NASCAR Power Poll: Johnson on Top
SportingNews.com
Apr 01, 2010
Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano used their 1-2 finish at Martinsville to jump eight and nine spots, respectively, in this week's Sporting News Power Poll. Jimmie Johnson remains No. 1, but Greg Biffle moved into second on the strength of his season-best sixth top 10. The weekly power poll is a collaboration of Sporting News and Rowdy.com.
1. Jimmie Johnson (last week 1st). How good is Johnson? He finished a "disappointing" ninth at Martinsville. That's better than the top finish of 26 Cup drivers this season.
2. Greg Biffle (5th). Spun and still carded a top 10 at his worst track. By hook or crook, he's the only driver to finish in the top 10 in every race so far.
3. Matt Kenseth (2nd). Jeff Gordon's bump ended Kenseth's run of top 10s. Otherwise, Kenseth was headed for his fourth top five.
4. Jeff Gordon (9th). Monday's third-place finish was bittersweet. Gordon was within 100 feet of the finish line when NASCAR threw the final caution and extended the race.
5. Kevin Harvick (3rd). Led 57 laps, but brake problems ruined his day. Not that big of a deal, though. Martinsville never has been his strongest track.
6. Jeff Burton (7th). Finished 20th but deserved much better. Had one of the day's best cars, if not the best, but that blown right front tire on Lap 492 cost him dearly.
7. Clint Bowyer (11th). Nice rebound (seventh-place finish) after two consecutive lackluster races. He also finished seventh in the fall race at Phoenix, the next track on the schedule.
8. Kurt Busch (4th). It has been feast or famine for Busch in 2010; three finishes of 23rd or worse and three finishes of sixth or better.
9. Joey Logano (18th). Martinsville is one of the most difficult places to drive (ask any of the Roush guys), and yet Logano avoided calamity and finished second—his second top five of the year.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (8th). Junior wasn't fast enough to contend for the win, but he remained in the top 10 in the standings with a 15th-place run.
11. Tony Stewart (6th). Nothing went right for Smoke at Martinsville, as his 26th-place finish attests.
12. Carl Edwards (13th). He stayed out of trouble and ran eighth, but Edwards is still looking for speed with the new spoiler package.
13. Denny Hamlin (21st). Fantastic victory after bulling his way to the finish. But concerns remain with his intermediate program and now his knee.
14. Brian Vickers (16th). Vickers moves into the top 12 in the standings with a sixth-place finish—his best in 32 short-track starts in the Cup series.
15. Paul Menard (14th). Has outperformed his average at every track this season and recorded career best finishes at five out of six.
16. Kyle Busch (10th). A call that worked for his teammate—four tires late—bit Busch big-time as he wrecked and finished 22nd. At least his problem gave Hamlin a shot at the win.
17. Mark Martin (12th). Cashing in all his bad-luck chips lately—problems at the end make Martinsville not kind to this Martin.
18. Martin Truex Jr. (19th). But it worked out well for this Martin, as he records his first single-digit finish at the track with an impressive fifth.
19. Ryan Newman (22nd). Newman has improved his finish with each race since Fontana. It's the same early-season trend he rode to a Chase berth in 2009.
20. Kasey Kahne (20th). For the first time this season, Kahne failed to record the field's fastest lap at least once during the race.
21. Juan Pablo Montoya (17th). Montoya has run 64 percent of his laps on the lead lap. That ranks him 29th—below David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann.
22. Jamie McMurray (15th). The Daytona 500 winner had a fast car at Martinsville, but that wasn't enough to counteract brake and tire issues.
23. Brad Keselowski (NR). Special K finished 12th in his first Cup race at Martinsville and actually showed some patience. Could our little boy be growing up?
24. Marcos Ambrose (NR). "You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record, baby, right round, round, round." Yet, he still managed to squeeze out an 11th.
25. David Reutimann (24th). Maybe Michael Waltrip needs to start looking for a new franchise.
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