SCS NASCAR Power Rankings: Richmond
The boys of NASCAR were in Richmond this week for some short track racing. Who had enough to go the distance and who fell short? We’ve got you covered!
Carl Edwards maintains the top spot this weekend, simply because he is the man. Kyle Busch was the Richmond winner, and he moved up four spots to second in the rankings. Our big winners this week are AJ Allmendinger and Tony Stewart, up five spots each. The big loser was Jeff Gordon, down six slots.
Kasey Kahne is our newest addition this week. He replaces David Gilliland.
And now, without further adieu, here are this week’s SCS NASCAR Power Rankings!
1. Carl Edwards(Last Week: 1[+/-0]): Consistent Carl just continues to string together good runs. The #99 is a championship caliber team this year.
2. Kyle Busch(LW: 6[+4]): Rowdy showed us Saturday night just how well he and his team can do when they’re at the top of their game. The Richmond Spring race always makes them look good though, so we’ll see if they can carry the momentum on to Darlington.
3. Clint Bowyer(LW: 7[+4]): The Boy just keeps it going, as he notched his fifth consecutive top 10 Saturday night. Clint is the hottest driver in NASCAR right now, no questions asked.
4. Jimmie Johnson(LW: 2[-2]): Jimmie is usually pretty good, and he salvaged a decent finish Saturday night. But when J.J. gets a lap down, lead-lap cars beware. You might be the next Joey Logano, and that’s not a good thing.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr(LW: 4[-1]): I’d say Junior should have finished better than 19th Saturday night, but that’s a lie. He finished right about where he ran most of the night; he just didn’t do it in the fashion everybody expected.
6. Kevin Harvick(LW: 3[-3]): The Closer earned a no decision in the result of the race Saturday night. Not-So-Happy was a non-factor all race long.
7. Matt Kenseth(LW: 5[-2]): Matty K. had the title sponsor of the race on his car Saturday night. That did not mean he could go wherever he wanted. Just ask Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard.
8. Kurt Busch(LW: 8[+/-0]): As badly as Kurt ran Saturday night, I really wanted to move him down the rankings. But everybody below him did worse.
9. AJ Allmendinger(LW: 14[+5]): I was diggin’ the Nautica car, but I still miss the hotness of the Insignia car. Hotness: is that even a word? I guess it is now.
10. Tony Stewart(LW: 15[+5]): Tony “Coming To An Australian Short Track Near You/Smoke” Stewart turned a bad night into a good night and cracked the top 10 in points once again. Now his teammate, on the other hand…
11. Ryan Newman(LW: 10[-1]): Not that Rocketman did anything wrong, but I liked how NASCAR didn’t do anything about the Montoya situation. I would hope to see revenge at Darlington by Newman. A good rivalry is just what NASCAR needs.
12. Juan Pablo Montoya(LW: 11[-1]): I just thought it would be nice if I could put Juan next to his buddy, Ryan.
13. Paul Menard(LW: 9[-4]): Paul was just a victim of circumstances at Richmond. The good news is he’s still running very well.
14. Mark Martin(LW: 13[-1]): Mark did one of those things Saturday night where he wrecked and then finished in the top 15. I love it when he does that.
15. David Ragan(LW: 17[+2]): Ragan now has three top 10s in the last four races, with the lone exception being the crap-shoot we call Talladega. Is 2008’s version of David Ragan back?
16. Denny Hamlin(LW: 19[+3]): Denny got his swagger back at Richmond, contending for the win and finishing second. No time for the team to pat themselves on the back though. They have lots of work to do.
17. Greg Biffle(LW: 16[-1]): Biff was better than the final results showed Saturday night, and it may not be out of the realm of possibility that we’ll see all four Roush cars make the Chase.
18. Jeff Gordon(LW: 12[-6]): He hits the wall in the worst flippin’ places. Just ask him.
19. Joey Logano(LW: 18[-1]): Joey will be 21 soon, so here’s some words of advice: Don’t drink and drive; and whatever you do, stay away from the #48 car when he’s having a bad night.
20: Kasey Kahne(LW: NR): It’s been a season of Good Kasey/Bad Kasey once again for Kahne. Saturday night, we got to see Good Kasey.