NASCAR on TV this week

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The 12: NASCAR Power Rankings Quaker State 400 Edition

by

Kurt Busch got some redemption on Saturday night. While lightning struck in Daytona, costing him a potential victory, he was sure not going to be denied in Kentucky. The elder Busch got his first victory of the season as well as bragging rights over beating his little brother for the win. How will this translate to the power rankings? Find out below.

How the power rankings are calculated: Following the conclusion of each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, members of a voting panel, including Frontstretch writers and members of accredited media outlets as well as writers from other sites and social media personalities, submit their top 12 drivers for the Power Rankings.

The drivers are then given points based on their ranking by our panelists, with first place getting 12 points, and each subsequent driver getting one fewer point until the 12th-place driver, who gets a single point. Points are then added together, and the rankings are subsequently produced.

Power Rankings: Camping World 400 Edition

1. Kyle Busch — 142 Points

First-place votes: 10

Last week’s ranking: 2nd (-1)

For Busch, it looked like he was in good shape as he was battling Joey Logano for the race win.

Then the caution came out.

The younger Busch got passed by his older brother, but it is safe to say that he was giving 100% on that final lap.

2. Joey Logano — 123 Points

First-place votes: 1

Last week’s ranking: 1st (-1)

For Logano, it was a weekend of what could have been. Logano, who was leading with under 10 to go, got passed by both of the Busch brothers on the last restart, which resulted in a seventh-place finish for the defending champion.

Logano heads to Loudon next where he won his first ever race in 2009.

3. Kurt Busch — 105 Points

First-place votes: 1

Last week’s ranking: 7th (+4)

The monkey is finally off of his back. After going in to pit with one to go before the green flag at Daytona and then lightning bringing out the red flag that would eventually end the race, Busch got his revenge as he took the high side on the restart and passed his brother to claim his first victory of the year and the first victory of his tenure with Chip Ganassi Racing.

His crew chief was STILL celebrating a few days later.

4. Martin Truex Jr. — 96 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 5th (+1)

While Busch was in victory lane, the most confused driver was more than likely Truex, as the winner in the past two years and the winner of the past four stages at Kentucky didn’t lead a single lap and was rarely in the top 15 the entire night on Saturday.

Onto Loudon where, unlike Kentucky, the No. 19 team has never won before.

5. Denny Hamlin — 88 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 6th (+1)

There seem to be few certainties in life. Death is one of them. Taxes is another.

Hamlin incurring a pit road penalty seems to be about in that category.

The Virginia native, once again, had to come back down pit road after his crew had an uncontrolled tire violation during green flag pit stops.

When will the bleeding end for the No. 11 team and the penalty mistakes?

6. Brad Keselowski — 84 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 5th (-1)

It is has been a rough couple of weeks for Keselowski. He had the incident with Byron in practice last week in Daytona and then got in a wreck which resulted in a last-place finish.

This week? He wasn’t making as many headlines, but it still wasn’t good weekend for the No. 2 team, as they were rarely running in the top 10 and had to settle for a 20th-place finish, one lap down.

He still got to send a message to his daughter, Scarlett, who was back at home with his wife Paige.

7. Kevin Harvick — 66 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 4th (-3)

It just wasn’t the weekend (and really, the whole season) for Harvick as he struggled all weekend and was not even close to the front at Kentucky.
What is it going to take for Harvick to get back on track?

“Led the most laps, but was never the same in dirty air.”- Joy Tomlinson, Frontstretch

8. Chase Elliott — 40 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 9th (+1)

It looked like it was going to be a rough day for Elliott, as he blew a tire in the latter end of the first stage, but Elliott and his entire crew kept on digging and eventually settled for a 15th-place finish.

9. Kyle Larson — 35 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: UR (UR)

While his teammate was celebrating in Victory Lane, Larson’s fourth place was kinda overshadowed. Nevertheless, it looks like the bleeding has stopped for the No. 42 team and maybe they will go back to back in the win column for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He even went to victory lane to congratulate his teammate on his first win of the season.

10. Aric Almirola — 33 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: UR (UR)

Early in the weekend, it looked like it could be Almirola’s night to shine as he was fast in both practices, as well as qualifying second for the following night’s race.

The race didn’t quite live up to expectations, though, as he had to settle for 14th, continuing the streak of being winless for himself and Stewart Haas in 2019.

11. Alex Bowman — 28 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: 8th (-3)

While Bowman debuted a nice fresh paint scheme for Nationwide, the result wasn’t reflected on track. Bowman and company struggled from the start, and the 17th-place finish signified where they were at the entire weekend.

12. Clint Bowyer — 20 Points

First-place votes: 0

Last week’s ranking: UR

After a horrendous month of June, Bowyer got back on track as the Kansas native led some laps, finally got some stage points and ended up with a top 10. Bowyer will need to continue on this stretch of top 10s if he wants to solidly be in the playoffs … though a win would help a lot with that too.

OTHER DRIVERS WHO RECEIVED VOTES

THIS WEEK’S VOTING PANEL

Name Twitter Organization
Ed Coombs @combsed Speedway Media
Bryan Davis Keith @bryandaviskeith Frontstretch
Rob Dutzar Jr @rob_dutzar Rob’s NASCAR Blog
Matt Courson @m_courson Kickin’ The Tires
Darian Gilliam @blackflagmatter Black Flags Matter
Dan Greene @librarymonk Frontstretch
Ryan Holman @realryanholman Ryan Holman on YouTube
Dakota Honaker @2codered4u 2CodeRed4U
Godwin Kelly @godwinkelly The Daytona Beach News Journal
Mark Kristl @markkristl Frontstretch
Kobe Lambeth @kobelambeth Kobelambeth.com
Joy Tomlinson @jt_giantsfan Frontstretch

Do you agree with our rankings? Think someone was left out, or that one of the top drivers is overrated? Let us know in the comments, and tell others what your top 12 would be. 

Bryan Nolen is the Operations Manager and Multimedia Director for Frontstretch.com. He also hosts the Bringing the Heat with Bryan Nolen Podcast and occasionally makes appearances on The Happy Hour Podcast. He has a Sportscasting degree from the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting. He resides in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, his French Bulldog Archer and two rabbits.

Follow him on Twitter @TheBryanNolen

Home > Articles > Cup Series