So, did everyone enjoy the 24 Hours of Richmond? Those of you who stayed up to watch the end got to see a roaring comeback by Jeff Gordon and a heartbreaker of a race for Kyle Busch. Mix that in with Denny Hamlin's dominance one-upped by Clint Bowyer's steal in a last ditch effort for bonus points, and the rain that pushed the race into the wee hours of the morning became an afterthought.
How did these many players do in our rankings this week? Does Jimmie Johnson keep a stranglehold on the top spot? 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 Bedgood calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners, and … here you go!
| FRONTSTRETCH TOP 15 POWER RANKINGS: SEPTEMBER 12th | |||
| Rank | Driver (First Place Votes) | Votes | Last Week |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 109 | 1 |
| The Jimmie Johnson invitational, otherwise known as The Chase, is about to begin! It's Johnson vs. the field and he's not particularly happy about coming up short last year. Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| 2 | Denny Hamlin (2) | 107 | T-2 |
| Seems as though weather forecasting is the only thing Darian Grubb hasn't done right in the past 3 weeks. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 3 | Brad Keselowski (1) | 98 | T-2 |
| All signs point to Keselowski playing the role of dark horse runner in this year's Chase. That is, if he can put down Twitter long enough. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 4 | Clint Bowyer (1) | 96 | 9 |
| Walking to Victory Lane wasn't the unusual thing about Clint's celebration. It was the fact that someone actually thanked Juan Pablo Montoya for something, even if it was tongue in cheek. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 5 | Matt Kenseth (1) | 95 | 4 |
| Thank goodness Matt was back in his Best Buy uniform and out of that dorky Joe Gibbs striped polo. Really, Coach, get a stylist that graduated from Clown College. Amanda Ebersole, SkirtsandScuffs.com | |||
| 6 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 91 | 5 |
| Another strong start to the night for Earnhardt, Jr. that ended lukewarm. This team has championship potential, but if they're going to win the championship they need to start doing what had eluded them for four years … winning. Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| T-7 | Greg Biffle | 79 | 6 |
| Sometimes when I look at the Chase schedule, it's hard not to think that Biffle wasn't personally consulted on the tracks to add into the Chase. Chicago? Kansas? Texas? Come on now! — And then I remembered … Martinsville. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| T-7 | Jeff Gordon (1) | 79 | 10 |
| I knew there was a reason I didn't want to see Gordon make the Chase. Now he's going to bring back that hideous mustache. What's next, the drinking milk at the banquet? Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| T-7 | Tony Stewart | 79 | 13 |
| Finally had a decent night a Richmond. However, I'm not sure he's completely out of the woods yet. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 10 | Martin Truex, Jr. | 75 | 7 |
| Michael Waltrip Racing would win the breakthrough team of the year award if such a thing existed in this sport. However, something tells me they would take a championship to make up for it. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| T-11 | Kasey Kahne | 60 | 12 |
| Go check out Clint Bowyer's profile picture on Twitter to get an idea of how Kahne's night went. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| T-11 | Kevin Harvick | 60 | 11 |
| Is known from coming out of nowhere to win races. Can he do the same with respect to the 2012 championship? Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 38 | 8 |
| For all those who criticized Busch for his reaction on missing the Chase, perhaps you're watching the wrong sport. He had the Wild Card spot in his hand for over 300 laps. Then it was gone in an instant when the team decided not to pit. Hardly calls for a time of being happy and OK with the outcome. Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com | |||
| 14 | Ryan Newman | 34 | NR |
| To his credit, he actually had the wild card spot for a while on Saturday night. On the other hand, one race wouldn't have changed the fact that they've sucked for a larger part of the season. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com | |||
| 15 | Mark Martin | 33 | NR |
|
May be in the best position to pull off a Chase uspet win, even with only running 7 of the 10 events. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com |
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| Dropped Out: Paul Menard, Marcos Ambrose | |||
| Others Receiving Votes: Marcos Ambrose (26), Jeff Burton (25), Carl Edwards (25), Sam Hornish Jr. (20), Paul Menard (17), Joey Logano (11), Landon Cassill (2), Jamie McMurray (1). | |||
| Who Voted: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com; Kelly Crandall, SpeedwayMedia.com; Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch.com; Amanda Ebersole, SkirtsandScuffs.com; Dustin Long, Athlon Sports; Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com; | |||
