NASCAR Power Rankings: Lowes 2

What you see here is a sample of what you can find of mine from Onpitrow.com. It looks better there but you can also read it here.

1- Jimmie Johnson- 5 Wins, 19 Top Tens

I know Pat Riley has the term three-peat patented, but I’m not sure if anyone owns four-peat? If you go to four-peat.com then you’ll find that the site is currently under development. So do you think Jimmie Johnson might be the owner of that?

2- Mark Martin- 5 Wins, 18 Top Tens

Martin’s put up a valiant effort so far but in order for him to win the championship he needs to start winning some of these races again or somehow find a way to deny Johnson.

3- Juan Pablo Montoya- 6 Top Fives, 16 Top Tens

Could you imagine the gripes that would happen in NASCAR nation if Montoya won the championship winless!! Montoya’s running good enough for it to happen and history could be made.

4- Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 21 Top Tens

The 24 is getting back on track and there’s still plenty of time for Gordon to make his move. Somehow he needs to overcome his 105 point deficit on his own because you can’t count on the 48 having problems.

5- Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 17 Top Tens

Each week the 2 car has been losing ground on the leaders and they really haven’t even had any real problems yet. In order for them to win the championship they must be competitively mistake free for the remainder of the Chase.

6- Tony Stewart- 4 Wins, 21 Top Tens

I have no clue how this team is only 84 points out of the lead. They certainly haven’t really been on par with the other leaders consistently in the Chase.

7- Denny Hamlin- 2 Wins, 16 Top Tens

Hamlin did crash at California and finish very poorly but the important thing to note here is that he was leading at the time. His championship hopes are now smashed because he now sits -219 points out of the lead.

8- Greg Biffle- 9 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens

In terms of Chase competitiveness Biffle and below in my Power Rankings is the dividing line of the “Have’s and the have not’s”. Biffle and the other drivers below him are not on par performance wise with the higher ranked drivers.

9- Carl Edwards- 7 Top Fives, 13 Top Tens

Edwards was about a 20th place car until late in the race when the cautions started. The 99 team was able to take advantage of the situation and raced up to 6th place with their fresh tires.

10- Kasey Kahne- 2 Wins, 12 Top Tens

Kasey Kahne might not be making a splash in the Chase this year but he is leading the phantom caution discussion which is an important topic.

11- Ryan Newman- 5 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens

Ryan Newman’s biggest friend at California was attrition and caution flags. At Lowes Motor Speedway I’m going to put my money on Megatron because I know Optimus Prime won’t be competitive.

12- Brian Vickers- 1 Win, 13 Top Tens

Vickers is lucky that he’s locked in the top 12 otherwise he would be racing for about 20th about now. In the four Chase races this year Vickers average finish is 23.75.