Updated Nov. 23
Last year, in somewhat controversial fashion, we ranked Carl Edwards No. 1 ahead of 2008 Cup champion Jimmie Johnson in the final CBSSports.com NASCAR Power Rankings.
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| Jimmie Johnson leads the field in wins (seven) and laps led (2,238), and tied for the most top fives (16). (US Presswire) |
Johnson led the series with seven wins, four coming in the season's final nine races when the championship was on the line. Hamlin was the only other driver with multiple victories during the Chase -- and he also had six top fives -- but his title hopes were ultimately derailed by three DNFs.
"With three DNF's -- you look at the final point standings and call a DNF 100 points and we were right there," said Hamlin, who finished fifth in the final standings, 317 behind Johnson. "But those guys [the 48 team] have been the standard. They haven't made mistakes and that's who we ultimately want to beat. I think we're showing that we have the strength to compete with those guys. It's just that they've done a phenomenal job."
Johnson also topped the series in laps led (2,238), pacing the field for more than 20 percent of the laps run in 2009. Hamlin was a distant second with 1,380 laps led. Kyle Busch at 1,157 laps led was the only other driver to reach quadruple digits.
Stewart, in his first year as owner-driver at Stewart Haas, won the "regular-season" crown by 179 points over Gordon, picking up three wins, 13 top fives and 18 tops 10s through the season's first 26 races. But he wasn't nearly as consistent over the course of the second half of the year, finishing outside the top 10 in half of the Chase races and picking up just two top fives in the season's final 14 events.
Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammates Martin and Gordon had outstanding seasons in their own right, but neither had the complete package of Johnson.
Martin captured seven poles, which led the series, and also nabbed five wins, second-best to Johnson. But his 14 top fives were only fifth-best, while his 21 top 10s tied him for fourth-best. Like Hamlin, he was befallen by four DNFs during the season, which was second-most among drivers who finished in the top 20.
"My equipment is just as good, but I am not as good as Jimmie Johnson," conceded Martin, who finished second in the final standings for the fifth time in his career.
Gordon tied Johnson for the series lead with 16 top fives and led the series with 25 top 10s, but spent way too much time watching teammates Johnson and Martin collect winner's trophies. Gordon managed just one win, his only victory over the past two seasons.
"As a competitor it's a little bit frustrating as well as inspiring for us to try to figure out how we could go out there and win a championship for ourselves," said Gordon, who captured the last of his four championships in 2001.
Gordon, Martin, et Al were just no match for Johnson this season. Our congratulations go out to Johnson and his 48 team on their fourth consecutive Cup championship.
Final Power Rankings:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Johnson started the 2006 Chase with four consecutive finishes outside the top 10. In 36 Chase races since, he has just five finishes outside the top 10 while picking up 12 victories. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| His seven poles were a career high. His second-place points finish was his best since finishing second in 2002. His five wins and 805 laps led were his most since winning seven and leading 1,730 in 1998. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| Finished top five in nearly half of this season's races and his 25 tops 10s were tied for third most in 17 years of full-time Cup duty. | ||
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | 4 |
| He and his 11 team struggled with consistency at the start of the season, but once they found their groove, they were as good as anyone. He earned a career-high four victories and 15 of his 20 top 10s were top fives. | ||
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 5 |
| Easily his best season since joining Penske Racing in 2006 with his 21 top 10s matching his career-high set in 2004, when he captured the championship with Roush Racing. His 10 top 10s tied for second-most of his Cup career. | ||
| 6 | Tony Stewart | 6 |
| Sure he exceeded many expectations, but after such a dominating regular season where he was knocking off top fives with ease, the late-season struggles surely left the team somewhat disappointed. | ||
| 7 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 7 |
| When he started the Chase with four consecutive top fives, it looked like he had a chance to shock the world. But then things fell apart, with wrecks leading to three finishes of 35th or worse over the final six races. Overall, though, Montoya made huge strides in his third season, earning the first two poles of his career, seven top fives, 18 top 10s and 0 DNFs. In his first two seasons, he had managed just five top fives and nine top 10s while failing to finish 13 races. | ||
| 8 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
| Though he enjoyed much success with crew chief Steve Addington -- 12 wins together over the past two seasons, including four this year -- there was also much inconsistency, which cost him a spot in the Chase this season. Will new crew chief Dave Rogers be able to keep Busch in check? | ||
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | 9 |
| Though he missed the Chase, finishing 15th in the final standings, his 2009 season wasn't all that much worse than 2007 and 2008 when he finished in the top five overall. A streak of nine consecutive finishes outside the top 10 through April and May proved too much to overcome. Started to make some waves toward the end of the season. | ||
| 10 | Greg Biffle | 11 |
| While it was a down year for Roush Fenway Racing, Biffle still managed to have a relatively successful season by his standards. Though he failed to win for the first time in six years, his 10 top fives and 16 top 10s were third most of his career. His 551 laps led were his most since 2006. | ||
| 11 | Jeff Burton | 14 |
| During the last month of the season, only Johnson and Hamlin were hotter. The problem was the other nine months of the schedule. After a crew chief change to Todd Berrier, Burton ended the season with four consecutive top 10s of which three were top fives and two were runner-up finishes. However, in the season's first 32 events, Burton had managed just two top fives and six top 10s. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Two wins and a cloud of dust. Kenseth started the season with his first career Daytona 500 victory and followed up with a win the next weekend in California. It was a nightmare year after that, especially during the second half of the season. Over the final 18 races of the year, Kenseth managed just five top 10s. | ||
| 13 | Ryan Newman | 10 |
| Newman came to Stewart-Hass off of three sub-par seasons at Penske Racing. He enjoyed a slight resurgence, making the Chase for the first time since 2005, but performance dipped a bit during the Chase. He ended the season with just one top 10 over the final eight races. | ||
| 14 | Kasey Kahne | 13 |
| Amidst all the chaos at Richard Petty Motorsports, Kahne still managed to make the Chase and snag two wins, seven top fives and 14 tops 10s. With his contract expiring after the 2010 season, he's ready to start listening to offers. | ||
| 15 | Carl Edwards | 15 |
| Coming off a season in which he notched nine wins, 19 top fives and 27 top 10s, a 0-win, seven-top five and 14-top 10 performance can't be considered anything but highly disappointing. All were career lows. | ||
