Sporting News Power Poll after Indianapolis

By the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 27, 2010)

Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick returned to the top of the Sporting News Power Poll this week. Harvick finished second Sunday at the Brickyard for his series-high 14th top 10. Race winner Jamie McMurray climbed eight spots to fifth after posting consecutive top-five finishes for the first time since the final three races of 2008. The weekly poll is a collaboration of Sporting News and Rowdy.com.

1. Kevin Harvick (last week: 4th) Far and away the most consistent driver all season, and he nearly won his second race at the Brickyard.

2. Jeff Burton (2nd) When the pay window opened, Burton was there again, and he finished sixth for his third straight top 10.

3. Clint Bowyer (7th) RCR has the Brickyard figured out, but Bowyer is also driving very well. It was his second straight fourth-place finish, giving him three top fives this season.

4. Tony Stewart (10th) Smoke is still looking for a win, but he’s killing ’em with top fives.

5. Jamie McMurray (13th) The Chase is far-fetched for McMurray, but he wouldn’t trade his two major wins for a spot in the top 12.

6. Greg Biffle (19th) One of the two fastest machines at Indy, and the Roush cars seem to be turning better than they have in more than a year. Perhaps a flicker of hope for the Chase?

7. Jeff Gordon (1st) Never in the mix at Indy; two cut tires made it worse.

8. Carl Edwards (3rd) New equipment casts some light at the end of the tunnel for the Roush boys.

9. Jimmie Johnson (5th) Finished outside the top 10 for the third consecutive race, the second time Johnson has done that this season.

10. Kyle Busch (14th) After causing a wreck on Lap 1, Busch rebounded for a top 10. But the Gibbs cars appear to be in a midsummer swoon.

11. Kurt Busch (11th) Busch recorded his first Brickyard top 10 for Roger Penske. His other three date back to the Roush days.

12. Denny Hamlin (9th) Fought to get back on the lead lap to finish 15th after his early overheating problem. But still very disappointing for a guy who has won five races.

13. Matt Kenseth (12th) Kenseth finished outside the top 10 for the seventh straight race.

14. Kasey Kahne (8th) Kahne is 156 points out of the Chase with six races to go. His average finish since the all-star race is 12.8. He needs to do much better if he is to make the Chase.

15. Mark Martin (17th) Showed more speed at Indy than he has in a while but still couldn’t manage a top 10.

16. David Reutimann (6th) Reutimann got caught up in Kyle Busch’s spin on the first lap and finished 28th. The last time he finished outside of the top 20 was in April at Texas.

17. Joey Logano (21st) Some of his best finishes this year have come on some of NASCAR’s toughest (and flattest) tracks. Second at Martinsville and ninth-place runs at Loudon and Indy.

18. AJ Allmendinger (15th) The Dinger finished the race exactly where he started it—in 16th.  At least he’s consistent.

19. Ryan Newman (20th) From two laps down to a top 20—thanks to the wave-around and lucky dog rules.

20. Paul Menard (18th) A decent run on Sunday fuels rumors sending him to RCR for 2011.

21. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (16th) Had what he thought was a top-10 car—until Juan Pablo Montoya crossed his path.

22. Juan Pablo Montoya (22nd) Montoya now has the same number of top 10s as he has finishes worse than 30th—eight.

23. David Ragan (24th) Bad luck masked a pretty strong run for the 6 car.

24. Martin Truex Jr. (23rd) Looked for a while as though he might contend for a Chase spot. Oh, well.

25. Brad Keselowski (NR) No problems with Edwards at least.