Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 After the 2015 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

If Kevin Harvick is the championship favorite, Joey Logano is the “sleeper”… or at least he was. After a dominating performance last weekend in Charlotte Motor Speedway, if anyone had forgotten about the 25-year-old driver as a potential championship contender, they certainly are looking at him now. Though Harvick mounted a strong charge, he wasn’t able to pass Logano for the lead under green flag conditions and no one had anything for the No. 22.

Part of that might be attributable to the rather off-kilter day for Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that has otherwise been dominant as of late. Two of their cars were involved in accidents – Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch, with Busch’s accident happening under caution no less – and the other two had next to nothing to say about the win.

It’s hard to imagine JGR will remain in the shadows for long, but it certainly allowed Logano to take the spotlight.

In fact, there were several high-caliber teams and drivers who had terrible days. Continue reading to see how that affected our Power Rankings 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	+3	Joey Logano Understands the 2015 rule package concept of staying out of trouble until you get a chance to lead. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com First Place Votes: 5	137
2	-1	Kevin Harvick Harvick showed he can deliver in must-win dramatic moments at Dover to advance, but he may look for a less stressful route in this round. He’s off to a great start with a runner-up finish at Charlotte, his 11th second-place effort this season. Mike Zizzo, Texas Motor Speedway First Place Votes: 1	132
3	+5	Carl Edwards Somehow found a way to anger a small nation of people quicker than Donald Trump could. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch First Place Votes: 1	111
4	+2	Denny Hamlin Hamlin’s 2015 Chase has been eerily similar to 2014 so far, save for the Chicagoland. Can Hamlin and FedEx deliver a title to Joe Gibbs Racing? Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch	109
5	+4	Martin Truex Jr. Kansas Speedway is this weekend and also happens to be one of Truex’s strongest tracks. He’s still considered a darkhorse as the Chase has seen him fade from the spotlight a bit. Will that change this weekend? Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch	108
6	+2	Kurt Busch NASCAR still has a chance to end this season with the ultimate role model as champion. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com	96
7	+3	Brad Keselowski It’s been a quiet season for Kez, not that it should come as a surprise. A screaming toddler will do that to you. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch	93
8	+3	Jeff Gordon He’s advancing through the Chase slowly but surely, but we’re winding down on races this season and Gordon still hasn’t visited Victory Lane. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch	89
9	-7	Matt Kenseth Kansas will be his turn to win again and he will have learned his lesson about trying too hard with this boring rule package. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com	87
10	-7	Kyle Busch He has not won in the last 10 races, which should make the rest of the field a bit concerned. Look for him to pick one up soon in the Contender Round. Mike Zizzo, Texas Motor Speedway	85
11	-6	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Expect Subway stock to drop as angry members of JR Nation boycott the sponsor of Edwards. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch	65
12	+1	Ryan Newman He might be the reason Kenseth fails to advance to the next round of the Chase. Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch	61
13	+1	Aric Almirola If only the first four events of the Chase were actually the first four of the season for this team. Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch	60
14	-2	Jamie McMurray Ironic that McMurray and Earnhardt will both rock a similar sponsor (Halo 5) two weeks after battling for the final Chase position. Looks like Master Chief wins again. Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch	51
15		Jimmie Johnson Conspiracy theorists have more proof that NASCAR doesn’t want him to ever win that seventh championship. Dennis Michelsen, RaceTalkRadio.com	41

Others Receiving Votes: Clint Bowyer (39), Austin Dillon (37), Kyle Larson (25), Paul Menard (15), Kasey Kahne (8), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6), Ryan Blaney (6), Greg Biffle (4), Casey Mears 3), AJ Allmendinger (2)

Participants: Phil Allaway, Frontstretch; Aaron Bearden, Frontstretch; Summer Bedgood, Frontstretch; Dwight Drum, RaceTake.com; Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch; Mike Zizzo, Texas Motor Speedway

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Name

1

+3

Joey Logano

First Place Votes: 5

137

2

-1

Kevin Harvick

First Place Votes: 1

132

3

+5

First Place Votes: 1

111

4

+2

109

5

+4

108

6

+2

96

7

+3

93

8

+3

89

9

-7

Matt Kenseth

87

10

-7

Kyle Busch <img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-92002 size-medium" src="https://frontstretch.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-NASCAR-headshots-CUP-Kyle-Busch-credit-NASCAR-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />

85

11

-6

65

12

+1

61

13

+1

60

14

-2

51

15

41

Kyle Busch