Power Rankings: Kyle Busch a title lock? Not with Johnson Chasing
Updated July 14
It's easy to get wrapped up in Kyle Busch's remarkable season, but let's not etch his name on the championship trophy just yet.
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| Chase is the perfect word when it comes to Jimmie Johnson during the final 10 races. (Getty Images) |
And it wasn't as if Gordon was a slouch in those final 10 either. He had two victories, six top fives and nine top 10s, and it still wasn't enough to hold off Johnson and the 48 team, which has had a knack for turning it up a notch late in the season.
Johnson had won four times with six top fives and led a lap in all but one Chase race en route to the 2007 championship. In 2006, he finished first or second in five of the final six races. In finishing second in 2004, he won four of the final six races. And in 2003, he ended the season finishing second or third in the final six.
So you can rest assured the 48 team will harken back to the one that got away Saturday night at Chicagoland as they fixate on putting an end to Busch's dominant run.
"On that last restart, I should have given him the inside," Johnson said. "For a two-lap shootout, the outside always wins. I didn't make the best decision there on the restart. I apologized to my guys and to Lowe's and to everyone. On the bright side, we had a great race car and great stops and we showed that we can beat that No. 18 tonight."
Busch was surprised as anyone that he was able to pull out his seventh win of the year. When Johnson overtook him on a restart with 16 laps remaining, he had all but conceded. But another caution with five laps left gave him new life.
"Without that caution, the race was over," said Busch, who has won three of the past four races. "Just judging by what was in front of me and what I knew at that particular point, the race was over. Jimmie was going to lead us to that checkered flag without that caution."
But the caution did come, giving Busch one last shot. He made a magnificent move around the outside of Johnson on the restart and hung on all the way to the checkered flag. Busch hasn't need much luck this season, but when good fortune has presented itself, he has had the wherewithal to take advantage.
"I'm hoping we don't lose it," Busch said. "There's definitely been some luck in this first part of the season. You know, you've got to have some of that to win some of these races.
"Some people say you would rather be good than lucky. Some people say would you rather be lucky than good. I would rather have a little bit of both and be able to go out there and capitalize with all of it on your side."
Power Rankings after Chicagoland:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Greg Biffle | 1 |
| Won the pole and led 74 laps on Saturday night but faded down the stretch to finish 12th. Still hanging on to the Sprint Cup Series points lead but by only a pair over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. | ||
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 2 |
| Climbed to within a whisker of the points lead with a sixth-place finish on Saturday night. Now the world awaits the announcement regarding the potential change of Kenseth's car number. Relax Kenseth fans, the 17 isn't going anywhere. | ||
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 7 |
| Roared back up the rankings and the points standings with his first win since October of last season and in the process gave team owner Rick Hendrick historic Sprint Cup victory number 200. Johnson's history has been to bunch up wins once he gets to victory lane. | ||
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 3 |
| Was in the mix for a second Darlington win but wound up settling for a fourth-place finish. Like Johnson Busch has returned to form in recent weeks and delivered on the expectations most had for the No. 18 team this season. | ||
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 5 |
| Was behind the wheel of one of the coolest looking cars in recent weeks with a Cale Yarborough-inspired retro paint scheme on the No. 11 Toyota. Looked almost Yarborough-like at Darlington for a while but didn't have enough mustard to run down Johnson for the win. | ||
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 6 |
| Wasn't exactly pleased with his team for some suspect pit work at one point of the race but kept his composure and battled back for yet another finish inside the top five. | ||
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 4 |
| It was a struggle for Junior to just finish 17th. Had a decent car early in the night but handling issues plagued the No. 88 squad, and you can be sure crew chief Steve Letarte won't bring the same set-up back to Darlington next season. | ||
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 8 |
| A rather quiet night for the Michael Waltrip Racing driver with an 11th-place finish. Still not bad when an "off night" can be within a hair of a top-10 run. | ||
| 9 | Tony Stewart | 12 |
| An interesting night for Smoke, who was very strong in spurts but had to fight through handling issues, a broken clutch and a fuel pressure problem during the 500 miles. Pretty solid performance to deal with all that and still come home third. | ||
| 10 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| A seventh-place finish and another top 10, but now that Johnson's 17-race winless drought has ended will the questions mount for Edwards on his not visiting Victory Lane for more than a year? | ||
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 10 |
| Was the focal point of Darlington's promotional campaign trying to capitalize on Harvick's tussle with Kyle Busch last season. But overall a very quiet night for the No. 29 Chevrolet driver who left Darlington with a rather mediocre 16th-place finish. | ||
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | 9 |
| Hasn't performed well at Darlington during his Sprint Cup career and that remained intact on Saturday with a 15th-place Southern 500 effort. A downer for the Blue Deuce after Keselowski's Talladega win last weekend. | ||
| 13 | Ryan Newman | 13 |
| Was headed for a better night than what the results show when Newman got caught up in the aftermath of Kurt Busch's spin late in the race when he got punted from behind. The frustration overflowed once the checkered flag flew with both teams getting involved in a scuffle as well as Newman and Busch exchanging harsh words. | ||
| 14 | Paul Menard | 15 |
| A decent day with a 13th-place finish for the Richard Childress Racing driver. Continues to hang around on the fringe of the top 10 in the points standings. | ||
| 15 | Kasey Kahne | NR |
| Has finally completed the turnaround from his dismal start to the season and is knocking down consistent finishes on a weekly basis. Kahne's eighth-place run was his fifth straight top-10 finish. | ||
