The Frontstretch: Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings: After the Bud Shootout by Mike Neff -- Tuesday February 12, 2008

June 30th - July 4th, 2008

Monday: Matt McLaughlin returns from vacation for his usual race recap; but in his latest Thinkin' Out Loud, he tells us why Sunday's race in New Hampshire made him wish he'd never even bothered to come back.

Tuesday: The Voice of Vito comes from above to address the strength of Toyota's NASCAR hot streak - as well as the hot-blooded personalities of their drivers, a movement which seems to be making all the difference as of late.

Wednesday: Find out where YOUR favorites rank - and if they make the cut - as the Frontstretch stacks up the Top 15 in our weekly Power Rankings.

Thursday: Go Beyond the Cockpit with rising star Marcos Ambrose; among the questions we ask him in our one-one interview include how he's making the move from NASCAR to the Cup Series while finding gold away from the race track - literally. EDITOR'S NOTE: Look for Marcos' interview NEXT Thursday! We apologize for the inconvenience.

Friday: Our own Amy Henderson made for an unlikely member of a Nationwide Series pit crew in New Hampshire this past weekend; she explains in her latest edition of Holding A Pretty Wheel.

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Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings: After the Bud Shootout

Mike Neff · Tuesday February 12, 2008

Editor’s Note : In our ongoing quest to make our site bigger and better, Frontstretch is proud to expand our power rankings to a full website feature. We do our rankings similar to the Associated Press for Basketball and Football … each staff member that votes ranks the drivers on a 20-19-18-17-16-15-14…3-2-1 basis, with the first place driver scoring 20 points, second place 19, etc. Then, Senior Writer Mike Neff compiles the votes, adds some one-liners, and — voila! — you have a full-cooked recipe of power ranking delight.

So, without further ado … here’s our latest edition …

2008 Frontstretch Power Rankings For February 13th, 2008
Rank	Driver	Votes	Previous Rk
1	Jimmie Johnson (7)	159	2
Follows up his championship with a pole in the 500; this team doesn’t miss a beat.
2	Jeff Gordon (1)	152	1
Here’s a little known fact — Jimmie Johnson’s not the only one chasing Cale Yarborough. A Jeff Gordon victory Sunday ties him with Yarborough with four career Daytona 500 victories … only Richard Petty has more.
3	Tony Stewart	136	3
Sampson has nothing on Smoke.
4	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	124	5
The Bud Shootout does not a Daytona 500 make. Two more laps, and Jimmie Johnson wins that race…
5	Matt Kenseth	121	4
In every interview we’ve seen him in so far, Kenseth looks a little constipated. We’re not sure what this means quite yet … but I guess we’ll figure out soon enough!
6	Carl Edwards	105	6
Expect a gentler, kinder Edwards to focus energy on racing rather than at his teammates, resulting in a successful year.
7	Kurt Busch	102	9
If only Kurt knew he’d get off scot free, chances are Tony wouldn’t have driven that car back to the garage…
8	Kyle Busch	80	11
Hey, Dennyâ€¦ how ya like the view from back there?
9	Denny Hamlin	80	NR
Let’s look at it this way; at least he beat the UPS car Saturday night. And judging by last week’s comments, he certainly has a strong legion of fans.
10	Clint Bowyer	77	7
The NASCAR world is anxious to see if the 2007 Cinderella story is for real, or a one hit wonder.
11	Martin Truex, Jr.	73	10
We’re not going to lie; it’s a little surprising to see DEI come to Daytona and be this flat.
12	Casey Mears	70	15
A popular bandwagon pick going into the 500, but he needs to prove his worth before moving further up in the rankings.
13	Kevin Harvick	69	12
Being the defending Daytona champ counts for something … but there’s been no back-to-back winner in the 500 since Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.
14	Jeff Burton	65	8
Relieved not to have to worry about a lawsuit everytime he mentions his sponsor this year — at least, for now.
15	Ryan Newman	57	14
Odds are still 3-1 he ends up on his roof again at Daytona.
Dropped Out : Greg Biffle (13).
Also Receiving Votes : Biffle 51, Dave Blaney 29, Kasey Kahne 23, Mark Martin 18, Michael Waltrip 18, Juan Pablo Montoya 16, David Reutimann 11, Joe Nemechek 11, Jamie McMurray 9, Bobby Labonte 7, David Ragan 7, Reed Sorenson 5, Elliott Sadler 1.

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RayRay
02/19/2008 07:41 AM
permalink

These rankings are hilarious. Take Hendrick, Gibbs, Roush, and RCR teams, throw them in a hat and draw the chase drivers. However, I’m interested in seeing how the COT evens the playing field. That may take a year or more for everyone to catch up with Hendrick. Or is the gap already closing? (i.e. Gibbs, Dodge teams). We’ll get a better guage the next 2 weeks at California and Vegas.

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