NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Watkins Glen

With the new Chase format, there is such an emphasis on winning, but for AJ Allmendinger, Sunday’s win meant a little bit more. He claimed his first Sprint Cup Series victory, the first for JTG Daugherty Racing and put the “little team that could” into the 2014 Chase. It was a valiant fight to the end with veteran road racer Marcos Ambrose, who was also hoping to race his way into the Chase but fell one position short.

I’m sure a number of drivers leading the Power Rankings are happy that a road course is not in the Chase as only three drivers (Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth) in the Power Rankings top 10 after Pocono finished in the top 10 Sunday afternoon. Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch all finished outside the top 25. While Gordon, Keselowski, Johnson and Busch are all safely locked into the Chase, Newman and Bowyer can ill-afford any more poor finishes if they want to keep their Chase hopes alive.

The high-speed, high-banked oval of Michigan is next on the card as teams look to rebound after a tough week in New York. See if your favorite driver made the grade this week.

How The Rankings Are Calculated: Frontstretch does our power rankings 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… 3-2-1 basis, giving 20 points to their first-place driver, 19 for second, and so on. In the end, Mike Mehedin calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners, and… here you go!


Rank	Change	Name	Total Votes
1		Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He might be disappointed with his run, but he pulled off exactly what he needed to do. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com First Place Votes: 6	120
2		Jeff Gordon The worst time to miss a “connection” inside the car is when your boss flies up on a Sunday in the midst of a major tragedy. Some rough time in the No. 24 shop this week because the reality is their main competition next month (hint: his number is 48) never seems to make those mistakes. Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	107
3		Kevin Harvick Harvick has conquered a lot this season, but he was nearly failed by bean bags Sunday. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com	106
4		Joey Logano The forgotten man among the title contenders as of late. Has this year plateaued out or is it simply the calm before the storm? Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	101
5		Brad Keselowski One of the hottest drivers heading into the “off week” but suddenly seems to be skipping a beat. Pre-Chase testing, missing the setups or a little bit of both? Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	95
6	+4	Matt Kenseth Unless something unforeseen happens and there are four different winners over the next four races, Kenseth should make the Chase on points, but he is going to need to find the 2013 winning formula quick or it may not even matter come Chase time. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	75
7		Jimmie Johnson The funk continues, but it isn’t like Johnson didn’t run well on Sunday. He was in the hunt for a decent finish until Matt Kenseth got nerfed into him. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com	73
8	+4	Kyle Larson Kyle Larson keeps running with the big dogs. It’s only a matter of time before he leads the pack with a win. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	69
9	-1	Denny Hamlin Thank goodness for that win because Hamlin has been non-existent since. Seems like the Gibbs organization across the board is missing something this year. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	59
10	-4	Ryan Newman Wow, that was some wreck. Newman had a point in his post-wreck interview. I’m still surprised NASCAR and Watkins Glen haven’t taken more steps to improve safety. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	57
11		Kyle Busch M&M’s is the wrong sponsor for this guy. How about a yo-yo company? Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	49
T-12	N/A	Carl Edwards Edwards was surprisingly the best on the road courses in 2014 with a win at Sonoma and a fifth-place finish at the Glen. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	46
T-12	+1	Kasey Kahne Quietly re-entering the picture for a potential Chase berth on points, assuming that no more new drivers make it to Victory Lane. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com	46
14	-5	Clint Bowyer Was on a roll and now sits on the edge of not making the Chase. Bowyer will need to step up his game and finish strong over the next few weeks or MWR won’t be represented in the Chase. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	45
15	-1	Greg Biffle Greg Biffle had a top-10 finish at Watkins Glen. He could be the lucky 13th different driver to visit Victory Lane next race in Michigan. Biffle has four wins at Michigan. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	44

Others Receiving Votes: AJ Allmendinger (40), Kurt Busch (40), Austin Dillon (34), Marcos Ambrose (16), Jamie McMurray (12), Aric Almirola (9), Casey Mears (7), Brian Vickers (6), Justin Allgaier (2), Paul Menard (2)

Participants: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com; Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com; Kelly Crandall, PopularSpeed.com; Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com; Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com; Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com.

Frontstretch Staff

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The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.

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Rank

Change

Name

Total Votes

1

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

First Place Votes: 6

120

2

Jeff Gordon

107

3

Kevin Harvick

106

4

101

5

95

6

+4

75

7

73

8

+4

<img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-77087 size-medium" src="https://frontstretch.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014_NSCS_Head_Larson_Kyle-199x300.jpg" alt="2014 NASCAR Media Day - Portraits" width="199" height="300" />Kyle Larson

69

9

-1

<img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-77079 size-medium" src="https://frontstretch.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014_NSCS_Head_Hamlin_Denny-255x300.jpg" alt="2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Portraits" width="255" height="300" />Denny Hamlin

59

10

-4

57

11

<img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-77073 size-medium" src="https://frontstretch.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014_NSCS_Head_Busch_Kyle-273x300.jpg" alt="2014 NASCAR Media Day - Portraits" width="273" height="300" />Kyle Busch

49

T-12

N/A

Carl Edwards

46

T-12

+1

46

14

-5

45

15

-1

44

Frontstretch Staff

Kyle Larson

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Busch