Air of familiarity hangs over NASCAR power rankings

Despite assorted driver and crew chiefs jockeying teams, new rules designed to slow speeds and even a restructured schedule with a different stop for the second race of the year, Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway featured a host of familiar faces up front.

In Victory Lane was Jimmie Johnson, who won four times last season. He was followed across the start/finish line by Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano, each of whom won four or more races in 2014.

So if this week’s power rankings carries an air of familiarity to it -- well, there’s a reason. As the adage “the more things change the more they stay the same” is applicable to the early weeks of the 2015 NASCAR season.

1. Joey Logano (Last week: 1)

Having started on the pole and then leading 84 of the first 96 laps, Logano appeared set to win for a second consecutive week. But as everyone else improved, he backslid and wasn’t a factor the rest of the afternoon until rallying late to finish fourth.

2. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 3)

For the few who did show up Sunday, watching Johnson, Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon charge from the back to the front was worth the price of admission. Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, couldn’t stop marveling about the spirited effort post-race and actually seemed more awed by that than the fact his driver had won.

3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 2)

No hangover from the reigning series champion, who’s opened with a pair of runner-ups -- both of which could have easily turned into victories. And Harvick’s first win of 2015 will likely come soon enough with strongholds Phoenix, Fontana, Bristol and Martinsville all upcoming.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 4)

The chemistry between Earnhardt and new crew chief Greg Ives is obvious, as evident by back-to-back third-place finishes. There are, however, still some kinks to iron out. At one point Sunday, Earnhardt told Ives that “yelling louder” wasn’t going to make him go faster on pit road. Another instance came when Ives asked Earnhardt if he had checked his gauges and Earnhardt succinctly replied “no,” he rarely does that preferring to keep his eyes looking forward.

5. Matt Kenseth (LW: 7)

The scorecard shows Matt Kenseth finished fifth, but it wasn’t easy, nor uneventful. Starting 36th, he was quickly inside the top-10, only for a tire issue to drop him a lap down. Forced to again mount a comeback, Kenseth did just that thanks to some pit strategy and nifty driving on worn tires over the closing laps.

6. Brad Keselowski (LW: 9)

Without showing much, if any, speed all weekend, Brad Keselowski still ended the day ninth. Now it’s on to Las Vegas where he enters as the defending champion and the 2013 third-place finisher. This will be a good test to see if Team Penske’s intermediate track prowess from last season has carried over 2015.

7. Carl Edwards (LW: 8)

Much like Daytona, Carl Edwards was formidable at Atlanta but with little to show for it. A constant in the top-10 -- his average running position was seventh -- Joe Gibbs Racing’s newest full-time driver suffered a flat tire very late and lost two laps. That Edwards was able to finish 12th is due in large part to an abundance of late cautions that got him back on the same lap as the leaders.

8. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: Unranked)

After a miserable 2014 professionally and personally, which saw Martin Truex Jr. rank a career low in points (24th) and his longtime girlfriend diagnosed with ovarian cancer, he’s come out of the gate with vigor. An eighth in the Daytona 500 and a sixth at Atlanta has him fifth in points, the highest position ever for Furniture Row Racing.

9. Jeff Gordon (LW: 5)

The Jeff Gordon farewell tour wasn’t supposed to include consecutive wrecks to begin the year, one of which saw him slam hard into concrete wall devoid of a SAFER barrier. Thankfully he emerged uninjured, though he did make it a point (justifiably) to make his frustration known about the lack of protective safety measures around the high-speed Atlanta oval. Hopefully by this time next year it will no longer be an issue with NASCAR and its tracks realizing how ridiculous it is not to have every single wall a car could possibly impact covered by the energy-absorbing contraption.

10. Denny Hamlin (LW: 6)

Speaking of guys who struck unprotected walls, Denny Hamlin was another victim and in the same wreck as Gordon. Hamlin actually began the multi-car accident when he lost control on the backstretch and spun in front of the field. The mishap negated what had been a very solid run and likely top-five.

11. Kasey Kahne (LW: 11)

Finishes of ninth and 14th has Kasey Kahne off to his best start in four years with Hendrick Motorsports. Although that isn’t saying much when you consider he’s been 18th, 29th and 31st in recent seasons.

12. Casey Mears (LW: Unranked)

If Truex isn’t the surprise story through two races than the honor certainly goes to Casey Mears, who surprisingly resides in the sixth position in points. The strong start mirrors what he did last year when he ranked 10th at the same juncture. Of course, from there Mears went into a free fall and ended 2014 30th overall.