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Power Rankings: Kevin Harvick and then everyone else
Our Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it's the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. And you think we dislike your favorite driver, so it makes sense, right? Direct all your complaints to us at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com.
1. Kevin Harvick (LW: 1): Let's get this out of the way: Kevin Harvick is on a historic streak. Four-straight top-two finishes to start the year and seven overall might have seemed unthinkable in this era of NASCAR. But thanks to Harvick, it's now a reality. And while what the No. 4 team is doing right now is incredible, let's not get ahead of ourselves and make comparisons to Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team just yet. Yes, Harvick is the defending Sprint Cup Series champion and the favorite for 2015 at this point. A point that's 1/9th of the way through the season. Johnson and co. reeled off five straight titles from 2006-2010. The No. 4 bunch needs three before we seriously start going in that direction.
2. Joey Logano (LW: 2): If we rewind to the beginning of the race, Logano drove past Harvick on the first lap while Harvick fell to fifth. Logano then led the first 25 laps before Harvick passed him and then led another 10 in the second half of the race. He finished eighth. Logano, after four-straight top-10 finishes to start the season, has 160 points and is second in the points standings. Last year, he would have been three points off the lead at this point, six points off the lead in 2013 and the points leader in 2012. He's 22 back of Harvick right now.
3. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 4): Yes, we're mimicking the points standings right now, but that's also because of process of elimination. A driver who was above Truex last week finished last and we can't be justifying last place finishes all up in this joint. At worst, Truex is giving himself a nice points cushion to boost his chances of qualifying for the Chase if he doesn't win a race. At best, he's going to win a race and make the Chase. This doesn't seem like a fluke right now, does it?
4. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 5): Nice little comeback for Johnson, though did we really think he was going to be mired back in the pack after what happened with Brian Vickers? Phoenix is a notoriously tough track for spotters and Vickers was told he was clear. He wasn't, and he ended up in the wall. Johnson immediately pitted for his team to check the damange on his car and he was soon rifling his way back up through the field. He ended up 11th.
5. Kasey Kahne (LW: 9): Hey, Kahne finished fifth. He was fast all day and the fastest Hendrick Motorsports car. Well, he had the best track position, anyway. You never really know with Phoenix given the inability of cars to pass and how being back in traffic can ruin a day. We figure we're good to talk about these things as long as we don't diss the car, because as Denny Hamlin showed us, talking about the car's inability to pass at Phoenix can have financial consequences.
6. Ryan Newman (LW: 10): Newman finished third, the second-straight week he's done so. It's fair to say that Newman has showed more speed than he did in 2014. OK, for the majority of 2014. He was much faster as the Chase went on. There ain't going to be no claims of flukiness in the 2015 Chase at this rate. (Before you go looking at the average finish stats, Newman's average finish is actually lower in 2015 than it was last year. That's because of a 38th-place finish at Daytona.)
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 3): You know Junior finished last so we'll take this opportunity to talk about the new change to qualifying. Yes, there was another change. Starting Friday, cars won't be backing out of their stalls to exit pit road and head out on the track. We've previously wondered why they had to back out of their pit stalls to begin with, and this may be a fortunate change that's not precipitated by an accident.
8. Jamie McMurray (LW: NR): While it's fun to wonder what could have happened if McMurray cleared Harvick on the final restart, how many of the "what if?" scenarios actually have McMurray winning the race? 3 of 100? 4? Yes, it sounds quite remote, but that's how good Harvick's car was. Whenever he wasn't in the lead, he reeled in the leaders and was quickly back in front. Like the time he made up four seconds and passed Joey Logano for the lead and Fox completely ignored it in favor of commercials and the mid-race report. Remember that?
9. Brad Keselowski (LW: 12): Keselowski and Harvick are showing that they're both good race analysts as well as drivers. However, Fox hasn't had them both in the booth at the same time. Think of the ratings gold when Harvick pushes Keselowski during a boring stretch during an Xfinity race. Given the stunts Fox's coverage pulls at times, we wouldn't be surprised if this has been discussed.
10. Denny Hamlin (LW: 7): Hamlin was not happy with his team's performance at Phoenix. Carl Edwards was the highest-scoring Toyota driver and he was in 13th. On the bright side, Toyota has won the past two races at Auto Club Speedway. On the dark side, the driver who has won both those races isn't scheduled to race this weekend. Or anytime in the near future, unfortunately.
11. Matt Kenseth (LW: 8): Kenseth is back on Twitter. So there's that. He finished 16th at Phoenix, so there's that. He hasn't won in 48 races, so there's that. He'll still probably make the Chase this year, so there's that. This is our best "meh" Flatline impression and we're not doing to well at it. We need more Kenseth tweets for a better idea. Tweet more, Kenseth. Now.
12. Kurt Busch (LW: NR): No, this isn't going to serve as a paragraph of validation for Busch. The fifth-place finish (and running as high as second) is enough of that. He's already higher in the points standings than teammate Tony Stewart. And his run Sunday is also proof that getting into the top 30 in points is going to be ridiculously easy. Winning, not as easy, but we're not going to discount a former champion in Hendrick-provided equipment.
Lucky Dog: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s 12th-place finish is his highest finish since Bristol in August.
The DNF: Oh, Tony Stewart.
Dropped Out: AJ Allmendinger, Casey Mears
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
