June 17, 2009

Week 25 Unified Power Rankings

With Formula 1 taking another week off, no one has been able to challenge Jenson Button, so he remains the hottest driver in auto racing. It's hard to argue the point since he has won six of the first seven events on that calendar.

Tony Stewart remains second on the Unified Power Rankings after posting a solid seventh-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. He's been both consistent and strong with 10 consecutive Cup races in which he's finished on the lead lap. To prove his versatility, in recent months he's also won a dirt late model race at Paducah International Raceway and finished sixth in the Dream at his Eldora Raceway—one of the premier races for that type of car.

And in the Indy Racing League, Helio Castroneves continues to tower above his peers. Currently, Castroneves is about five percentage points better than Ryan Briscoe and eight better than Dario Franchitti, but there could be a shakeup in next week's standings since neither Castroneves nor Briscoe have been overly impressive on the IRL short tracks.

Castroneves was 14th at Iowa last year and since that is the next venue on the calendar, he's going to have to pick up the pace. He also finished outside the top 10 in Richmond in 2007, which outbalances his second-place result there last year.

In two short track starts last year, Briscoe finished seventh at Iowa and 15th at Richmond. In stark contrast, the last time Franchitti was on these two tracks, he swept victory lane.

The biggest mover inside the top 10 last week was Mark Martin. The aged veteran used a fuel mileage strategy to win his third NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season, which ties him with Kyle Busch. He's skipped the last four road races while running a part time schedule, but this driver once posted 23 top-10 finishes in 24 starts on that track type from 1989 through 2001, so you can expect him to keep his momentum.
Nationwide Regular Jason Leffler has done a great job of staying in the Unified Power Rankings' top 10. He finished sixth in the standalone race at Kentucky Speedway, but don't start thinking his strong effort was because there were so few Claim Jumpers in the field. That was his ninth consecutive top-10 finish in NASCAR's second series.
Unified Power Rankings
Top 50


RankDriverPointsLast week+/-
1Jenson Button110.5710
2Tony Stewart97.1520
3Helio Castroneves95.8030
4Ryan Briscoe90.6751
5Mark Martin88.77105
6Jason Leffler88.0960
7Jimmie Johnson88.084-3
8Dario Franchitti87.677-1
9Rubens Barrichello87.1490
10Mark Webber85.29111
11Ryan Newman85.198-3
12Scott Dixon84.50120
13Kurt Busch84.33130
14Brad Keselowski84.00151
15Danica Patrick83.3314-1
16Erik Darnell83.00NR
17Jeff Gordon82.8316-1
18Kyle Busch80.4817-1
19Denny Hamlin80.42234
20Matt Crafton79.6719-1
21Carl Edwards79.4818-3
22Greg Biffle78.47264
23Timo Glock78.4322-1
24Dan Wheldon78.17240
25Matt Kenseth77.7620-5
26Juan Montoya77.50271
27Joey Logano76.9525-2
28Jeff Burton76.8221-7
29Fernando Alonso74.0028-1
30Nico Rosberg72.57300
31Kasey Kahne72.1729-2
32Sebastian Vettel72.0031-1
33David Reutimann70.4332-1
34Marco Andretti70.0033-1
35Tony Kanaan69.8334-1
36Justin Allgaier69.82382
37Steve Wallace69.4536-1
38Jason Keller68.0035-3
39Dale Earnhardt Jr67.80390
40Ron Hornaday Jr67.33422
41Tayler Malsam67.338544
42Brian Vickers66.94431
43Clint Bowyer66.87441
44Jamie McMurray66.58462
45Jarno Trulli66.2940-5
46Johnny Benson Jr66.0041-5
47Marcos Ambrose65.5837-10
48Rick Crawford64.8345-3
49Burney Lamar63.636516
50Kevin Harvick63.2849-1


Previous Unified Power Rankings:

Week 24
Week 23
Week 22
Week 21
Week 20

Mark Martin at Infineon

Look for Mark Martin to run strong this week. From 1989 through 2001 he once earned 23 top-10s in 24 starts on road courses.

N'Wide: Former Milwaukee winners

The Milwaukee Mile is one of the most famous racetracks in America, and with rumors circulating that this could be its last Nationwide race for a while, drivers are going to be highly motivated to take the checkered flag. We'll have to wait and see if Kyle Busch burns it in victory lane if he should win.

The final Milwaukee trophy is only one incentive, however. Less than a handful of Claim Jumpers will be in the race this week, so the Nationwide Regulars are going to pull their gloves a little higher and climb up on the wheel to make sure that their name gets etched in the record books.

The successful racer will stand alongside legends like Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, and modern superstars such as Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Former Winners

SeasonRaceDriver
2008Camping World RV Rental 250Carl Edwards
2007AT&T 250Aric Almirola *
2006AT&T 250Paul Menard
2005SBC 250Johnny Sauter
2004Alan Kulwicki 250Ron Hornaday Jr.
2003GNC Live Well 250Jason Keller
2002GNC Live Well 250Greg Biffle
2001GNC Live Well 250Greg Biffle
2000DieHard 250Jeff Green
1999DieHard 250Casey Atwood
1998DieHard 250Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1997Sears Auto Center 250Randy LaJoie
1996Sears Auto Center 250Buckshot Jones
1995Sears Auto Center 250Dale Jarrett
1994Havoline 250Mike Wallace
1993Havoline 250Steve Grissom
1985Milwaukee Sentinel 200Jack Ingram
1984Red Carpet 200Sam Ard




*relieved by Denny Hamlin at sponsor's direction.


Milwaukee's last five races

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

Infineon Yahoo! preview

This week marks the first road course race of the year. It's easy to overlook, but just as many points get paid out this week as on an oval track. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for our best bets.

N'Wide: Milwaukee's last five races

Milwaukee has been host to some of the most competitive races in recent years, and perhaps one of its lowest points.

While the Claim Jumping Cup drivers are in Infineon Raceway, the Nationwide Regulars get a chance to shine, but that wasn't to be in 2007—and the source of the frustration came from an unlikely angle. Making the long commute, Denny Hamlin got to the track late and could not get into the car in time for the race.

Aric Almirola qualified and started the No. 20, but that wasn't to the sponsor's liking, so with heavy pressure from Rockwell Automation, he was brought into the pits on lap 59 and replaced with Hamlin. To add injury to insult the tandem won, but Almirola has never really been able to relish his first—and so far only—Nationwide Series win. The next year, he left Joe Gibbs Racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

This year, only two Claim Jumpers are expected to make the long trip from Infineon. One of them is last year's winner Carl Edwards, so the Cup dominance of the second series could continue.

Average finish, last five races

DriverAvg Finish20082007200620052004
Aric Almirola *1.00
1


Joey Logano2.002



Paul Menard 2.00

13
J J Yeley3.50

34
Denny Hamlin *4.00

26
Shane Hmiel 4.00



4
Martin Truex Jr5.50


29
Todd Bodine6.00
6


Randy LaJoie 7.00


7
Greg Biffle 7.00



7
Danny O'Quinn Jr7.00

7

David Reutimann7.335710

Jason Keller 7.5095
133
Brad Keselowski8.008



Jason Leffler 8.001034
15
Johnny Benson Jr9.00
9


Shane Huffman10.00
10


Clint Bowyer10.253
181010
Carl Edwards 11.00182114
Jay Sauter11.00

11

Bobby Hamilton Jr11.001513

5
Mike Wallace 11.2518115
11
Hermie Sadler 12.00



12
John Andretti12.00

12

Reed Sorenson12.00


12
David Green 12.00

17118
Scott Wimmer12.336229

Mike Bliss 12.67725

6
Stephen Leicht13.50
1413

Johnny Sauter 13.67

9131
Robert Pressley 14.00



14
James Buescher14.0014



Brad Coleman14.50254


Auggie Vidovich15.00

15

Marcos Ambrose15.501615


Ashton Lewis 15.67

161813
Justin Labonte 16.00


16
Kevin Hamlin16.00
16


David Stremme16.7534
2652
Bill Elliott17.00


17
Stacy Compton 17.00

62520
Kenny Wallace 17.2528
8825
David Ragan17.33412
36
Cale Gale17.501223


Ron Hornaday Jr18.00
3620151
Stanton Barrett 18.6717

2118
Richard Johns19.00
19


Kevin Harvick19.00

19

Tracy Hines19.00


19
Jon Wood20.00

1426
Kyle Busch20.00

24
16
Marc Mitchell20.00
20


Aaron Fike20.00


20
Chase Miller20.002317


Bryan Clauson20.0020



Kelly Bires20.501130


Todd Kluever20.50
1823

Colin Braun21.0021



Todd Szegedy21.00



21
Mark Green 21.251321
2823
Tony Raines 21.50


934
Landon Cassill22.0022



Scott Lagasse 22.00


22
Tim Fedewa 22.00


2717
Bobby East22.00
22


Ryan Hemphill 23.00


23
Steve Wallace23.67192725

Brandon Miller24.00


24
D J Kennington25.002426


Regan Smith 25.50

2229
Bobby Dotter 26.00



26
Kevin Lepage26.0026



Jimmy Kitchens 27.00



27
Brian Keselowski27.0027



Tim Sauter 27.67

273719
Gus Wasson 28.00



28
Tim McCreadie28.00
28


Erin Crocker28.00

28

Trevor Boys29.00
29


Jason White 29.50

30
29
Michel Jourdain Jr30.00


30
Steve Grissom 31.00


3824
Wade Day31.00


31
Joel Kauffman31.00

31

Travis Kittleson31.0031



Eric McClure31.332931
34
Casey Atwood 32.00



32
Brent Sherman32.00
32


A J Fike32.00


32
John Hayden 32.00

32

Josh Wise33.0033



Kyle Krisiloff33.00
24
42
Robert Richardson33.00
33


Mark McFarland33.00

33

Eddie Beahr 33.00



33
Frank Kreyer34.00
34


Derrike Cope 34.003843343322
Scott Lagasse Jr35.00
35


Bryan Reffner 35.00


35
William Hoff 35.00



35
Burney Lamar35.5036
35

Justin Ashburn36.5043


30
Ian Henderson37.00
37


Morgan Shepherd37.0037



Brad Teague 37.203039384336
Jerick Johnson37.67354137

Mike Potter 39.003242

43
Butch Jarvis39.00



39
Johnny Chapman39.0039



Kertus Davis 39.0042
3639
Chris Horn 39.50
4039

J C Stout40.0040



Kim Crosby40.00

40

Josh Richeson 40.00



40
Tyler Walker40.00


40
Chad Beahr40.50


4437
Jeff Fuller41.00


4141
James Hylton 41.00

41

Terry Cook41.0041



Mike Harmon 41.334838

38
Jason Schuler 42.00



42
Danny Efland44.00
44


Ruben Pardo44.0044



Kenny Hendrick45.0045



Todd Shafer45.00


45
Andy Ponstein46.0046



Chad Chaffin47.0047










*In 2007, Denny Hamlin relieved Aric Almirola at sponsor's direction even though Almirola led most of that race.







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Benson released from hospital

Johnny Benson Jr. has been released from the hospital, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Let's hope that he's resting comfortably at home. Benson had to feel like Job last week after losing his Camping World Truck Series and then getting seriously injured in the ISMA modified race on his home track.

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