Was that "Old Bristol"? Or "New Old" Bristol? Or Old New…?
Does it matter? It was awesome! Helmet throws, finger wags, and everything in between were the staples of the night, and somehow Denny Hamlin found his way through all of it into Victory Lane. Saturday night short track racing at its finest.
How did Hamlin fair in our rankings? And did Tony Stewart's helmet throw earn him any brownie points with our writers? Continue 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 Bedgood calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners, and … here you go!
| FRONTSTRETCH TOP 15 POWER RANKINGS: AUGUST 29th | |||
| Rank | Driver (First Place Votes) | Votes | Last Week |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson (8) | 160 | 5 |
| The only question at this point is whether the championship battle will even make it to Homestead. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 2 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 136 | 3 |
| Earnhardt basically told Keselowski to shut up last weekend in Bristol, which in and of itself was probably enough to get him to second on our list. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 3 | Greg Biffle | 131 | 1 |
| Biffle's short track finishes so far this season are 13th (spring Bristol), 13th (Martinsville), 18th (Richmond) and (19th) Bristol. Look for Martinsville in October to make or break his Chase. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com | |||
| T-4 | Denny Hamlin | 117 | 9 |
| So far so good for Hamlin in 2012; he's already got three wins. Off to a good start in putting all that prize money away since he's going to be a dad. And it'll be a girl too. I hear they can be really expensive. Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| T-4 | Matt Kenseth | 117 | 4 |
| Wonder if Kenseth is going to petition NASCAR to have Stewart's helmet since it sure looked like Tony was giving it to him. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 114 | 2 |
| Keselowski's paint scheme must have been so confusing to the drunks in Bristol. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been a bump and run from Jeff Gordon. We all know now that that didn't happen but just imagine … a bunch of wasted, shirtless rednecks sitting in the stands squinting at that No. 2, wondering when the clock went back 10 years. Priceless. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 7 | Clint Bowyer | 103 | 8 |
| At this point, Bowyer is winning the MWR battle by virtue of the one win, but it is all but a draw right now. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 8 | Martin Truex, Jr. | 96 | T-6 |
| Truex wins the record for the quietest breakout year in NASCAR history. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 95 | 15 |
| While he made a run that looked like he'd have a shot Saturday night, in the end he came up short like he has for most of the year. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | 91 | T-6 |
| Kasey Kahne has a stranglehold on that wild card spot and may have a shot at the top 10 if Stewart has another bad run. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 11 | Marcos Ambrose | 81 | T-11 |
| Quietly kicking some serious butt over the past few weeks in a last-ditch attempt to get in the Chase. If he somehow makes it, then he'll probably end up like Vickers a couple of years ago. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 12 | Kyle Busch | 77 | NR |
| Busch competed in two of the three races this weekend, Nationwide and Cup, a combined 750 laps at a track where he's won 12 times. And in the process he pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the year: he didn't win either race and never led a single lap. Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| 13 | Tony Stewart | 74 | 13 |
| The helmet throw would be a lot more enjoyable if he hadn't been running like crap for most of the night, or the month for that matter. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 14 | Carl Edwards | 55 | T-11 |
| One word: Win. That's it. You can crunch numbers and crap all night long, but a victory or two in the next couple of races is the only way we see Edwards contending for the championship the rest of the year. Even then, with the way he's been running, we'll be lucky to see him finish in the top 10. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 53 | NR |
| Is remarkably ahead of Stewart in the standings even though he hasn't had a top 5 since Obama was leading in popularity polls. Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com | |||
| Dropped Out: Paul Menard, Ryan Newman. | |||
| Others Receiving Votes: Ryan Newman (45), Joey Logano (40), Paul Menard (37), Brian Vickers (28), Regan Smith (9), Juan Pablo Montoya (6), Jamie McMurray (3), Mark Martin (3), Sam Hornish Jr. (2), Jeff Burton (2), Kurt Busch (2), Bobby Labonte (1), Casey Mears (1), Danica Patrick (1). | |||
| Who Voted: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com; Carolyn Brewster, NASCAR Illustrated; Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com; Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com; Dustin Long, Athlon Sports; Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com; Mike Neff, Frontstretch.com; Matt Taliaferro, Athlon Sports. | |||
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