Carl Edwards took advantage of fuel strategy to win his first race of 2015 and first driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards led only 25 laps but put himself in the lead by pitting with 62 laps to go and conserving fuel to the end, while the dominant cars were forced to pit. Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch were the class of the field, leading a combined 249 of the 400 laps.
Although a few drivers had surprise finishes, like Greg Biffle, many of those that were strong in the All-Star Race kept the momentum up this weekend. The top-10 finishers in the All-Star Race all finished in the top 15 Sunday night.
After two weeks of home games, teams head north to the concrete “Monster” in Dover, Delaware. But first, see how your favorite driver ranks 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!
When a bad day is a ninth-place finish due to being on the wrong side of a fuel-mileage race you know you are having a great season. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com
Dale Jr.’s 3.2 average finish on 1.5-mile tracks is impressive. However, the lack of a win on such tracks makes it all for naught. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch
Surprised a lot of people, including myself, with his lack of presence toward the top of the running order all night. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch
96
4
-1
Martin Truex Jr.
Potential consolation to Truex and team is that Harvick went through several near misses early last season as well, and that turned out pretty good in the end. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch
Kenseth rattled off another solid top-five finish by stretching fuel. It didn’t happen the way the polesitter expected, but I doubt he’ll complain. Dennis Michelsen, Frontstretch
Johnson and team may have hit the wall in Charlotte, and even with three wins in the bank, Johnson will likely bounce back before the Chase begins. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com
84
7
-2
Kurt Busch
Could easily have five wins this season. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com
Unfortunately for Team Penske, Keselowski couldn’t bring it a win, leading the team with a seventh-place finish. Roger Penske should be alright, though. I heard he won some other race that day. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch
Thought he might win the All-Star/600 double but was only able to manage a top-10 finish. Still not bad all things considered. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch
Have to wonder whether Gordon will win during his final season. A win or two would give him more to talk about next year when he moves into the Fox TV booth. Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com
Probably won the award for most cars passed. Started in the 30s, made it into the top 10, got a speed penalty, raced for the lucky dog and ended up 12th. Surely not the finish he was expecting but could have been a lot worse. Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch
Another top 20 for Almirola, who has become the king of “just good enough” this season when it comes to the points standings. Still, as new drivers keep winning, the margin for error is getting slimmer. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch
36
15
N/A
Greg Biffle
Honestly, how many people would have guessed Biffle would have been the shining star for Roush Fenway Racing Sunday night? Michael Mehedin, Frontstretch
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