Time for our latest round of power rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. Pocono tightened up the rankings significantly and shuffled the deck ever so slightly. Let's begin, shall we?
1. Carl Edwards. Edwards is so darn eager to please, I'd be surprised if he doesn't spend his downtime baking cookies for his fans and showing up on their doorsteps to help out with chores and babysitting. The guy gets knocked out of the race, loses almost all of his points lead, and what does he do? Goes and works color commentary for TNT. I can think of a few drivers who'd be watching that race from their home TV, not doing final meaningless laps. This is your next great NASCAR superstar, folks. Last week's ranking: 1.
2. Kevin Harvick. Take these next five drivers and throw 'em in a hat. Well, not them, but their names. They're all virtually interchangeable at this point in the season. Just look how they finished this week: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. That's pretty tight at the top. Harvick gets the nod for his old-man-merging-onto-the-highway move on Kyle Busch, which was great fun to watch.� Last week's ranking: 2.
3. Kyle Busch. To some extent, you've got to feel a bit for Kyle Busch. So much of what's happened the last few weeks hasn't been his fault. Sure, as we discussed earlier, he's not blame-free. But getting ambushed by a grandfather, getting mind-screwed by Harvick at least twice and driving a car that may or may not have been deliberately set out of compliance aren't all his doing. Is it enough to make you feel sorry for Kyle? Well, let's not talk crazy talk here.� Last week's ranking: 4.
4. Jimmie Johnson. "48 pit crew's job" is the new standard for an absurdly short length of time. Example: "When I asked that lady in the bar if fries go with that shake, it took her about one 48 pit crew's job to throw a drink in my face." Feel free to supplement with your own examples below. Oh, and despite a crew that would have had trouble washing a dog, Vader still managed a fourth-place finish. He's not going anywhere, folks. Last week's ranking: 5.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Pop quiz that we got asked in Sunday night's chat: would you rather be Junior, in third place in the standings with no wins, or Jeff Gordon, in 11th place in the standings with two wins? As well as Junior has run of late -- he's working on a nice run of top 7s, by the way -- I think you say Gordon, because there's so much more of a margin for error. And you? Last week's ranking: 3.
6. Matt Kenseth. Has there ever been a NASCAR pairing more incongruous than Matt Kenseth, the very soul of calm, get-your-job-done-right efficiency, and Affliction, the embodiment of every meatheaded lout who thinks slathering himself in Axe Body Spray makes him a player? Whatever, Kenseth got the job done once again this week. Keep an eye on him. Seriously. I wouldn't put it past him to steal your wallet. Last week's ranking: 6.
7. Kurt Busch. Busch's resurgence after an early-season lull came right about the time he stopped berating his team and yelling every [profane]ing thing that came into his head over the radio. Last week, Darrell Waltrip tried to make the excuse that Busch was firing up his team and knew what needed to be done. It's also perhaps conceivable that Busch's team doesn't necessarily want to work quite as hard for someone who'll skin them alive for the slightest mistake. I dunno, take your pick. Regardless, he was near-money Sunday.� Last week's ranking: 9.
8. Denny Hamlin. The Hamster has a way of turning dominant race performances into substandard finishes, as if he's calibrated to run well for only about 80 percent of the race, and not the last 80 percent. Sunday his crew caused him some problems, not a good sign for his future Cup hopes. Time is running out for him to win his way into the Chase, but he's still got Pocono II and Richmond once more. Might be time to get those crew issues in order now, rather than waiting until, say, the second-to-last race of the season. Just a thought.�Last week's ranking: 7.
9. Tony Stewart. Stewart was none too pleased about having to shift so many times at Pocono; the constant back-and-forth eventually cost him his third gear. Plus, he had a hard time switching radio stations while having to shift all the time. I bet Smoke would be a fun guy to road-trip with, but he'd want to control the radio the entire time. Or he'd want to listen to "Bawitdaba" for the whole ride.� Last week's ranking: 8.
10. Jeff Gordon. Not every race is an all-out hammer-down fight to the finish; sometimes an efficient little set of pit strategies and keep-'er-off-the-walls is all you need. That's exactly what Gordon did on Sunday, and it's all but definitively put him into the Chase. He's still way too inconsistent to back for a serious run at the Cup yet, but he's in, and that's what matters for now.� Last week's ranking: 12.
11. Clint Bowyer. Wherefore art thou, Rawhide? After his early run of top 10s, he's posted three straight mid-teen finishes. It's just not clicking for him right now, and even though he's in 8th position, he's way too close to that cut line to be comfortable. That quarter of an inch that he lost to Johnson by at Talladega is going to loom large, isn't it?� Last week's ranking: 11.
12. Ryan Newman. On Twitter last week I posed the (not very serious) question of why someone who got fined secretly would bother paying the fine. If nobody knows it's out there, nobody knows if you pay or not, right? I was then informed that NASCAR has other options, like finding "debris" and throwing a caution when you have a 10-second lead or are in the pits during a green-flag stop. Man! They're worse than credit card companies! Last week's ranking: 10.
Lucky Dog: Juan Pablo Montoya, who was two bizarre tire calls away from winning this race. He now sits 25 points out of 10th place, a large but not insurmountable deficit. Here's betting there's going to be a little more focused direction of tire strategy in the #42 hauler this week.
DNF: Greg Biffle, who couldn't win for spinning. TNT couldn't find any of the debris that halted the race on several of the cautions, but when Biffle spun out, everything stayed perfectly green. Of course it did.
Dropping out of the rankings: Nobody.
Charging upward: With 12 quality Chase-level drivers and 12 spots in our Power Rankings, there's really nobody who's not either in the mix or definitively out of it right now. I guess we'll give this one to Montoya. Or maybe to you, if you sat through the entire race Sunday. You want this honor? It's yours.
Next up: Michigan! Check your gas tank and send comments to us Twitter at @jaybusbee, email by clicking here, and via Facebook at The Marbles page.
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