Nascar Power Rankings: Atlanta

Posted by Ryan Rantz 0 comments

1		With a win from the pole (sort of) in front of his hometown crowd Kyle Busch moves up into the top spot for the first time in the 2009 season. With his win he also moved into sixth position in the point standings. Last year at Atlanta Kyle Busch lead 173 laps and averaged 175 points a race.
+1	Kyle Busch
2		Matt Kenseth had a nice short day at Las Vegas. He only completed 6 laps before his engine blew. Who knows how good his car was. My guess is that it would have been a solid top 10. Kenseth will look to rebound at Atlanta were last year he lead 128 laps and scored the second most points last year behind Kyle Busch.
-1	Matt Kenseth
3		Jeff Gordon finished in sixth place at Las Vegas with a damaged car. The 24 car has been a serious challenger every week and Gordon is now first place in the point standings. Gordon also surpassed the 20,000 career laps led mark at Las Vegas, but did you know he’s lead over 1,000 laps at Atlanta alone. Gordon has 4 wins, 21 top tens, and a good average finish of 12.7 at Atlanta.
+1	Jeff Gordon
4		Johnson had bad luck at Las Vegas in the final third of the race with his pit problems and a late wreck. Luckily for Johnson the real season hasn’t started yet and no team is more clutch down the stretch then the 48 team. Johnson does have a series best average finish of 10.4 at Atlanta and his points climb is inevitable.
-1	Jimmie Johnson
5		Greg Biffle was the highest finishing Roush Fenway car at Las Vegas and finished in the 7th position. His Ford engine was spared, but many of his teammates weren’t so lucky. With his solid finish he moved up to third in the point standings. Atlanta is a fast track and Biffle had 2 top tens there in 2008.
+3	Greg Biffle
6		Carl Edwards was running solidly in the top 10 until his engine blew up right at the very end. Fortunately for him it lasted much longer then some of his other teammate’s engines. Atlanta is like medicine for the 99 team and Carl Edwards won the fall race last year. In the spring race Edwards had perhaps the best car, but unfortunately his engine blew up.
-	Carl Edwards
7		Tony Stewart had a good race at Vegas but unfortunately his finish position didn’t reflect how good the 14 team performed. Stewart was consistently in the top 10 until a loose wheel ruined his day. With strong performances early for this team they will be in excellent shape when the chase starts.
-2	Tony Stewart
8		Clint Bowyer finished 2nd at Las Vegas with his gutsy pit strategy. With his strong finish Bowyer also moved up to 2nd in the point standings. Clint Bowyer now trails Jeff Gordon by 18 points.
+4	Clint Bowyer
9		Kevin Harvick had a nice late rally to finish 12th at Las Vegas. Kevin Harvick won his first race at Atlanta, but that doesn’t mean I would recommend using him there. At Atlanta Harvick has an average finish of 22.6 and has only 3 top tens in 16 races.
-2	Kevin Harvick
10		Kurt Busch had a top 5 car, but about 100 laps into the race the 2 car was down to 7 cylinders. Luckily Kurt was able to nurse the 2 car to the finish line. In 2008 Kurt finished 11th and 6th at Atlanta.
+1	Kurt Busch
11		Denny Hamlin started in the back and worked his way into the top 10. Then at lap 171 Hamlin slapped the wall and his day was over. He finished in the 22nd position.
-1	Denny Hamlin
12		Jeff Burton had a traditional Jeff Burton day at Las Vegas. He started mid pack and crept his way into getting a good finish.The 31 team must be relieved after their California nightmare performance.
+3	Jeff Burton
13		Mark Martin doesn’t work in the motor department so this low ranking isn’t his fault. This team needs to build a car with some durability.
-4	Mark Martin
14		The 88 car had their best finish of the season at Las Vegas. Earnhardt Jr really needs to step up his pit road performance because this problem is avoidable. Atlanta is Junior’s best Intermediate track and he has an average finish of 11.7.
-	Dale Earnhardt Jr
15		Jaime McMurray makes his first appearance in my power rankings with his 9th place finish. The 26 has been perhaps the most consistent car of the season with good runs everywhere.
Not Rated	Jamie McMurray