NASCAR power rankings: Pocono wins sweeps Dale Earnhardt Jr. to No. 1

Expectations were high for Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the year started, but even in the best-case scenarios few envisioned him having three victories by mid-August and being slotted as the No. 1 seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. That is the position Earnhardt now finds himself in, where being regarded as a championship favorite is legitimate and not pie-in-the-sky.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Last week: 3)

In the aftermath of pulling off the Pocono sweep the celebration went well into the night according to a photo Earnhardt tweeted. He now has as many wins this season as he had in the past eight seasons combined. That euphoria, however, was muted some when the National Guard announced it was withdrawing its sponsorship of Earnhardt effective at the end of the year. Hendrick Motorsports is going to be hard-pressed to find a comparable sponsor on short notice that can pay anything close to the $32 million the Guard was paying to be associated with NASCAR’s most popular driver.

2. Jeff Gordon (LW: 1)

In the aftermath of Indianapolis it appeared for much of the afternoon as though Gordon was going to go back-to-back for the first time since 2007. However, that didn’t happen due to some untimely yellows and teammate Earnhardt utilizing better strategy. So be it, as Gordon still finished sixth and kept his points lead, which he’s held for two-thirds of the season.

3. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2)

The dominating New Hampshire win seems like forever ago, as Keselowski has been fairly quiet the past two weeks. There wasn’t much he could do at Pocono to escape the Turn 2 scrum that collected several others resulting in a 23rd-place finish. Watkins Glen should be a much different outcome, as it is where Keselowski has been runner-up in consecutive years and is overdue for his first road course win.

4. Kevin Harvick (LW: 8)

From a speeding penalty on pit road to getting a piece of the “big one” Pocono was a day filled with adversity. But unlike other moments of tribulation this season, the 4 team responded to the challenge with Harvick netting a runner-up finish.

5. Joey Logano (LW: 7)

Two schools of thought on Logano currently exist. The first is the No. 22 bunch peaked too soon and hasn’t been the same team in recent months. The second is that Logano’s results don’t match his performances thanks to a rash of bad luck. As he lost an engine in the June Pocono race while in the top-five and, thanks to Morgan Shepherd, wrecked out of second at New Hampshire. Of the two theories the latter is far closer to reality than the former.

6. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 4)

Remarkably, Johnson’s last top-five finish came seven races ago when he won at Michigan. And in the past four races he’s crashed-out of three with a best result of 14th. In the grand scheme of things it means little as a mid-season slump is not an uncommon occurrence for the 48 team. Bear witness to how Johnson entered the Chase a year ago with consecutive finishes of 40th, 36th, 28th and 40th and look how that turned out.

7. Kyle Busch (LW: 5)

A blown motor ended Busch’s run of second-place finishes at two and created doubt about the reliability of the Toyota engines. Though it was Busch’s first failure of the season, it’s a reasonable concern considering motor woes have continually hamstrung Joe Gibbs Racing in recent years. Was Pocono a mere blip or the warning signs for something more pronounced and far more problematic?

8. Matt Kenseth (LW: 6)

Kenseth remains winless both on the year and for his career at Pocono. He was a victim of the crash triggered when teammate Denny Hamlin broke loose in the front of the field and left Kenseth nowhere to go. Things likely won’t be much better at Watkins Glen, as Kenseth is 0-for-29 on road courses and has never finished better than eighth.

9. Denny Hamlin (LW: 11)

Although the catalyst for “Big One,” Hamlin got through with minimal damage and went on to finish ninth. He now has four straight top 10s, which remarkably is his longest top 10 streak since the end of the 2010 season.

10. Ryan Newman (LW: 9)

Ever so quietly, Newman is fifth in the standings and is a near-certainty to make the playoffs. He’s done this despite not having a victory and with all of two top-five finishes. More proof that even with the increased importance on winning, a driver can still points-race his way into the Chase.

11. Clint Bowyer (LW: 13)

In search of a win, Bowyer and company gambled on track position late Sunday. They didn’t end up in Victory Lane as hoped, but it did net the No. 15 a fourth-place finish. Now ninth in points Bowyer’s Chase prospects seem high, though it’s hard to envision him making much of a postseason impact.

12. Kasey Kahne (LW: 10)

Kahne put forth another consistent effort worthy of a top-10 finish (10th) Sunday. The problem is he needs a win more than anything, and yet again that didn’t materialize at Pocono where the No. 5 car lacked the speed of the other Hendrick entries.

13. Kyle Larson (LW: 12)

After setting fast time in qualifying, NASCAR’s top rookie thought he’d have a decent shot at his first Sprint Cup victory. Didn’t happen, as from the get go Larson slid back and finished a nondescript 11th.

14. Kurt Busch (LW: Unranked)

Stop if you’ve heard this before: Busch had a strong run (leading 30 laps) only to see the end result not match the performance. The first was a slow pit stop by his crew late and then Busch had a tire go down six laps from the checkered flag. He finished 13th, but it certainly could have been better.

15. Austin Dillon (LW: 14)

A 15th continues the trend of Dillon being solid yet unspectacular, as the budding rookie has only one finish outside the top 20 in the past 12 races. If Dillon can find just a bit more high-level consistency in the next few weeks he has a real possibility of grabbing a unlikely Chase berth.