Throughout the 2014 season, the question on everyone’s mind was, when will Jimmie Johnson win his first race of the year? Although Johnson went on to win four races in 2014, he was never a threat for the championship, opening the door for questions about the team and combination with crew chief Chad Knaus. The No. 48 has put those rumors to bed quickly in 2015, leading 92 laps and dominating the second half of the race in Atlanta on the way to his first win of the season.
Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano dominated the first half of the race before handing the reigns to Kevin Harvick, who led a race-high 116 laps and continued his streak of top-2 finishes. The two biggest surprises in the top 10 were 2014 Chase contender AJ Allmedinger (seventh) and one-race substitute Brett Moffitt (eighth), who filled in for Brian Vickers. Vickers returns to the seat in Las Vegas.
The storyline out of Atlanta, regretfully, was that for the second race in a row a driver found an inside, track-facing wall without a SAFER barrier. Jeff Gordon was caught up in a wreck for the second race in a row and had harsh words for NASCAR and Atlanta Motor Speedway regarding the lack of safety.
The first West coast swing starts next week in Las Vegas. But before the cross-country road trip begins, see if your favorite made our power rankings after Atlanta.
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 |
|
151 |
|
2 |
|
150 |
|
3 |
+1 |
|
148 |
4 |
-1 |
|
141 |
5 |
+6 |
|
121 |
6 |
+4 |
|
110 |
7 |
+1 |
|
102 |
8 |
+4 |
|
84 |
9 |
-2 |
|
76 |
10 |
N/A |
|
69 |
11 |
+2 |
|
68 |
12 |
N/A |
|
59 |
13 |
-8 |
|
57 |
14 |
+1 |
|
54 |
15 |
N/A |
|
49 |
Others Receiving Votes: Jeff Gordon (46), Greg Biffle (41), Paul Menard (27), Sam Hornish, Jr. (23), Danica Patrick (20), Austin Dillon (12), Kyle Larson (12), David Ragan (10), Breff Moffitt (9), Jamie McMurray (9), Regan Smith (6), Tony Stewart (4), Trevor Bayne (4), David Gilliland (2).