Power Rankings: Status quo the real winner after Talladega

Updated Nov. 2

As is usually the case after restrictor-plate races, I've made no changes to this week's power rankings.

Talladega, especially, has become the track most every driver has come to dread. Restrictor plates, the new car and NASCAR's rules have rendered the drivers and teams nearly meaningless.

There's not a whole lot of "racing" involved. There are no adjustments to be made to make one car all that better than the next. At Talladega, Robert Richardson Jr. (who?) can be every bit as good as Jeff Gordon. It's simply a matter of a driver trying to avoid calamity, survive for 497 miles and position himself for the final lap. And in those final laps, luck comes into play as much as anything.

"Why go out there and beat and bang and turn one another sideways in the first 100 or 200 miles?" Gordon said.

"You want to make this a really exciting race for the whole race, make it 200 miles. That's why the truck races and other races when they come here are so exciting. To me, our sport is about strategy. It's about longevity. It's about pacing yourself. I thought it was a great race. But unfortunately the rules that we have are going to play out. The cars suck up too much. And they need to change that for this race track or it's just going to happen every single time."

Consider this: While 25 of the 43 drivers in the race led at least one lap, only two averaged a top 10 running position (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick). Neither of those two finished in the top 10, with Earnhardt taking 11th and Harvick winding up 21st after seeing the rear of Ryan Newman's car nearly crash through his windshield.

"We led a bunch of laps and it's fun to race like that when you have a fast car," said Harvick, who paced the field for 28 laps, second to race winner Jamie McMurray's 32. "We just got too far out in front there and then got shuffled back towards the end. We were trying to work our way back up to the front and all it took was one car to spin and end our bid for a good finish."

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson started from the pole, yet failed to lead a lap. His chosen strategy was to lay back in the field in hopes of avoiding trouble. His average running position was 27th and he spent just 20 laps in the top 15. Of drivers who completed all 191 laps, only three had a worse average running position over the course of the race.

Johnson's closest pursuers, Gordon, Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya, raced up front throughout the day. But when the dust settled from two late-race melees, Johnson found himself sixth, well ahead of Montoya (19th), Gordon (20th) and Martin (28th).

"I was so concerned about this race," said Johnson, who saw his points lead swell to 184 points over Martin. "I thought I was going to lose points with about three or four [laps] to go. So to have it turn around and [gain] points over the guys, I didn't expect it."

At the great equalizer that is Talladega, it's always best to expect the unexpected until the checkered flag flies.

Power Rankings after Talladega: