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Power Rankings: Harvick holds serve, Larson jumps into the top 12

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Welcome to Power Rankings. As always, Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it’s the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. Direct all your complaints to us at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com and we’ll try to have some fun.

1. Kevin Harvick (LW: 1): What, did you think we were going to put Kyle Larson at No. 1 this week? Harvick finished fifth and when you look at the laps-led chart, it was staggeringly even. Harvick led 33 laps, the third most of any driver. Six drivers led 14 or more laps while two other drivers led multiple laps. Sure, Sunday’s race didn’t feature a bunch of two and three-wide racing, but parity up front likely has NASCAR officials smiling.

2. Brad Keselowski (LW: 4): Keselowski led 14 laps and finished third. 13 of those laps led came during a green-flag run between laps 30 and 119. Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe like playing a different fuel strategy than everyone else, and that was a good idea on Sunday at a track where tires weren’t at a premium.

3. Denny Hamlin (LW: 2): Hamlin finished ninth on Sunday, the second of four Joe Gibbs Racing cars. Carl Edwards was the highest-finisher, placing seventh. Coupled with Martin Truex Jr., the JGR-equipped cars led just 16 of 200 laps. Oh no, they’ve lost their grip on the series!

Nah, we’re just chalking it up to an off-day. The reduced downforce rules run at Michigan mean nothing for the rest of the season. Don’t try to extrapolate too much for the Chase.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

4. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 6): And while we warn you not to look at Sunday’s race as a harbinger of things to come, it’s impossible to not wonder if the speed Hendrick Motorsports showed on Sunday will carry over for the rest of the season. If it does, Michigan was a great steppingstone. Johnson finished sixth and led 37 laps, the second-most in the field.

5. Kyle Busch (LW: 3): Busch spun early and finished 19th. Michigan has never been too kind to him. In 24 career starts Busch has just six top-10 finishes. His last one came in the first 2013 race, when he finished fourth. His finishes since then? 31, 41, 39, 43, 11, 40 and 19. Hey, Sunday was a good day!

6. Joey Logano (LW: 5): The winner of the June race at the track led 24 laps and finished 10th despite starting once again from the pole. Perhaps the cloudcover during Sunday’s race played a role in Logano’s lack of speed. The June race had a ton of sunshine and Logano led 138 laps. The most dramatic moment might have been when his air gun got sheared off the hose by Kevin Harvick’s car while Harvick was exiting the pits.

7. Jamie McMurray (LW: 7): McMurray currently sits as the last driver in the Chase. 13th in the standings, McMurray has 15 points over Ryan Newman for the last spot in the Chase on points. Assuming no new winners, it looks like a head-to-head battle between the two, as Kasey Kahne is 37 points behind Newman. We’re thinking the head-to-head battle is a safe assumption. It’d be a surprise if a winless driver won at Darlington or Richmond.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

8. Kyle Larson (LW: NR): 12 races into the season, Larson was 21st in the points standings. 24 races into the season, he’s now 15th. His big jump came at Indianapolis, where he finished fifth and moved from 19th to 15th in the standings. Without his win on Sunday, Larson would be just one spot out of the Chase via points. With his win, making the Chase is of no concern. With seven finishes below 25th, it’s hard to see Larson pointing his way through to the final round of the Chase. But with the win, it’s not hard to see how he could advance by getting to victory lane.

9. Kurt Busch (LW: 9): Well, Kurt had a better day than his brother. Busch finished 12th after staring 19th and said the finish came “after everything fell our way at the end.” So yeah, it could have been worse. The culprit was a loose race car.

10. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 8): This week’s gremlins that delayed Truex’s race happened on pit road. He had a good car, but the jack dropped too soon during a pit stop. The left side tires were still being changed as the jack fell and the car was damaged on the left rear. That damage necessitated multiple pit stops and Truex was never able to recover. He finished 20th.

11. Chase Elliott (LW: NR): Elliott’s humility is serving him well in the Cup Series. If you haven’t been to a race in a while or at all this season, the amount of cheers he gets during pre-race will surprise you. But as we’ve said before, it’d be nice to see Elliott be happy about a good finish. We don’t blame him for being disappointed at losing a chance for his first win (we would be mad too), but there’s a happy medium somewhere. Elliott will probably find it after he gets to victory lane for the first time.

12. Tony Stewart (LW: 11): Stewart finished 21st. His car seemed like it was going to be fast; he was the fastest driver in first practice on Saturday. But it wasn’t fast in the race. He finished two laps down though he clinched himself a spot in the Chase. It’s mathematically impossible for Stewart to fall out of the top 30 in the points standings.

Lucky Dog: Ryan Blaney, who finished fourth. But he needs a miracle (or a win) to get into the Chase.

DNF: Clint Bowyer, again.

Dropped Out: Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon

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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!