NASCAR Power Index – Michigan
1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1) – Jimmie continues to thrive even when the racing Gods seem to have other things in mind. After cutting a tire on Lap 87, the six-time Cup winner rallied back in the second half of the race to finish third. Johnson’s nine top-5 finishes trails only Kevin Harvick (10).
2. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 3) – Truex led the most laps for the fourth straight race, eventually winning his first race in 69 tries. Truex is locked into the Chase, and he joins Harvick as the only drivers to finish in the Top 10 in all but one race this season.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 2) – As great as it is for a driver to post ten top-two finishes in 14 races, it must be frustrating to still see a “two” in the win column for the No. 4 team. But Harvick has finished outside the Top 20 just once, something that every other driver besides Martin Truex Jr. cannot say.
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4. Joey Logano (LW: 5) – It was a day of overcoming adversity for Logano. He worked his way up to 24th after being forced to start the race at the rear due to a gear change. But a pit road speeding penalty on his first stop resulted in a pass-through penalty. He got through it all, ending up fourth.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 4) – A disappointing 11th-place finish resulted from Junior getting together with teammate Kasey Kahne with 35 laps to go. The driver of the No. 88 felt he had “a third-place car”. He does, however, still own the third-best average finish over the last six races (7.67).
6. Matt Kenseth (LW: 7) – Like Logano, Kenseth also overcame an early speeding penalty on pit road. He also survived an eventual encounter with Jimmie Johnson to score his 5th finish inside the Top 7 in his last 7 races.
7. Kurt Busch (LW: 9) – Despite starting on the pole, Busch failed to lead a lap. But he still had a top-5 car for most of the day, ending up fifth. He has accumulated as many or more points in 11 races (379) than guys like Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards have in 14.
8. Jeff Gordon (LW: 6) – The four-time Sprint Cup champion’s Chevrolet was not bad, but it wasn’t great, either. Strategy got Gordon to the front on Lap 93, but when the caution flew on the very next lap, he was forced to pit from the lead, and never found his way back to the front.
9. Brad Keselowski (LW: 8) – Keselowski lacked the speed to get to the front, especially late in the race. And a 17th-place effort is probably not what the team had in mind coming in. After finishing six of the first seven races in the Top 10, Keselowski has notched just two top-10 finishes in the seven races since.
10. Kasey Kahne (LW: 10) – Kahne fought his car for most of the day. And although he did lead a few laps, he ended up 13th. Contact with Dale Jr. probably didn’t help matters either. Kahne has only finished in the Top 10 once in his last five.
11. Denny Hamlin (LW: 12) – It’s been an up-and-down year for the JGR driver, who ran inside the Top 10 for a good chunk of the race, before crossing the finish line 10th. Hamlin’s other recent finishes of 21st, 8th, 41st, 9th, and 22nd are just a further statement of consistency issues this team has endured. But their win at Talladega at least assures them a spot in the Chase.
12. Jamie McMurray (LW: 13) – Jamie’s lucky number this week? Seven. He finished seventh for the second straight week, and currently holds the first wild-card spot in the Chase standings (seventh in points overall).
13. Ryan Newman (LW: 11) – As the laps were winding down, Newman was making his way forward. Unfortunately, AJ Allmendinger appeared to get into Ryan’s left rear on Lap 141, sending both cars from the Top 10 to (ultimately) just inside the Top 40. The RCR driver currently holds the sixth and final wild-card spot on the Chase Grid.
14. Kyle Busch (LW: 14) – The younger Busch brother didn’t have the speed in his car that he had the last couple weeks. But he still managed to take a tough-handling race car and keep it inside the Top 10 when the checkered flag waved. Busch needs an average finish of roughly 12.5 and a victory in the final 12 races of the regular season to qualify for the Chase.
15. Carl Edwards (LW: 15) – Edwards has yet to take advantage of starting up front other than his victory at Charlotte. He started outside Kurt Busch on Sunday and led some laps early, but was nowhere near the contenders when it mattered (15th). He’s on pace for just FIVE top-10 finishes. He has never finished a full season with fewer than 13.
