Power Rankings: Kevin Harvick capitalizes on misfortune above, moves to No. 1

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: 6): Harvick makes a five-spot leap simply because four of the five drivers ahead of him had major issues throughout the race. Hell, so did Denny Hamlin, but we’ll get to him in a second.

Harvick didn’t qualify well (22nd), but that can be attributed to the lack of a qualifying run in practice. He had an incredibly fast car in race trim and when he fell back to second place behind Joey Logano with less than 150 laps to go, it simply felt like a matter of time before Harvick was going to get around Logano and set sail.

This is also a huge boost for the confidence of the No. 4 team. While that may sound crazy, this was a team that was excelling despite mistakes on pit road and other self-inflicted problems. Harvick has been so good that it may be hard to recognize when the team isn’t fully clicking. This is what happens when Harvick and team have a complete race.

2. Denny Hamlin (LW: 4): Stop speeding on pit road, Hamlin. The two-time 2016 winner got his 12th speeding penalty at Bristol and has the most speeding penalties of any driver in the Cup Series. Going fast on the track is good. Going fast on pit road is not.

That wasn’t the only problem Hamlin had as well. He had to pit for a loose wheel under green and ended up losing two laps. He got those laps back and ended up finishing third. Hamlin’s a title contender too (as is all of Joe Gibbs Racing), but given the preponderance of speeding penalties, it’s too easy to envision how an ill-timed penalty could bring his Chase to a premature end.

3. Kyle Busch (LW: 1): It’s not a stretch to say Busch had the race’s best car. But he also had a car that broke as evidenced by the spin he had while running near the front of the field.

If Busch’s parts failure was a broken shock or something similar, it’s very likely he wouldn’t have been able to finish the race. But wondering about the seriousness of the broken part became an extreme hypothetical when he got slammed into by Justin Allgaier. The car was toast after that.

Fun fact: Busch has led 529 laps (256 Sunday) over the past five Bristol races. His finishes are 29th, 36th, eighth, 38th and 39th.

4. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2): Keselowski was a man with nowhere to go. He was in position to capitalize on the racing for the lead between former teammate Kurt Busch and current teammate Joey Logano. But when Busch got loose he slid in front of Keselowski and the 2012 champion couldn’t avoid him. You’ve undoubtedly seen the replays of the 10-car pileup that ensued.

5. Joey Logano (LW: 3): Logano escaped that crash unscathed but didn’t finish anywhere in the vicinity of the lead. Logano finished 10th after a flat tire that could have been a hell of a lot more disastrous. Logano felt the tire going down after he was passed for the lead and almost hit the wall as a caution came out. He made it to pit road and was able to restart on the lead lap, but, coupled with another pit stop to fix some front-end damage, never contended for the lead over the last 75 laps.

6. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 10): Johnson survived and finished seventh on Sunday. He was the highest-finishing Hendrick car, though it wasn’t by much. All four Hendrick cars finished in the top 15. Given the way things have gone for HMS over the past few weeks, that’s a win. We’re probably not alone in thinking the team will find something before the second round of the Chase to give the JGR cars a run.

7. Jamie McMurray (LW: 12): Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson’s misfortune was McMurray’s gain on Sunday. Larson got crashed in the 10-car pileup and ended up 24th. Meanwhile, McMurray finished eighth. The 16-point gain means Jamie Mac has a 46-point lead over Larson with three races to go before the Chase. McMurray is the next-to-last driver in on points currently while Larson is the second driver outside the Chase after Trevor Bayne.

8. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 7): Ah, the Truex misfortune struck again at Bristol. After running in the top 10 for most of the day, Truex’s day was over through no fault of his own. He slowed up for Kyle Busch’s stopped car and looked like he was going to make it past Busch unscathed. Well, until Allgaier happened. After Allgaier hit Busch’s car he slammed into Truex’s. So long, top 10. Truex finished 23rd.

9. Kurt Busch (LW: 8): Busch was reflective after he exited the infield care center following getting loose and spurring the 10-car crash.

That inside with the rosin and the VHT if you don’t hit it exactly right you lose a lot of time. I tried to make up for it and got loose … We had a win in our sights and I just drove the car at 101 percent instead of that 99.”

Do you blame Busch for pushing the issue? We certainly don’t. Despite all his consistency this year he still has just one win.

10. Matt Kenseth (LW: 9): Kenseth got crashed in the 10-car pileup but much like the drivers ahead of him we couldn’t drop him too much. He also tweeted this after the race. We like Kenseth humor.

11. Tony Stewart (LW: 5): Stewart had a rear hub issue that derailed his race quickly after it resumed on Sunday. We also don’t blame Stewart for asking his team if it was worth it to get the car fixed and back out on the track given he’s going to make the Chase. The team didn’t quit, however, and Stewart finished 30th, one spot ahead of his successor Clint Bowyer.

12. TIE: Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon (LW: NR): We vacillated between the two drivers so we went with a tie. Dillon’s fourth-place finish solidifies himself as a likely member of the Chase. He’s now 11th in the standings, the highest of any driver without a win. Buescher finished fifth and unlike his win at Pocono thanks to the fog, no one has any right to call it close to a fluke. It goes an incredibly long way to putting Buescher in the Chase.

Lucky Dog: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. There’s something about Stenhouse and Bristol. He finished second on Sunday and three of his six career top-five finishes have come at the track. Stenhouse has three top-fives in 2016, the most he’s had in any season.

The DNF: Well, we’ve already talked about Kenseth and the Busch brothers and the only other driver who got a DNF (and finished below the three) is Justin Allgaier. Sorry, Allgaier. He was subbing for Michael Annett, who was sick and unable to race.

Dropped Out: Kyle Larson

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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!

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