Power Rankings: Pocono

Power

Rankings

Pocono:

Only three guys inside of the top 10 in last week's Power Rankings finished outside of the top 10 at Indianapolis, and for Kahne and Bowyer, they didn't even have bad finishes anyway. Only last week's leader, Matt Kenseth, endured a horrid race, so you know there will be a change at the top. Let's see where everyone falls in this week's version of Power Rankings.

New This Week: None

Dropped Out: None

Close, But No Cigar: Kyle Busch

1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+1 from last week)

I probably should've given this spot to Jimmie after that dominating Brickyard win. But this guy has his cars coming out of the same shop as Jimmie, and he's run them more consistently than his teammate. No one expected a fourth out of Junior at the Brickyard, so that means he'll probably do well at Pocono too.

2. Jimmie Johnson (+1)

I think I've already stated how much he crushed the competition last week at Indy. And that isn't good news for the competition because Pocono has many similarities to Indy.

3. Matt Kenseth (-2)

I would say it was just unfortunate for Matt that he got involved in that late race wreck. But he wasn't running particularly well all day anyway. Pocono isn't the greatest place for the former points leader to get back on track either.

4. Greg Biffle (No Change)

Quietly finishing well week in and week out. A third place finish at Indy bodes well for Biffle who won this Pocono race two years ago. And he may want to get one more win before the Chase to state that he is a legitimate title contender.

5. Tony Stewart (+1)

Talk about pulling something out of nothing. Stewart was frustrated beyond belief at his favorite track and believed he had no shot to pull out a good finish. Well, we get to the end of the race and Smoke just happens to end up in 10th. This is the time of year where Stewart becomes very dangerous.

6. Brad Keselowski (+1)

Keselowski continues to use strange strategies to pull off great finishes or even wins. It looked like he may have been the one to spoil Johnson's day, but a near spin relegated him to a 9th place finish. Still, that's not bad. Oh, and Brad is the defending winner of this weekend's Pocono race.

7. Clint Bowyer (-2)

Bowyer wrecked in the race and still came back to grab a decent finish. He's been quiet since that Sonoma win.....too quiet. He might have something up his sleeve in the coming weeks.

8. Denny Hamlin (No Change)

Hamlin, the pole sitter at Indy, was also one of the very few who could've spoiled Johnson's win. But like Keselowski, a near wreck cost Hamlin a great deal of track position and he had to fight back to finish 6th.

9. Kasey Kahne (No Change)

Early on it looked as if Kahne was going to charge up to join his dominate Hendrick teammates. But he could never find his way into the top 10, settling for 12th. Still, Kahne holds the top wild card spot with only six races to the Chase, so he's fine.

10. Jeff Gordon (No Change)

Gordon continues to run strong and it looks like the bad luck is behind him (for now). But he's got to win in these last six races to have a shot at the Chase. He seemed like the only driver who could challenge Johnson on speed at Indy. And he had a shot to win Pocono earlier this year before terrible pit strategy killed him.