Power
Rankings at Yahoo Sports
Rank Name -- Comments
1. Kevin Harvick - His Daytona win may not have been enough to secure the top spot, but combined with his finish last year, Harvick's rolling.
2. Jeff Burton - From outside the top 10 to No. 2 in our rankings might be a record. Of course, Burton easily could have held a top-10 spot last week.
3. Tony Stewart - Can he be ranked this high after finishing last? Just remember how good he really was at Daytona. And where he finished there in '02 title season.
4. Kasey Kahne - He wasn't that strong Sunday, but he finished well without Kenny Francis. Heading to Fontana and Vegas, that's plenty good enough.
5. Mark Martin - Once upon a time, the Ginn/MB2 cars were terrific at places like California. Martin could be capable of following Daytona heartbreak with another top-five.
6. Matt Kenseth - If Stewart gets the benefit of the doubt after a bad finish, Kenseth's unlucky 27th is plenty enough to keep him here. Like Kahne, good tracks on horizon.
7. Jimmie Johnson - His day ended badly. Actually, his day never really went all that well at any point. But a six-spot drop is all we can stomach for the defending champ.
8. Jeff Gordon - He wasn't all that strong on Sunday, either. But the horsepower tracks became a strength for this team last year, so a Daytona top-10 could be plenty.
9. David Gilliland - He won the pole, he was solid in his qualifier, he put together a big comeback Sunday and finished in the top 10. Can't ask for more.
10. Elliott Sadler - By a nose over Denny Hamlin. And Kurt Busch. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. And Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle. And Kyle Busch. Maybe we should rank the top 15?
"By a nose over Denny Hamlin. And Kurt Busch. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. And Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle. And Kyle Busch." This group all had a fairly good race in both last years California races minus Biff. Some in the top ten did not.
Yahoo is basing their rankings on Daytona. But, whatever....I'm not giving away my research. After all it is a race. LOL
It will be interesting to see who can race and who has the top equipment when they're not wrecking all over the track like Daytona.