NASCAR Power Rankings - Kyle Busch is Top Dog

In this past Saturday’s Crown Royal 400, Jeff Gordon was trying to hang on for about 60 laps with tires that he hadn’t changed in a while.  It was a calculated move by Team Gordon that just didn’t pay off.

Gordon and crew ended up finishing eighth while Kyle Busch took down his third checkered flag of the year.  The victory moves Kyle to the top of the BetUS online sportsbook NASCAR Power Rankings.

Here this week’s rankings.

NASCAR:  Power Rankings

1. Kyle Busch - - At odds of +600, Busch was one of the favorites to win the Crown Royal 400.  He didn’t disappoint by taking over the lead from Jeff Gordon shortly after a restart and hanging on for the victory.  It was Busch’s third victory of the year after wins at Las Vegas and Bristol.  That makes Busch the top driver in NASCAR right now.

2. Jeff Gordon - - It was a calculated move that got Gordon the lead towards the end of the race.  The move didn’t pay off but Jeff still finished in the top ten, at number 8, which means he bounced back big time from his horrible Talladega run from two weeks ago.

3. Jimmie Johnson - - Jimmie followed up his bad Talladega run with an even worse run at Richmond.  He finished 36th in the Crown Royal 400 as a +450 favorite in the sportsbook.  What happened?  Jimmie will bounce back but two weeks in a row without a top ten finish is something new for #48.

4. Tony Stewart - - Stewart is beginning to really put it into gear.  He went off at +1000 to win the Crown Royal 400 and just bided his time before making a run towards the end of the race to finish 2nd.  It was a nice run out of Tony who is slowly starting to show why he wasn’t worried about leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the beginning of the season.

5. Kurt Busch - - Kyle’s older brother looked like he might make a run for the victory in the Crown Royal on Saturday, but things just didn’t work out for him.  He still finished 12th.  Because he was going off at +1200, the finish really wasn’t all that bad. 

6. Denny Hamlin - - Hamlin was going off at odds of 9/2 to win the Crown Royal 400.  At one point it looked like Hamlin would because he was leading the race and had been leading the race for a while.  Then, a mistake was made in the pit and Hamlin’s chances were ruined. 

7. Mark Martin - - Martin followed up his Phoenix victory with a terrible Talladega but he bounced back in Richmond when finishing 5th.  Martin is a legend but he’s been driving as if he were in his prime.  He could be tough down the road.

8. Jeff Burton - - For a while it looked like Burton might overtake Stewart and finish second at Richmond after Kyle Busch had taken over the lead.  Smoke held him off, but Burton did make another nice run to keep his place in the Sprint Cup Chase secure. 

9. Carl Edwards - - Edwards is doing enough to keep himself in the Chase but his 26th place finish in the Crown Royal couldn’t have made Roush Racing happy.  Edwards was expected to challenge for the Sprint Cup Championship and he still might, but right now he’s been a big disappointment.  At odds of +2500, not a lot was expected of Edwards.  That’s good because he didn’t deliver.

10. Greg Biffle/Clint Bowyer - - Biffle finished 17th at Richmond at odds of +3000.  Bowyer finished 18th at odds of +2000.  They both did enough to keep themselves in the Cup Chase, but not enough for me to separate them in these rankings.