. Tony Stewart(LW: 11[-4]):Smoke drafted with a lot of people: Dave Blaney, David Gilliland, pretty much everybody except an Australian short-track owner.
16. Greg Biffle(LW: 17[+1]):Biff was pretty solid at Talladega, and he made it out of there with a nice top 10 finish. I’m sure he’ll take it.
17. David Ragan(LW: 12[-5]):When Ragan realized he wasn’t going to win, he wanted to go out big. Too bad the Penske boys had to steal the spotlight from him. I saw your fire, David. And I thought it was pretty awesome.
18. Joey Logano(LW: NR):Jo Lo makes his first appearance in the rankings this week after earning his first top 10 of the season. This is like that awkward feeling you get when you meet somebody new in high school. I don’t really know what else to say.
19. Denny Hamlin(LW: 20[+1]):Hamster was a model of perseverance at Talladega. He tried to wreck Newman once in Turn 4, but Montoya wouldn’t haven’t. So he tried again on the backstretch and succeeded! See? Perseverance.
20. David Gilliland(LW: NR):Ol’ Gilly has two top 10s on the season so far. Atta boy, David. Atta boy.