NASCAR Stocks (Power Rankings): Sadler Shakes It Up

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 by Jim Mc Coy

I’m quite sure this is notoriety that Elliott Sadler would rather live without. Without meaning to, the driver for Gillett Evernham has muddled our “Top 10″ by initiating a crash at Dover that wadded up 6 of the top 12 point getters in the 2008.

For my part, it will be hard to hold that against the drivers involved. However, there’s no denying that the race to some degree altered the outcome and opened the door for the likes of Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to move up.

Here’s how things shake out today:

#10- Kasey Kahne- (unchanged from last week)- of all the top runners collected in the lap 18 wreck, Kahne had the best finish at 31st. I guess he can take comfort that in the old car, his day would have likely been done. I don’t think this is the follow up that Kasey had in mind to his win at Lowe’s.

#9- Denny Hamlin- (down 3 from 6th)- Denny came darn close to falling out with his last place finish, the result of the “big one” at the “Monster Mile.” What helps Hamlin is 9th place standing in terms of average finish with a 15.2 for the season. Weird to think he was the “hot one” just a few weeks back.

#8- Jimmie Johnson- (unranked last week)- Good “comeback week” for Jimmie. The defending champ never really challenged for the win, yet a 7th place finish cannot be ignored.

#7- Clint Bowyer- (down 2 spots from 5th)- It’s been a rough “go” for Bowyer since his win at Richmond. What helps his standing now is that win, as well as his 3 tops 5’s, and 7 top 10’s.

#6- Greg Biffle- (unranked last week)- What a run for Biffle! Not only did he dominate the front end of the race at Dover, he also had a strong effort at Lowe’s, leading us to believe is he is the “real deal” for breaking into the Chase this year, after an up-and-down 2007.

#5- Jeff Gordon- (up 2 spots from 7th)- He may not have broke into the win column yet for 2008, but let there be no doubt that the “Rainbow Warrior” has it going in the right direction as of late with an average finish of 8.0 over his last 5 races- 2nd among our top 10.

#4- Dale Earnhardt Jr.- (down 2 from 2nd)- Like his teammate Gordon, Earnhardt is one of the top drivers without a win. Junebug’s 9 top 10’s ties him for second with Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards. Junebug’s 5 top 5’s puts him 4th behind Kyle Busch, Edwards and Gordon. The naysayers are silenced, let it be known that Junior belongs!

#3- Jeff Burton- (up 1 spot from 4th)- “Mr. Consistency” comes through once again with his 8th place finish at Dover. Thi guy knows how to finish a race, even if his is not the best one out there. Finishing matters, and there’s no one better at it than Burton.

#2- Carl Edwards- (up 1 spot from 3rd)- He’d be in 2nd in the points, were it not for the penalty at Las Vegas. “Cousin Carl” solidifies his place near the top with his 2nd place run Sunday. Look for the Busch- Edwards rivalry to last for years to come. These guys ain’t going anywhere.

#1- Kyle Busch- (unchanged)- Busch is starting to get a little separation from the field. With his Dover victory, “Shrub” is the undisputed leader in wins and holds a 142 point lead over Burton in the Sprint Cup standings. What’s weird is to think that his Sprint Cup car was not as good last weekend as his Nationwide car or his truck. Busch gave credit to the shop and the crew, reminding us that even in this sport, where the driver gets all the glory, teamwork still matters.

Falling out: Tony Stewart becomes a hard-luck casualty after finishing 41st.

Knocking On The Door: David Ragan is still contending with an average finish of 10.6 over his last 5 races…For all the talk of bad luck, Matt Kenseth still has 7 top 10’s to his credit…Don’t discount Ryan Newman, especially if he can put a streak together…Kevin Harvick is a survivor. He could use a hot streak right about now.

Dark horses: If Brian Vickers could avoid the errors, and if Jamie McMurray and Dave Blaney can keep it up, they just might find their stock rising all the way into the top 10.

We’re heading down the straights coming out of the first turn, a lot can happen between now and the finish line.