Power Rankings: Kyle Busch is an all-star
by JORGE A. MONDACA, FOXSports.com
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Yes, this week is technically an "off week" on the calendar since there is no points race on the schedule, but as expected, teams are busy working in the shop or testing out on the road as they look for an edge on the competition.
Oh yeah, there's also that matter of this Saturday's race that's anything but an exhibition: the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway (SPEED, 7 p.m. ET). As past editions of this event have shown us, anything — and usually everything — can happen as drivers battle for the top prize of more than $1 million at the end of the night.
But before we lose all focus on the championship, remember that the next point race on the schedule (the Coca-Cola 600) is at the same 1.5-miler just one week later. So while madness will likely ensue, there's a bigger prize on the line and a smart race Saturday night may help when the points count.
Who can you count on doing best in the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600? Here's the top performers so far this season.
Power Rankings after the Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway
1. Kyle Busch — 112.0 driver rating (No. 1 last week): Plain and simple: Kyle Busch tamed "The Track Too Tough to Tame."
From his starting spot of sixth on the grid, the driver of the No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry went out and surged to the front Saturday night at Darlington. It had a pit road miscue, which resulted in a penalty that dropped him from the front to the rear of the field. Without it, Busch's results would have been even more impressive numerically as he could have padded his laps led account to many more than the race-high 169 circuits he had at the end of Saturday. Oh yeah, Busch did all that despite having an ill-handling race car and racing against a hostile crowd.
Rowdy in Daytona
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Race Trax:
News:
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- Sick Stewart still unlucky
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- NASCAR confiscates Truex's car
- Pats' Moss buys NASCAR truck team
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Can you dig it?
But really, are you surprised? Eleven races into the 2008 season, Busch has been accomplishing feats like this several times in all three of NASCAR's top levels of competition (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck).
Hate to be the bearer of bad news for those who haven't jumped on the Kyle Busch bandwagon yet, but you should get used to seeing him on top of the charts because he looks to be willing to do whatever it takes to stay on top the rest of this year.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — 109.5 driver rating (No. 2 last week): Mr. Consistency put on another strong showing at Darlington, leading laps and securing a fourth-place finish — his fourth top-five finish and 10th top-15 finish in 11 races this season.
However, don't think his Darlington run was as ho-hum as it sounds.
"Well, we had a real good car all weekend and when the race started, I knew we weren't exactly like we had been," Earnhardt said after the race. "Tony Jr. (Eury) told me right after the race we had changed a lower A-Frame and that might have changed how the car rolled over and traveled and stuff and handled. We were off a little bit all night, weren't really that good. Track position was everything; you could not pass, period. That was the worst I have ever seen it as far as trying to be able to pass. But, I have to hand it to my team. They worked hard. We worked hard and we finished top-five. I am pretty happy with that."
I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but if this team can achieve these results when they are missing their setups, just imagine what they can do when they get it all figured out. Be patient, Jr. Nation. There's 25 races left.
3. Denny Hamlin — 103.8 driver rating (No. 3 last week): Hamlin was in position to have a great rebound performance after a frustrating race at his hometown track at Richmond last time out, but poor fuel mileage put a damper on any thoughts of victory or even a top-five finish Saturday.
Still, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry was able to continue his recent hot streak of six top-10 finishes in the last seven races. He also padded his laps led account to 645 this season — 78 laps ahead of race winner Kyle Busch and 194 ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Carl Edwards — 103.4 driver rating (No. 4 last week): Lost in the various storylines that developed at Darlington was the tale of Carl Edwards.
Without much fanfare, Edwards surged from a 36th-place starting position to finish runner-up on Saturday night. Yeah, he didn't have a dominant performance like he has in past races this season, nor did he lead a lap or lead any of the major stat categories on race day, but he did pick up his fifth top-five despite his worst start of the season.
"I'm definitely disappointed to finish second and not win the thing," said Edwards. "We were 43rd on the sheet when we came here the first practice. I was down in the dumps. I was feeling terrible. I didn't like the new surface and I was frustrated and to come out of here with a second-place finish, I mean, Kyle had the fastest car. He was pretty unbeatable tonight. To finish second and beat the rest of the field, that's pretty good from where we came from coming here."
5. Jimmie Johnson — 96.2 driver rating (No. 6 last week): Here's what Jimmie said: "I don't have much to say. It was one of those nights. We had an alternator problem that hurt us through most of the night...We weren't the fastest car, but we should have been a little better. I got in the wall early and that hurt us."
Here's what really happened: Yes, Johnson probably expected better than 13th after starting third at Darlington, but considering that dropped to 26th twice on race day, the top-15 result doesn't sound that bad anymore. And by the way, he also climbed one spot in the standings to sixth overall, so maybe he didn't have much to say because he doesn't want to scare his competition too much.
6. Tony Stewart — 95.8 driver rating (No. 5 last week): Tony Stewart has to be asking himself, "What could have been?"
Even after his second-lap accident with Elliott Sadler, Smoke was among the fastest cars on the track late in the running of the Dodge Challenger 500 and could have improved on his 21st-place finish if only he could have caught a break and gotten the "lucky dog."
That being said, Stewart rebounded well on Saturday at a track that historically hasn't been his strongest. Keep an eye on this team in the coming weeks — this is usually around the time they start getting hot and now they have the motivation of wanting to prove just how good they were at Darlington this past weekend.
7. Jeff Gordon — 95.7 driver rating (No. 9 last week): "I wish I wasn't so darn competitive because you have no idea," Gordon said after the race. "I am happy that we have a top-five and we are third, but also how frustrated I am because of how far off we are from winning races right now. We did the tire test here at Darlington and the No. 18 just kicked everybody's tails (Saturday). So, we have some work to do. We have been working hard, hopefully we can get a little bit closer to them at Charlotte."
Think anybody on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team is thinking about their early season "slump"?
8. Jeff Burton — 93.3 driver rating (No. 8 last week): Jeff Burton's impressive start to the season continued Saturday at Darlington where he finished 10th — his 11th finish of 13th or better this season.
Burton's overall race performance may not be as strong as those ahead of him in the Power Rankings, but results are what matters — only Kyle Busch is ahead of him in rankings that matter at the end of the year.
Of course, his results this season beg one question: Just imagine what Burton could do if he and his team could hit on the perfect setup. That's got to be a scary thought for the rest of the garage.
9. Kevin Harvick — 92.1 driver rating (No. 7 last week): How important is it to be on top of your game every week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series?
After the first 10 races this season, Harvick was fifth overall in the championship with an average finish was 10.9 and a worst finish of 24th. But one slip up at Darlington resulted in a 39th-place showing and a fall to ninth in the standings.
Ouch.
Still, Harvick is the third Richard Childress Racing driver in the top 10, so look for Happy and Co. to bounce back in fairly short order.
10. Greg Biffle — 90.6 driver rating (Outside of top 10 last week): The only new driver on the list this week, Biffle did not return because of his final result Saturday night at Darlington (43rd), but rather because of his performance before he blew his engine and fell from the lead to the back of the pack.
Unfortunately, Saturday's finish was his second disappointment of the year (39th at Texas being his first), so don't look for Biffle to hang around the top 10 in Power Rankings unless he and his team figure out all the gremlins in their car and get back to being perennial top 10 or top 15 finishers.
Dropped out: Clint Bowyer
To check out where all the Sprint Cup drivers rank, read the complete list here.
2008 Power Rankings: Post Daytona | Post California | Post Las Vegas | Post Atlanta | Post Bristol | Off Week 1 — Owners | Post Martinsville | Post Texas | Post Phoenix | Off Week 2 — Crew Chiefs | Post Talladega | Post Richmond
Editor's Note: Jorge A. Mondaca's weekly power rankings are based on NASCAR's Driver Rating system. Why these statistics and not others? The NASCAR Driver Rating system is based on a formula combining several categories which show how a driver is racing, not only how he is finishing, by looking at the point-paying races this season. As a result, it offers a much clearer explanation as to how they are currently performing.
The statistics used to determine the final numeric value are: Wins, finishes, Top-15 results, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finishes.
The system has a maximum of 150 points per race. Drivers must have raced in 75 percent of scheduled point-paying races to be included in this rating.
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