It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
It’s…. Six-Time!
Jimmie Johnson added another chapter to his legendary career on Sunday, passing Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list with his 77th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Auto Club Speedway.
With the triumph, Johnson has officially scored multiple victories in each of his 15 Cup seasons. Courtesy of his Superman car, he’s also now won twice when sponsoring movies. Anyone remember the rainbow Madagascar wig?
Johnson’s victory propelled him to the top of the Chase grid if the playoffs were to start today, but was it enough to unseat the two-headed monster of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch at the top of the Frontstretch Power Rankings?
Let’s find out…
POWER RANKINGS: Auto Club 400
1. Jimmie Johnson (172 POINTS, +4)
“Two wins in five races. Enough said.” – Brian Eberly, Motor Racing Digest
“(INSERT SUPERMAN-RELATED PUN HERE)” – @AnnoyingRaceFan
“It’s rather weird how you grow up and hear about all of these legends’ accomplishments and you think ‘nobody’s ever going to touch those stats,’ yet here we are experiencing history with Jimmie Johnson. Crazy.” – Kyle Pokrefky, The Fourth Turn
2. KEVIN HARVICK (168 POINTS, -1)
“Second again. I think the panel for The 10 should consistently place Happy in this spot” – Sean Fesko, Frontstretch
3. Carl Edwards (126 POINTS, N/A)
“HE HAD A SUBWAY PAINT SCHEME ON SUNDAY. IT INSPIRED ME TO EAT AT SUBWAY TODAY.” – @AnnoyingRaceFan
4. Kyle Busch (125 POINTS, -3)
5. Denny Hamlin (99 POINTS, +2)
“Two straight third-place efforts. The No. 11 team has rebounded after having poor finishes at Atlanta and Vegas.” – Dustin Albino, Frontstretch
6. Joey Logano (93 POINTS, +3)
“I DEFER TO COLE PEARN.” – @AnnoyingRaceFan
“Certainly has a habit of making enemies at Auto Club Speedway.” – Tony Lumbis, Frontstretch
“Still making competitors upset, but the speed is there to win a race very soon, possibly Martinsville. Should have won at the paperclip in the fall. We know what happened there.” – Albino
7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (54 POINTS, -1)
“Something tells me Batman wishes he could go back to beating Bane – …Tony Stewart in 2012, maybe? – after the beatdown Superman just gave him. Still, 11th wasn’t bad after the day Junebug had” – Bearden
8. Brad Keselowski (52 POINTS, +2)
“Maybe he’s still hungover from Vegas…?” – Bearden
9. Chase Elliott (37 POINTS, Prev. Unranked)
10. Kurt Busch (26 POINTS, -7)
“One bad race can’t hurt this team too much. He had four top 10s to start the year off.” – Albino
“A woeful day at the office on Sunday sends the 2004 champion sliding way down my rankings list.” – Pokrefky
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
One driver earned his first top 5 in nearly a year.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (25 Points, Finished 5th) – “I’M JUST AS SHOCKED AS YOU.” – @AnnoyingRaceFan
Martin Truex, Jr. (12 Points, Finished 32nd) – “Tough day at the office.” – Bearden
Others receiving votes: Austin Dillon (14), AJ Allmendinger (2), Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, SAFER Barrier (1)
CONTRIBUTORS
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Dustin Albino | @DustinAlbino |
| Phil Allaway | @Critic84 |
| Aaron Bearden | @AaronBearden93 |
| Summer Bedgood | @SummerBedgood |
| Tom Bowles | @NASCARBowles |
| Greg Davis | @GregMDavis |
| Sean Fesko | @TheWriterSean |
| Michael Finley | @FinleyFactor |
| Bryan Gable | N/A |
| Tony Lumbis | @TonyLumbis |
| Toni Montgomery | @ToniLMontgomery |
| Kevin Rutherford | @surfwax83 |
| Jason Schultz | @NASCARJason |
| Joseph Wolkin | @JosephNASCAR |
| Name | Position/Description | |
|---|---|---|
| AnnoyingRaceFan | @AnnoyingRaceFan | I’M @annoyingracefan ON TWITTER (AND INSTAGRAM). PEOPLE CALL ME ARF. I’M A RELATIVE NOBODY. |
| MatthewDillner | @MatthewDillner | NASCAR |
| Brian Eberly | @beberly18 | Writer, Rubbings Racing, Motor Racing Digest |
| Mike Hembree | @MikeHembree | Writer, USA Today |
| Ben Hinc | @lemonlovr | Owner, The Apex |
| Jerry Jordan | @kicknthetires | Owner, Kicknthetires.Net |
| Pete McCole | @PeteMcCole | NASCAR Writer, AutoRacing1.com |
| The Orange Cone | @TheOrangeCone | I am an orange traffic cone. |
| Kyle Pokrefky | @KPokrefky | Writer, The Fourth Turn |
| Reid Spencer | @Reid_Spencer | Lead Writer, NASCAR Wire Service |
| Doug Turnbull | @DougTurnbull | Announcer, PRN Live, Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| Jim Utter | @jim_utter | NASCAR Editor, Motorsport.com |
How they’re made: Following the conclusion of each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, members of a voting panel including Frontstretch writers, members of accredited media including Motorsport, NASCAR and USA Today, as well as writers from other sites and social media favorites, submit their top 10 drivers for the Power Rankings. The drivers are then given points based off their position, with first place getting 10 points, and each subsequent driver getting one few point until the 10th-place driver, who gets a lone point. Points are then tallied, and the rankings are created.
Do you agree with our rankings? Think someone got snubbed, or that one of the top drivers is overrated? Let us know in the comments, and tell us who raced their way into your top 10.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.