It was only a matter of time and Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway (May 12) solidified what everyone already expected to eventually happen: Hendrick Motorsports’ 200th career victory. Jimmie Johnson was the driver who was able to seal the deal, which came as little surprise to anyone who has been following the sport for more than six years.
Meanwhile, a tangle on pit road between Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and their crews overshadowed the win, in addition to some solid runs by drivers like Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.
How did their top-five runs impact their position in our Power Rankings? And was Johnson’s win enough to volt him to the top? Keep reading to find out.
How the Rankings are Calculated: Frontstretch does our power rankings somewhat similar to how the Associated Press does them for basketball or football – our expert stable of NASCAR writers, both on staff and from other major publications 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, Summer Dreyer calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners and … here you go!
| FRONTSTRETCH TOP-15 POWER RANKINGS: MAY 16, 2012 | |||
| Rank | Driver (First-Place Votes) | Votes | Last Week |
| 1 | Greg Biffle (2) | 148 | 1 |
| The No. 16 team, protesting that the Southern 500 should still be run on Labor Day weekend, insisted on setting their car up for a Sunday afternoon rather than Saturday night. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch | |||
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson (2) | 140 | 10 |
| Don’t look now but Johnson has Dale Earnhardt on his radar next on the all-time win list. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| 3 | Matt Kenseth (2) | 130 | 3 |
| The announcement of the “new number” on Kenseth’s car this year was the only reason anyone paid attention to him this week. Even then, everyone proceeded to quit caring once they realized it was just the confusing name of a bank. Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch | |||
| 4 | Denny Hamlin (1) | 127 | 6 |
| Not quite as effective at dumping the leader as his teammate. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 129 | T-8 |
| Can’t wait to get to Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend where there will be 100 extra miles to wreck more cars. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch | |||
| 6 | Kyle Busch | 114 | 5 |
| Text message from Kyle to Kurt: “Hey big bro, thanks for making sure I won’t end up on Darlington’s billboards next year. Appreciate it!” Kelly Crandall, Speedwaymedia.com | |||
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 99 | 2 |
| All-Star race weekend will be the one week this year where everyone will be shocked if Earnhardt doesn’t win. Of course we are talking about the All-Star Fan Vote. Otherwise, yes, we will be very surprised. Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch | |||
| 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | 97 | 12 |
| A shame Truex’s car owner can’t give him advice about winning anywhere besides plate tracks. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| 9 | Carl Edwards | 94 | 13 |
| Edwards made more noise during the Nationwide Series race on Friday night, and he wasn’t even in the race! Still, seventh place is nothing to sneeze at. Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch | |||
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 87 | 11 |
| Y’know Kurt, if you breathe between swear words you can usually rip off a lot more of them in a single rant. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | 83 | 4 |
| Keselowski made a tremendous comeback through the field in Darlington after contact with the wall, yet somehow still gets overshadowed by former teammate Kurt Busch. Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch | |||
| 12 | Clint Bowyer | 69 | 7 |
| Bowyer is just happy to make it to the finish ahead of the melee this year. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| 13 | Kasey Kahne | 64 | T-8 |
| I’d say the pressure is on for Kahne to start performing better, but until Jeff Gordon gets his mojo back I’m not sure anyone will even notice Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch | |||
| 14 | Paul Menard | 55 | T-15 |
| There is plenty of evidence to signal trouble at RCR when their top-finishing car was 13th … and it was Menard that finished there. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch | |||
| 15 | Ryan Newman | 47 | NR |
| Overheard while Newman was leaning in the window on pit road: “There’s only one syllable in F$%^! Kurt”. Mike Neff, Frontstretch | |||
| Dropped Out: AJ Allmendinger (14th), Jamie McMurray (T-8) | |||
| Others Receiving Votes: Joey Logano (41), Kurt Busch (33), Marcos Ambrose (28), Mark Martin (21), Jeff Gordon (19), Jeff Burton (17), Regan Smith (12), AJ Allmendinger (9), Aric Almirola (6), Juan Pablo Montoya (6), David Ragan (3), Jamie McMurray (1), Trevor Bayne (1) | |||
| Who Voted: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch; Carolyn Brewster, NASCAR Illustrated; Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com; Summer Dreyer, Frontstretch; Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch; Dustin Long, Athlon Sports; Mike Neff, Frontstretch; Matt Taliaferro, Athlon Sports. | |||
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