Who's Up

Who's Down

Biggest Gain This Week:

Mark Martin: 4th to 2nd

Biggest Drop This Week:

Kasey Kahne: 8th to 10th

• Greg Biffle
• Kyle Busch

Rank: 1st

• Jimmie Johnson #48
• Last Week: 1
  Change: 0
• Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- 3 Wins, 15 Top Tens

I say it every week but this is simply the best team in NASCAR. Johnson even collected five invaluable bonus points from his teammate (as if he needed them) and its official he will be in the 2009 Chase.

Rank: 2nd

• Mark Martin #5
• Last Week: 4
  Change: +2
• Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- 4 Wins, 12 Top Tens

If Martin wasn't such a nice guy then he would have 10 more bonus points for the Chase right now and Kyle Busch would be all but eliminated from the playoffs for 2009.

Rank: 3rd

• Tony Stewart #14
• Last Week: 2
  Change: -1
• Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- 3 Wins, 18 Top Tens

During the course of a 36 race season teams go through up and down cycles in terms of how they perform at the track. The 14 appears to be heading into a downward cycle at exactly the wrong time.

Rank: 4th

• Jeff Gordon #24
• Last Week: 3
  Change: -1
• Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 16 Top Tens

The 24 started in the back and finished there. It definitely wasn't a race that you would expect to see from a championship contender at this point in the season.

Rank: 5th

• Kurt Busch #22
• Last Week: 5
  Change: 0
• Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 13 Top Tens

The 2 car is a team that is able to rally and overcome problems at the track. This is the trait of a championship contender and I expect the 2 car to be in the championship mix at seasons end.

Rank: 6th

• Juan Pablo Montoya #42
• Last Week: 7
  Change: +1
• Driver Page | Articles

Juan Pablo Montoya- 1 Top Five, 11 Top Tens

Another cut tire, another bad result. Nevertheless the 42 has been running good everywhere lately.

Rank: 7th

• Carl Edwards #99
• Last Week: 6
  Change: -1
• Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- 7 Top Fives, 11 Top Tens

The 99 Team under performs at almost every track where they were successful in 2008 (Recent Examples:Indy, Pocono, Bristol). Tell me why they should even be considered a front runner at Atlanta?

Rank: 8th

• Brian Vickers #83
• Last Week: 9
  Change: +1
• Driver Page | Articles

Brian Vickers- 1 Win, 11 Top Tens

Brian's performance at Bristol kept him in Chase contention with Kyle. If the 83 doesn't get a top 5 at Atlanta then I personally think its over for them. There's no factual reason to believe he could race his way into the Chase at Richmond.

Rank: 9th

• Denny Hamlin #11
• Last Week: 10
  Change: +1
• Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- 1 Win, 12 Top Tens

Why does Hamlin have so few career wins? If you watched Bristol then you know why. This team doesn't make winnable races easy on themselves. If your a Hamlin fan then their last timely pit stop is something you've seen before.

Rank: 10th

• Kasey Kahne #4
• Last Week: 8
  Change: -2
• Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- 1 Win, 9 Top Tens

If any bad thing happens to this team at Atlanta then Kahne will have to race at Richmond like he did in 2006. Atlanta traditionally is a very good track for the 9, so hopefully Kahne will capitalize there.

Rank: 11th

• Greg Biffle #16
• Last Week: NR
  Change: N/A
• Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- 8 Top Fives, 11 Top Tens

The 16 has had a top 5 performance every other race for the last 6 races. Unfortunately if this trend continues the 16 team could be in trouble at Atlanta.

Rank: 12th

• Kyle Busch #18
• Last Week: NR
  Change: N/A
• Driver Page | Articles

Kyle Busch- 4 Wins, 8 Top Tens

Atlanta will be a do-or-die race for the 18 team. Recent Intermediate track races haven't been kind to this team lately. If they have a repeat Michigan or Chicago performance at Atlanta then they are doomed.