The Chase may only be 20% done, but so far, it’s been the Greg Biffle show 100% of the time. Two races and two wins have the six-year veteran on the verge of the championship lead, gunning hard to become the first driver to win the title in all three national touring series.
But could the Biff’s recent streak in victory lane be enough to put him on the top of our Power Rankings – or would his Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards be the one to take control? On the flip side, Kyle Busch tumbled down the charts with his second straight mechanical problem. Which one of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates found himself slipping even further?
For the answers to these questions and more, read below to find out just how much the Monster Mile made our writers change the course of our Power Rankings.
How the Rankings are Calculated: Frontstretch does their power rankings somewhat similar to how the Associated Press does them for basketball or football – writers on our staff will vote for the top 20 on a 20-19-18-17-16-15…3-2-1 basis, giving 20 points to their first-place driver, 19 for their second and so on. In the end, Mike Neff calculates the points, adds some funny one-liners and… voila! You have the Power Rankings from our dedicated staff.
| FRONTSTRETCH TOP-15 POWER RANKINGS: SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 | |||
| Rank | Driver (First-Place Votes) | Votes | Last Week |
| 1 | Carl Edwards | 188 | 2 |
| People are always going on about how much Tony Eury Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. argue on the radio with each other. Ever listen to Edwards and Bob Osborne go at it? The difference is when these two argue, they win races – or, like in Dover, blow it and finish third. | |||
| 2 | Greg Biffle (7) | 185 | 4 |
| Biffle 2-for-2 in the Chase? Seriously? We may voluntarily submit to NASCAR’s new drug-testing policy. | |||
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson (1) | 179 | 1 |
| Finishes of second and fifth so far in the Chase for a team that usually starts out a little conservative? That could spell trouble for the other 11 contenders. | |||
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 169 | 3 |
| Modeling his consistency after teammate Jeff Burton – so does that mean he’ll be without a championship at 40? | |||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 145 | 6 |
| An eighth- and 11th-place finish in the Chase and no disastrous encounters with other drivers or cameramen yet. Doing his best impression of another certain orange car out there. No, not the General Lee. | |||
| 6 | Jeff Burton | 143 | 9 |
| Fixing a summer’s worth of problems just in time to fall just short of a title – again. | |||
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | 135 | 12 |
| Kenseth’s theme song of 2008 continues. Start in a hole and work your way out. | |||
| 8 | Kyle Busch (2) | 125 | 5 |
| Kyle needs to tune into ESPN Classic the next time the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta is on, so he can see what Alan Kulwicki was able to do with a 278-point deficit with six races remaining. | |||
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 115 | 11 |
| He can thank Junior sucking lately for drawing all the attention off him. | |||
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 114 | 10 |
| Off to an intermediate track to suck again. Oh well, hope the home cookin’ is good. | |||
| 11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 107 | 8 |
| Rick Hendrick’s next public statement about Junior: “New crew chief wanted.” What, you think they’re gonna ditch the driver? | |||
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | 102 | 7 |
| Learned the hard way you never want to be associated with a leaky rear end. | |||
| 13 | Mark Martin | 68 | NR |
| Spent the final laps of the race watching the fruits of his labor as three former teammates battled for the lead. | |||
| 14 | David Ragan | 65 | 13 |
| Still better than Jamie McMurray. | |||
| 15 | David Reutimann | 61 | 14 |
| Here’s a fun fact: has more points in the last three races than the driver he’s being replaced with at UPS. Ironically, Reutimann’s still looking up at Ragan in real life and in our Power Rankings. | |||
| Dropped Out: Martin Truex Jr. (15) | |||
| Also Receiving Votes: Ryan Newman (41), Martin Truex Jr. (40), Kasey Kahne (37), Bobby Labonte (25), Brian Vickers (14), Jamie McMurray (11), Michael Waltrip (11), Kurt Busch (7), Casey Mears (3), Dave Blaney (3), Travis Kvapil (2), Elliott Sadler (2), AJ Allmendinger (2), David Gilliland (1) | |||
| Who Voted: Ren Jonsin, Tom Bowles, Cami Starr, Mike Neff, Kim DeHaven, Tony Lumbis, Matt Taliaferro, Vito Pugliese, Bryan Davis Keith and Doug Turnbull | |||
About the author
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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