NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Chicago

If starting first, leading all but seven laps, winning the race and claiming the top seed in the Chase at Richmond was enough for Brad Keselowski to make a championship statement, no one told him. He came from 25^th place Sunday afternoon, led 62 laps and claimed his fifth overall and series-leading victory. On top of that, Keselowski automatically qualifies for the Contender round of the Chase.

A majority of the championship contenders had strong performances. Of the Richmond Power Ranking top 10, all finished in the top 15 Sunday afternoon. Additionally, four of the top 5 (Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano) finished in the top 5 as well.

Race two of the Chase is in New Hampshire. After Chicago, the bottom four drivers in danger of not moving onto the Contender round are Ryan Newman, AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola.

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		Brad Keselowski Look out New Hampshire. Brad Keselowski and team already cleaned out Richmond and Chicago of Miller Lite beer. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com First Place Votes: 6	100
2		Jeff Gordon Backed up a strong regular season performance with a strong second-place run to start the Chase. Jeff Gordon is one of the few that can rely on consistency to take him far into the later rounds of the Chase. He won’t need many wins to be one of the final four at Homestead. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	95
3	+2	Joey Logano It seems like Joey Logano’s year. Odds are good that he joins his teammate Keselowski with a win or two during the Chase. Maybe early. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	88
4	-1	Kevin Harvick Got a new pit crew for the Chase and still had some issues. However, I doubt there are many grids that don’t have Harvick in the top 4 heading into Homestead. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	87
5	+9	Denny Hamlin Too bad Hamlin’s engine wasn’t “blowing up” during the regular season. He might be in a better Chase position. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	72
6	-2	Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No need to panic Junior Nation. He will be fine, just scoring consistent finishes for the first couple rounds. 11th is not a bad start to the Chase. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	69
7	-1	Jimmie Johnson Let the rumors of Jimmie Johnson’s demise start running rampant. Johnson and the No. 48 team haven’t won six championships by not learning and testing as they go throughout the season. It seems like the tracks starting in Dover through Homestead are right in their wheelhouse. They’ll be just fine. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	66
8	+1	Kurt Busch Reminding everyone that there are two Stewart-Haas Racing cars in this Chase. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com	61
9	N/A	Kyle Busch After one Chase race Kyle Busch, in the No. 18, is 18 points behind leader Keselowski. Busch would do better with better math. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	56
10	-2	Matt Kenseth 27 races into the season and Matt Kenseth still doesn’t have a win!? He barely made it into the Chase, and although he snagged a top 10 in Chicago, he’ll need a lot more than that to make it through the Contender round. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	55
11	-1	Kasey Kahne In the same position as his teammates Earnhardt, Jr. and Johnson. 13th isn’t a bad start to Kasey’s Chase. Now has to avoid the bad luck bug that has bitten him all year. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	47
12		Kyle Larson What a race for Kyle Larson in Chicago. He almost got that elusive win but, more importantly, he gained a lot of respect from a lot of drivers. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	46
13	-6	Ryan Newman He had to be disappointed with a 15th-place finish in what has been one of his better tracks in recent years. Jeff Wolfe, Frontstretch.com	40
14	N/A	Jamie McMurray Needs to approach the 2015 Daytona 500 like it’s the first race in the Chase in order to make the playoffs next year. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com	37
15	-2	Carl Edwards He was getting lapped Sunday, which doesn’t bode well for his Chase chances. Jeff Wolfe, Frontstretch.com	32

Others Receiving Votes: Greg Biffle (18), Martin Truex, Jr. (17), Austin Dillon (15), AJ Allmendinger (14), Aric Almirola (10), Clint Bowyer (6), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6), Danica Patrick (5), Paul Menard (4), Tony Stewart (3)

Participants: Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com; Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch.com; Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com; Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com; Jeff Wolfe, Frontstretch.com

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Rank

Change

Name

Total Votes

1

First Place Votes: 6

100

2

95

3

+2

88

4

-1

87

5

+9

72

6

-2

69

7

-1

66

8

+1

61

9

N/A

56

10

-2

55

11

-1

47

12

46

13

-6

40

14

N/A

37

15

-2

32