Top 3 the same, but rankings leader isn't

Monday, Jun. 29, 2009

ThatsRacin.com’s top-15 Sprint Cup teams following the Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Teams are ranked in terms of their performance and potential for success this season. (Previous ranking in parentheses).

1. (1) Tony Stewart (car No. 14)

Stewart finished fifth, but the owner/driver might've won the race to Victory Lane to congratulate Joey Logano and crew chief Greg Zipadelli. Isn’t this the guy everyone was calling NASCAR’s bad guy just a season or two ago?

2. (2) Jeff Gordon (car No. 24)

If the rain holds off, this driver figures to have a shot at the win and his crew gets the job done, putting him into near-perfect position to do it. The rain doesn’t hold off, of course, but this team did OK since the only guy who finished ahead of them isn’t a factor in the playoff race.

3. (3) Jimmie Johnson (car No. 48)

This looked like a team to beat for a little while on Sunday, but they faded and finished ninth. That’s plenty for now and they’re still very likely to be a team to beat come September.

4. (7) Kurt Busch (car No. 2)

This team is looking pretty racy and the driver’s aggressiveness was fun to watch, too. The flat track and his Dodge power were a good fit, but one size does not fit all and Daytona is next.

5. (5) Kyle Busch (car No. 18)

Took the blame for a big ol’ mess at Loudon. That’s laudable, but carries a lot less weight with teams that lost ground than with fans.

6. (4) Ryan Newman (car No. 39)

This outfit seems to be in a big hurry to get from “can’t miss” to “can, too.” But they’re going to be fine and could be back to form as early as next weekend.

7. (6) Carl Edwards (car No. 99)

These guys don’t like fuel-mileage events and rain-shortened races any more than we do. They’re well behind schedule on their trip back to Victory Lane and races decided those ways have to add to the frustration.

8. (8) Denny Hamlin (car No. 11) Fought back from what could have been a lousy day and got a decent finish out of Sunday’s race.

9. (9) Greg Biffle (car No. 16)

Got to be frustrating from time to time with these guys, too, but don’t go looking for them to come unglued. Solid bunch whose solid effort will be rewarded. Sooner would be better for them, of course.

10. (11) Matt Kenseth (car No. 17)

“We’re No. 10, we’re No. 10!” That’s not a rallying cry you’ll hear out of anyone on the 17 team, but after moving up from 11th last week, they’re still holding that spot in the standings.

11. (10) Mark Martin (car No. 5)

Circuit makes first of two New England stops this season and newspapers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont finally get to write the “Mark Martin Having Fun Again” feature. Sunday’s 14th-place finish easily tops last week’s 35th, so it might be more true now.

12. (12) Juan Pablo Montoya (car No. 42)

Finished 12th Sunday and team still has its hands on 12th in the standings. It’s difficult to overstate how big it would be for this outfit to stay there until the next visit to New England and the first Chase race.

13. (13) Kasey Kahne (car No. 9)

14. (not ranked) David Reutimann (car No. 00)

15. (14) Clint Bowyer (car No. 33)

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