Power Rankings: Wreck jumbles standings in ultra-tight Chase race
Updated June 2
We have reached the halfway point of the Sprint Cup "regular season" and while Kyle Busch has asserted himself as the driver to beat, intrigue remains throughout much of the standings.
Dover, in fact, showed how quickly a driver (or drivers) can freefall with one bad race.
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| Stewart blames himself '100 percent' for the crash: 'It's my fault for being even anywhere close to Elliott (Sadler).' (AP) |
Despite finishing 35th, just his fourth finish outside the top 10 in 13 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to retain his third-place spot in the standings.
Most of the others in the wreck weren't as lucky.
Denny Hamlin dropped five spots to ninth after steam-rolling into the carnage and finishing 43rd.
"I came piling in there way late," Hamlin said. "I had the 43 (Bobby Labonte) right on my bumper trying not to get hit from him. When I heard wreck off Turn 2, I immediately was on the brakes. It's just these cars don't stop as well as they had in the past.
"Luckily, I wasn't the last one. It looked like guys even behind me piled in there. It's just part of the race track."
Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer also got dinged up. Bowyer's car escaped in relatively good shape but was later done in by a broken shock mount resulting in a 36th-place finish. He fell three spots to eighth in the standings.
Harvick's mangled car spent many laps in the garage. He eventually returned to the track but made up little ground, finishing 38th. He sank from seventh to 10th in the standings.
Stewart, too, fell three spots, from eighth to 11th. He, somewhat sarcastically, blamed himself.
"I take 100 percent responsibility," Stewart said. "It's my fault for being even anywhere close to Elliott. If I'm within a half a lap of him, I expect that to happen.
"Unfortunately, adversity is our motto here at Joe Gibbs Racing."
With 13 more races to go until the Chase field is set, 276 points separate sixth-place Jeff Gordon from 18th-ranked Travis Kvapil, which is a lot of drivers within a tiny window considering only two drivers (Earnhardt and Jeff Burton) can lay claim to being that close to first-place Kyle Busch in the standings.
Kasey Kahne finished 31st after also receiving damage in the early wreck but hung on to the 12th spot in the standings, just a mere eight points ahead of David Ragan and 154 in front of Kvapil.
Power Rankings after Dover:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Tony Stewart | 1 |
| It took the most incredible Chase performance in NASCAR history for Stewart to pull it off, but his five wins in the final 10 races of the playoff schedule earned Smoke his third Sprint Cup championship. Turned in one of the most driven efforts in NASCAR history Sunday to claim the title in a finale for the ages. | ||
| 2 | Carl Edwards | 2 |
| Any other year Edwards' 4.7 average finish over the course of the Chase would have been good enough to win the championship. Edwards did all he could to bring Jack Roush a Nationwide and Cup title in the same season, but could not deny Stewart. If you have to lose one first before winning a championship, Edwards is in fine shape for next year and beyond. | ||
| 3 | Matt Kenseth | 3 |
| Rebounded from a trip into the wall for a top-five finish in another vintage Kenseth performance that was indicative of his season. Had it not have been for his feud with Brian Vickers at Martinsville, perhaps Kenseth could have stayed in the draft of Stewart and Edwards to at least be in the championship picture down the stretch. But he can still be proud of his consistent campaign. | ||
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 4 |
| The 2011 season will be remembered as Keselowski's breakthrough campaign and when he firmly established himself as a Sprint Cup title contender. He was on the short end of some pit strategy Sunday but still ran at the front of the field most of the afternoon and appears poised to make the jump to the next level in 2012. | ||
| 5 | Kevin Harvick | 5 |
| Got involved in a bit of controversy with Edwards, who accused Harvick of not racing him above board. But that may be the least of Harvick's concerns as rumors of some sweeping changes at Richard Childress Racing could point to a drastically different looking 29 team next year, including a new crew chief to replace Gil Martin. | ||
| 6 | Kasey Kahne | 6 |
| Did not back down one bit from his impressive late-season performance and followed up his Phoenix win with another top-10 finish. The future of Team Red Bull may be very much in doubt but there's no wondering about where Kahne is in his career as he makes the move to Hendrick Motorsports next season. | ||
| 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 7 |
| His year went up in smoke with a very uncharacteristic spin Sunday and a finish well back in the field. But while Johnson did not meet the high level of expectations he's set for himself (could anyone, really?), he was hardly a non-factor this season. The question now is will Johnson be able to bounce back next season and if crew chief Chad Knaus is indeed calling the shots or moving on to a new role as has been speculated. | ||
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 8 |
| Bowyer showed that he's talented and a pro's pro by ending his tenure at Richard Childress Racing going as hard as he could. The next phase of his career should be very interesting to watch as he migrates to Michael Waltrip Racing as part of that organization's overhaul. | ||
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 9 |
| The 2011 season will be remembered as one of rebirth for Gordon, who broke a long winless drought while also being part of the championship picture. He had a strong car Sunday at Homestead and finished the campaign with a solid outing and one that should provide a nice boost of momentum and confidence into the offseason. | ||
| 10 | A.J. Allmendinger | 9 |
| The Richard Petty Motorsports driver didn't join the first-time winners list as many predicted but did elevate his game from last year when he was part of the uncertainty surrounding the race team. There's no reason to believe Allmendinger will lose a step in 2012, and look for him to get that first career Sprint Cup victory then. | ||
| 11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 11 |
| Had one of the fastest cars of the weekend at Homestead, which was a pleasant surprise for Earnhardt who has struggled at the track during his career. Ultimately he wasn't able to challenge for the win and will carry his victory drought into 2012. But compared to where Junior was at this time last year, there's a marked improvement for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet. | ||
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | 13 |
| It must have been bittersweet for Hamlin to return to Homestead a year after being in the thick of the title Chase. But he continued his turnaround at season's end with a strong outing and has at least a good head start to 2012, when Hamlin hopes to return to championship contention. | ||
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 14 |
| Was stout at Homestead and had the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 at the front of the field and in the mix for a potential win. But now Busch enters the most important offseason of his career as decisions will be made about his future and perhaps his role in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. The 2012 season will be the most pivotal of Busch's career and he'll need to focus on his priorities during the winter months. | ||
| 14 | Kurt Busch | 14 |
| A transmission failure on Lap 2 frustrated Busch to the boiling point early Sunday with a single-digit salute to some lucky soul caught on his in-car camera. It appears a new crew chief will take the job of trying to harness Busch next year with Steve Addington's reported departure to Stewart-Haas Racing. | ||
| 15 | Greg Biffle | 15 |
| As predicted, Biffle did challenge for a win Sunday and was in the mix until an engine failure, one of several for Roush Yates engine drivers. Showed he could be a factor at times this year but will have to find a more consistent level in 2012 to be a Chase candidate. | ||
