After scoring another victory at his home track, Jimmie Johnson put a major stranglehold on the top spot in the poll following Chase race number four at Fontana. Behind him, the keyword appears to be “stability” as a Sunday snoozer led to minimal movement amongst our Power Rankings. But while our experts have labeled Johnson the favorite, there’s plenty of debate over who’s best positioned to challenge a bid for his fourth straight title. Is it Mark Martin? Juan Pablo Montoya? Tony Stewart? Or one of the Roushketeers?
Read below to find out, seeing who scored the fresh Pepsi this week and whose can was flat in the latest edition of our Sprint Cup Power Rankings.
How the Rankings Are Calculated: Frontstretch does our power rankings somewhat similar to how the Associated Press does them for basketball or football – writers on staff will vote for the top 20 on a 20-19-18-17-16-15… 3-2-1 basis, giving 20 points to their first-place driver, 19 for their second and so on. In the end, Mike Neff calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners and… voila! You have one batch of Power Rankings to serve to our fans.
| FRONTSTRETCH TOP-15 POWER RANKINGS: OCTOBER 14, 2009 | |||
| Rank | Driver (First-Place Votes) | Votes | Last Week |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson (9) | 199 | 1 |
| The relentless pursuit of perfection marches on. | |||
| 2 | Mark Martin (1) | 185 | 2 |
| This is the Martin luck we are used to – finishing fourth but still losing the points lead in the process. | |||
| 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 181 | 3 |
| The top of the points standings look like the beginning of a joke: “A preppy, an old man and a Colombian walk into a track….” | |||
| 4 | Jeff Gordon | 161 | 4 |
| The Drive for Five is alive, but it is still chasing the back bumper of the Connect Four Chevrolet. | |||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 153 | 5 |
| For some reason, we really don’t think you need to hook Stewart up to a polygraph machine to see if he likes Whoppers. | |||
| 6 | Kurt Busch | 148 | 7 |
| Leads Sprint Cup Series in the Bouncing Off Walls Into Other Cars category this season. | |||
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 132 | 6 |
| Clear low… Psych!!!! | |||
| 8 | Greg Biffle | 122 | 8 |
| At least Tom Logano didn’t hit him with the “Big Bug-eyed Dummy” tag that Sterling Marlin did a few years ago. | |||
| 9 | Carl Edwards | 112 | 11 |
| Who would have thought this year’s preseason title favorite would slump to the point he’d have to scratch and claw just to get a top 10? | |||
| 10 | Ryan Newman | 102 | 9 |
| Lost more spots in the last ten laps than Hamlin lost phone numbers at the bar Saturday night. | |||
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | 89 | 14 |
| If the team’s making changes for 2010, how about changing his crew chief’s last name to “Blick?” That would be a heck of a lot less awkward than trying to butcher it every time you pronounce his name. | |||
| 12 | Kasey Kahne | 88 | 10 |
| You mean to say someone finally spoke about the 800-pound gorilla in the room? Man, that must have been awkward… bet someone called a caution for debris to break the tension! | |||
| T-13 | Kyle Busch | 73 | 13 |
| At least you could say he’s faster than David Gilliland when he feels like Fido’s rear end. | |||
| T-13 | Clint Bowyer | 73 | 15 |
| In a fight for “Best of the Rest,” but it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as “Chase Cinderella.” | |||
| T-15 | Brian Vickers | 53 | 12 |
| Started 32nd, finished 29th… pretty sure this team blew its wad just to make the Chase. | |||
| T-15 | Casey Mears | 53 | NR |
| The latest sign of the times: it takes a driver the threat of a pink slip for them to finally start performing to expectations. | |||
| Dropped Out: None | |||
| Also Receiving Votes: Kevin Harvick (50), Marcos Ambrose (35), David Reutimann (35), David Ragan (16), Sam Hornish Jr. (13), Joey Logano (8), Jeff Burton (6), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (6), David Stremme (3), AJ Allmendinger (2), Elliott Sadler (1), John Andretti (1) | |||
| Who Voted: Thomas Bowles, Kevin Birge, Mike Neff, Tony Lumbis, Doug Turnbull, Matt Taliaferro, Vito Pugliese, Bryan Davis Keith, Phil Allaway and Kurt Smith | |||
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.