NASCAR power rankings: Talladega jostles order

The Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway represented the wild card, that race where some out-of-nowhere winner takes the checkered flag to gain an unlikely Chase for the Sprint Cup bid. Not this time. Instead, it was a familiar face in the winner’s circle as the clock seemingly struck midnight for a Cinderella to emerge and play havoc with this year’s championship.

It’s hard not to view Talladega as an opportunity missed. Because in all likelihood, barring something incredibly fluky occurring at Daytona or one of the two road-course races, no driver from a small team will emerge and qualify for the Chase.

1. Joey Logano (Last week: 1)

It’s hard to penalize Logano too much, considering he was running up the near front and was innocently wiped out when Jimmie Johnson spun out, setting off a mini-“Big One.” Expect Logano to be a challenger for win No. 3 on the year at Kansas, a style of track Team Penske has excelled at with wins at Las Vegas and Texas.

2. Jeff Gordon (LW: 2)

Before Sunday, Gordon hadn’t finished worse than 13th. But the “Big One” doesn’t discriminate at Talladega. The points leader was a casualty of the Lap 138 wreck triggered by Brad Keselowski’s curious choice to race with leaders despite being multiple laps down. And standing in front of his mangled Chevrolet, it was a decision Gordon strongly disagreed with and tried in vain to comprehend.

3. Kyle Busch (LW: 4)

A relatively quiet Talladega outing for Busch, who, despite damage, still managed to post a 12th-place finish. Now it’s on to his personal house of horrors, Kansas Speedway, where he’s crashed out of the last three races, and owns just two top-10s in 13 career starts.

4. Kevin Harvick (LW: 6)

What’s gotten into the No. 4? It’s been three races in a row without some sort of mechanical gremlin. Is this actual week-to-week consistency with three consecutive finishes of 11th or better? No way this continues, right? There are so many questions, yet so few answers.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 3)

Not liking what he saw ahead of him and uncomfortable with his car, Earnhardt played it safe and just rode around at the back in the final laps. It was a choice not without controversy, as NASCAR’s most popular driver received some backlash on Twitter. But the debate of whether Earnhardt should have taken more of a risk is not a black-and-white issue, considering he suffered a concussion in the 2012 fall Talladega race, not to mention the fate his father suffered on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

6. Matt Kenseth (LW: 5)

The line of the weekend was delivered by Kenseth, who succinctly voiced his displeasure with Keselowski’s antics without being bombastic. “If it was the other way around and it was anybody else except for him, we’d all be getting lectured,” said a frustrated Kenseth.

7. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 7)

Among the many not pleased with Keselowski (take a number), Johnson sustained damage in the resulting melee. He, too, ended up having a similar accident as the much-maligned driver of the No. 2 car, losing control in Turn 4 and breaking sideways in the middle of the pack.

8. Kyle Larson (LW: 9)

A ninth Sunday was Larson’s fifth top-10 finish of the year. It’s an impressive feat for the rookie through 10 races, considering this is as many top 10s as Johnson, Logano and Kyle Busch have, and one more than Harvick, Keselowski and Stewart.

9. Brian Vickers (LW: 14)

Some tension at Talladega between Vickers and Michael Waltrip, as Vickers was quite critical of his boss, calling Waltrip an “idiot” at one point for not working with him better in the draft. Those things tend to happen when you’re playing a game of chess at 200 mph, but it worked out in the end for Vickers, who finished fourth and tied his best result of 2014.

10. Brad Keselowski (LW: 8)

The never-say-die attitude is admirable, and to some degree understandable considering the frequency of multi-car wrecks at Talladega. But running with the leaders when you’re six laps behind is foolish, and you’re only asking for trouble by putting yourself in that situation. And that’s not even taking into account that if the cautions would have fallen as needed, it would have been Jamie McMurray, not Keselowski, who would have received the free pass -- which is exactly what happened. For driver harboring realistic championship aspirations, it’s a silly decision that could have serious ramifications.

11. Carl Edwards (LW: 10)

Now that Clint Bowyer has re-upped with Michael Waltrip Racing, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Edwards and Greg Biffle remain the top prizes on the free agent market. Will Edwards and Biffle return to the only team they’ve ever driven for, or will one or both decide to venture elsewhere? How it all unfolds will be a fascinating subplot to watch over the next few months.

12. Greg Biffle (LW: 12)

See: Edwards, Carl.

13. Denny Hamlin (LW: Unranked)

Much like Harvick and Kurt Busch previously this season, Hamlin is the latest example of how quickly fortunes can change under the modified Chase format where winning is so critical. A stretch of bad races is no longer reason for despair, provided you can still squeak out a victory somewhere along the way. As Hamlin demonstrated at Talladega, the No. 11 team is fully capable of running with and beating the sport’s elite.

14. A.J. Allmendinger (LW: 15)

Allmendinger followed a sixth at Richmond with a fifth Sunday at Talladega, giving JTG-Daugherty Racing consecutive top-10 finishes for the first time since 2010.

15. Ryan Newman (LW: 11)

After a strong effort in qualifying, Richard Childress Racing appeared poised to be a major player on Sunday. That never happened. Pole-sitter Brian Scott wrecked, while Newman and Austin Dillon each incurred damage from various crashes. Paul Menard (sixth) was the only RCR driver to finish unscathed. And for Newman, it was especially frustrating. Moments before a spinning Edwards impeded his path, Newman radioed his crew telling them he had a good vantage for the next wreck, which unfortunately included himself.