NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Dover

The revised Chase format brought exactly what was expected to the first round of eliminations at Dover. Jeff Gordon earned his fourth win of the season, becoming the first non-Team Penske driver to win a Chase race. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick dominated the day yet again, leading a race-high 223 laps before left front suspension issues relegated him to a 13th-place finish.

The highlight of the day was the battle for the final transfer position between Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and AJ Allmendinger. It took until the checkered flag few before we knew for sure who would be moving on to the Contender round. After an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel trapped Kahne multiple laps down and as low as 15th in points, he was able to fight his way back to a 20th-place finish and claim the final transfer position by only two points over Allmendinger.

The four drivers eliminated from Chase contention are:
AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing)
Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing)
Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing)
Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports)

The following teams are still represented:
Hendrick Motorsports (4)
Joe Gibbs Racing (3)
Team Penske (2)
Stewart-Haas Racing (1)
Roush Fenway Racing (1)
Richard Childress Racing (1)

Has your bracket busted yet? Teams head to Kansas Speedway this weekend for round 1 of the Contender Round. But first, see if the experts got it right this week and if your favorite driver made the top 15 after Dover.

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 It says here that Brad will win at either Kansas or Charlotte, and make the craziness at Talladega a moot point. Remember, you read it here first. Jim Noble, ESPN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/PRN First Place Votes: 5	138
2		Joey Logano If I would have told you Logano would have the best average finish of all the Chasers in the first round would you have believed me? Logano’s average finish in the first round was 3.0, which includes his fourth-place finish at Dover. Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com	127
3	+4	Jeff Gordon Only Terry Labonte has won a championship more than ten years after his previous championship, but records are made to be broken. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com First Place Votes: 2	125
4	-1	Kevin Harvick Kevin’s been very mature about his woes on pit road this season. A less mature Harvick would have gone off the deep end by now. Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com	123
5	-1	Jimmie Johnson Failed to lead a lap at Dover for the first time since 2007. It’s either a slow build to the top, hiding all their cards, or the No. 48 team is officially in trouble. Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	112
6	+6	Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth continues to finish well without winning, but to be among the final four in Homestead, he will likely need some checkers. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	96
7	-1	Dale Earnhardt, Jr. His three Chase finishes so far: 11th, ninth and 17th. A lot of queasy stomachs in Junior Nation right now. Jim Noble, ESPN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/PRN	93
8	+1	Kyle Busch Running the best out of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars, but his kryptonite lies ahead: Kansas. One more DNF there and Busch’s Chase is officially toast. Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	87
9	-4	Kyle Larson Kid Money is showing the world why so many people that follow dirt racing have been bragging about this kid since he was 14. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com	81
10	N/A	Ryan Newman Ryan Newman has had good results all year without a win. He may just hang in there long enough to get eliminated before Homestead. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	78
11	N/A	Denny Hamlin Playing with house money right now. Nobody expects the No. 11 team to advance one more round. Could play into their favor, especially with the three tracks in the next round. Jim Noble, ESPN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/PRN	72
12	+3	Carl Edwards Won’t be a factor in the next round. Thanks for playing, and clean out your office. Jim Noble, ESPN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/PRN	65
13	N/A	Kasey Kahne It seems that Kasey Kahne has been riding a bubble all season The question is whether it will burst in the next cycle of eliminations or later. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com	60
14		Clint Bowyer Hard to believe this team was the championship runner-up two seasons ago. Long way to go to claw back into contention for 2015. Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com	38
15	-7	Jamie McMurray It’s like a switch was flipped with the Nos. 1 and 42 teams. Not sure why all of a sudden they’re running strong. Don’t they know they have to have these kinds of finishes to get IN to the Chase? Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com	35

Others Receiving Votes: Kurt Busch (28), AJ Allmendinger (24), Martin Truex, Jr. (23), Greg Biffle (21), Aric Almirola (17), Tony Stewart (11), Brian Vickers (10), Austin Dillon (4), Danica Patrick (1), Paul Menard (1)

Participants: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch.com; Tom Bowles, Frontstretch.com; Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com; Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch.com; Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com; Jim Noble, ESPN/Sirius XM NASCAR Radio/PRN; Justin Tucker, Frontstretch.com

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Rank

Change

Name

Total Votes

1

First Place Votes: 5

138

2

127

3

+4

First Place Votes: 2

125

4

-1

123

5

-1

112

6

+6

96

7

-1

93

8

+1

87

9

-4

81

10

N/A

78

11

N/A

72

12

+3

65

13

N/A

60

14

38

15

-7

35