Power Rankings: Watkins Glen

Power

Rankings

Watkins Glen:

There were a lot of mess ups by the guys at the top of the rankings and the guys towards the bottom of the rankings took advantage of the mess ups with some strong runs. There was a little bit more of a shakeup in the rankings as opposed to past weeks, so let's see where everyone stands before the Sprint Cup Series heads to the twists and turns of Watkins Glen.

New This Week: Martin Truex Jr.

Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin

Close, But No Cigar: Ryan Newman, Regan Smith

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

By some pretty fortunate luck at Pocono, a blown transmission for Junior didn't cause him to surrender the points lead as the three guys chasing him all wrecked on the final restart. Still, he could've won that Pocono race, his car was dominant. And as for this week, he himself said that Watkins Glen is a complete toss up.

2. Jimmie Johnson (No Change)

He could've taken the top spot in the rankings without a doubt had he not wrecked on that final restart while leading. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he had a flat tire, but he still blew that win, he had it. Watkins Glen has NEVER been a strong track for Johnson which is a rarity.

3. Tony Stewart (+2)

Just like he did the previous week at Indy, Smoke didn't have a competitive car, but he somehow pulled out a top-10, actually a top-5 in this case. Now he heads to one of his best, if not the best, track he has ever raced on, which is at the Glen of course.

4. Brad Keselowski (+2)

He keeps on racking up those top-10's, week in and week out. He was actually in that final crash, but was still able to maintain 4th position despite it. He's never been in much discussion as a road racer, but he did finish 3rd at the Glen last year. At this points, I don't think you can count Keselowski out at any track.

5. Greg Biffle (-1)

What looked to be another strong, top-5 run ended up being a 15th place and a furious Biffle. He's had decent road racing success, but I'm not sure if he's much of a threat at the Glen.

6. Matt Kenseth (-3)

Two crashes, two weeks in a row. Surprisingly, he's still second in points somehow despite this recent string of bad luck. I doubt it'll turn around this weekend at the Glen. Kenseth is notoriously bad at road courses.

7. Kasey Kahne (+2)

Kahne continues to finish well as of late with a second place run at Pocono. Funny enough, he had a flat tire when the race was called, so I'm sure he was thankful the rain came. He's an on and off road racer, so it's a toss up as to how he'll do.

8. Jeff Gordon (+2)

Finally! Gordon got some good luck for just about the first time this season and got that all important win, which put him in the second wild card spot for the Chase. And now he heads to one of his best tracks historically, although he hasn't won there in some time.

9. Clint Bowyer (-2)

It's hard to drop Bowyer this far down because he's still running good, he finished 8th at Pocono! But all of the other drivers are either so far ahead or are just running a tad better than Bowyer. He won the first road course of the year at Sonoma, so it'll be interesting to see if he can pull off the road course sweep!

10. Martin Truex Jr. (+1)

Truex is finally starting to regain his early season form with a top-10 at Indy two weeks ago and a 3rd place finish at Pocono last weekend. He's becoming a solid road racer, so continued recent success could happen at the Glen.