Power Rankings: Atlanta

Power

Rankings

Atlanta:

Some guys just keep sinking right now, and others keep rising up the pecking order in this week's edition of Power Rankings. Bristol did it's best to shake things up and it succeeded as many drivers will be changing places this week. And for the first time ever we have a tie in the rankings, albeit in 10th spot, but two drivers deserved to crack the top-10 right now and only one seems fit to fall out. Take a look at where you're favorite driver falls in this week's rankings!

New This Week: Denny Hamlin, Marcos Ambrose

Dropped Out: Matt Kenseth

Close, But No Cigar: Kyle Busch (Yes, he's in Chase position, but he just doesn't seem threatening!)

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No Change, from last week)

It's weird, he's almost always at the top of these rankings, but he doesn't seem like a driver capable of winning the championship right now. Still, he keeps running more consistently than anyone else right now, so he stays in front!

2. Jimmie Johnson (+3)

Well, that was certainly a quick bounce back. A week after looking like he had the race won before blowing a motor, Johnson comes to Bristol, starts an awful 37th, and manages to finish 2nd. Yeah, it's going to be hard to stop this guy come Chase time.

3. Kasey Kahne (+2)

It's hard to even remember that Kasey had as bad a start to the season as teammate Jeff Gordon did because he's just running so dang well right now. He crashed while leading at Bristol from slipping in oil, went multiple laps down, made them up and finished 9th. Insane!

4. Greg Biffle (-1)

Yeah, he led a decent amount of laps at Bristol, but that was because it was so hard to pass. In reality, Biffle had an awful car all night and the final result showed that with a 19th place finish. That won't settle to well with Biffle, who's actually a very competitive driver week in and week out.

5. Brad Keselowski (-3)

His Bristol performance was a let down to say the least. After having won the last two races at the track, he finished a dismal 30th. You could blame it on the fact that he was spun out and wrecked, but the truth is he had just as bad of a car as Biffle did. As we move on to Atlanta, Brad needs to finish 7th or better to lock himself into the Chase. And in typical Brad fashion, he already guaranteed he'd finish better than that.

6. Clint Bowyer (+1)

Ok, I take back what I said about Earnhardt Jr. being the most consistent driver, right now that would actually go to Bowyer. But to be fair, he seems to have even less of a killer instinct than Earnhardt right now. Both drivers appear to be just a little bit too vanilla (Yes! I'm using that controversial word "vanilla" that Jimmie Johnson was called years ago!) to win a championship right now.

7. Jeff Gordon (+3)

A third place effort is great for Gordon, but right now that has to be a win and he had the car to do it, just not the track position. Sure, Kyle Busch has the second wild card right now, but Gordon seems more threatening right now, especially winning last year's Atlanta race.

8. Denny Hamlin (+3)

Hamlin comes storming back into the top-10 this week with a pretty good Bristol win. That's his third of the year and ties him with Johnson, Keselowski, and Tony Stewart as we creep closer to the Chase and decided who starts first via the most wins.

9. Tony Stewart (-3)

He wasn't running spectacular all night and getting crashed by Matt Kenseth sure wasn't spectacular either, but it was awesome when he chucked his helmet at Kenseth's car after getting out of his. Still, Stewart has been very on and off, so it's hard to know what to expect from him in the coming weeks.

T10. Martin Truex Jr. (-1)

You know, I don't want to repeat myself. See Clint Bowyer or Dale Earnhardt Jr., your choice.

T10. Marcos Ambrose (+1)

He's been on a tear the last few weeks with a 10th at Pocono, a win at the Glen, and two 5th place finishes at Michigan and Bristol. If he can somehow pull off a win at Atlanta or Richmond, he might be one of the biggest upsets to make the Chase ever. Wait, no, that'll always be Juan Montoya.