NASCAR: Power Rankings - AAA Texas 500 From Texas Motor Speedway
Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Once again, it’s time for our weekly NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Power Rankings. Who is at the top of our list following Martinsville as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500?
Jimmie Johnson survived body damage, a fuel issue and a scoring nightmare for NASCAR that some believe still isn’t correct to win at Martinsville and earn a berth into the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway in three weeks. It was his ninth Martinsville victory. His win prevents a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the four spots that will vie for the 2016 Sprint Cup Championship.
The series now heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 on a track where Johnson also excels. The stakes are high for chase drivers Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch as they try to stay above the cut line while Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards need to put their Martinsville woes behind them and hope for better things in the lone star state.
Be sure to leave comments here or reach us via social media to discuss where your favorite driver is on the list, or to tell us who should be on/off the list in your opinion!
Dropping off the list this week: N/A
New (or returning) to the list this week: N/A
Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
Honorable Mentions
Jeff Gordon
No. 88, Hendrick Motorsports
Jamie McMurray
No. 1, Chip Ganassi Racing
Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Power Rankings (No. 15 – No. 11)
Austin Dillon
No. 3, Richard Childress Racing
#15(Last Week: 11) – You’ve tweeted out after each of the last few races something to the effect of, “Well, that sucked, but….” See a pattern here? I’ll bet you’re even bringing that obnoxious hat to Texas too, aren’t you?
Ryan Newman
No. 31, Richard Childress Racing
#14(Last Week: ) – Didn’t hear much from you on Sunday at Martinsville. Are you still in that corn maze that you took the kids to this past week?
Chase Elliott
No. 24, Hendrick Motorsports
#13(Last Week: 12) – First Martinsville race where you didn’t knock the snot out of the car. Gotta start somewhere, as you say.
Kurt Busch
No. 41, Stewart-Haas Racing
#12(Last Week: 7) – You got to Game 6 at Wrigley Field quicker than you got around Martinsville on Sunday. Good to see your priorities are in order! Go Cubs!
Kasey Kahne
No. 5, Hendrick Motorsports
#11(Last Week: 14) – “You get better by working on the things you can control, and not worrying about those which you cannot.” Sounds a lot like Hillary’s Benghazi excuse. Next: No. 10 to No. 6
Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
Power Rankings (No. 10 – No. 6)
Carl Edwards
No. 19, Joe Gibbs Racing
#10(Last Week: 9) – That’s right, you’re not on Twitter yet, so I can’t go there to see your take on Martinsville. From what I recall though, you got caught speeding on your first pit stop and never made a second one because you tried to knock down the Turn 2 wall. Hashtag, now you’re in trouble.
Kevin Harvick
No. 4, Stewart-Haas Racing
#9(Last Week: 1) – You encouraged everyone to “Tell your friends! It’s race day at Martinsville.” Did somebody tell you?
A.J. Allmendinger
No. 47, JTG Daugherty Racing
#8(Last Week: 15) – You’re getting as aggressive as Megyn Kelly is when she interviews Donald Trump. Can’t hurt.
Joey Logano
No. 22, Penske Racing
#7(Last Week: 2) – When the No.1 and No. 47 push you around, its going to be a long day. But hey, we all got 22 cents off gas last Wednesday thanks to your ‘Dega win the week before.
Martin Truex, Jr.
No. 78, Furniture Row Motorsports
#6(Last Week: 4) – Showed your and your team’s resiliency by winning the pole and leading 144 of the first 170 laps at Martinsville. Then, they must have slipped you the company Kool-Aid on a pit stop, because you were the perfect gentleman the rest of the day by saying, “after you, please” whenever a real JGR car needed to lead a lap.Next: No. 5 to No. 1
Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
Power Rankings (No. 5 – No. 1)
Brad Keselowski
No. 2, Penske Racing
#5(Last Week: 10) – Imagine what you could have done with the No. 48 if you had some of those yellow laps back that NASCAR took to fiddle with themselves and ran them under green instead at the end.
Kyle Busch
No. 18, Joe Gibbs Racing
#4(Last Week: 8) – He feels that he and his JGR team mates spent too much time racing each other and holding each other up on Sunday and that let the Nos. 2 and 48 get in front of them and battle for the win. Well, at this point of the season, you have to excuse yourself from the campfire, let everyone else sing Kumbaya and you go get after it.
Matt Kenseth
No. 20, Joe Gibbs Racing
#3(Last Week: 5) – Didn’t know if he should have hit the No. 11 to un-clog the path to the front. You didn’t hesitate last year about hitting someone here. NASCAR even gave you two weeks off to think about it.
Denny Hamlin
No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing
#2(Last Week: 6) – He feels NASCAR still doesn’t have the scoring right and says that with the amount of cameras and technology available, they just “have to get it right.” Yeah, as soon as you figure out how not to speed in the pits, OK? Related Story: Johnson Wins Martinsville - Heading To Championship Four Round
Jimmie Johnson
No. 48, Hendrick Motorsports
#1(Last Week: 3) – With all due respect to their families and THEN some, do we really need to memorialize the 10 people lost in the HMS plane crash in ’04 every time we visit Martinsville? They’re just like Dale Sr. and Hillary’s e-mails….. never coming back.
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