Will Hendrick Motorsports ever lose a Nextel Cup race again? Based on what we saw on Sunday at the Pocono 500 with Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, delivering a gutsy call on coming in early to pit on lap 82, five laps before the rest of the race leaders did, we seriously doubt it.
Here are the latest NASCAR Nextel Cup power rankings after the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway:

1. Jeff Gordon: Did Steve Letarte have inside info from Al Roker?
2. Denny Hamlin: Bad pit stop strategy led to sixth-place finish despite leading 49 of 106 laps.
3. Jimmie Johnson: Cut tire and busted wheel well led to 42nd-place run.
4. Matt Kenseth: King of consistency scores another top 10.
5. Tony Stewart: Fifth-place Pocono finish worthy of slot.
6. Jeff Burton:: Still solid fifth in points.
7. Clint Bowyer: Finished 10th, but started 5th.
8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Win at Dover, third at Pocono, now 11th in points.
9. Mark Martin: Best mover of the race at Pocono, from 34th to 7th.
10. Ryan Newman: Back-to-back runner-up runs has him knocking on Chase door.
11. Kevin Harvick: Hasn't fallen off Chase map yet, but getting close.
12. Kyle Busch: Wonder what he would have done about Stewart

On the way up: Casey Mears (got back on track with 4th at Pocono), Carl Edwards (hasn't won since Texas in the fall of '05, but he's close).
On the way out:Jamie McMurray (never in contention at Pocono), Kurt Busch (had bad week all around, finished 16th on Sunday)

Michigan track fact: Ryan Newman holds the qualifying record at the 2-mile oval - 194.232 mph, set in 2005. Three races in the track's history have been caution-free - the last came when Dale Jarrett won on June 13, 1999 at a winning speed of 173.997 mph, also a track record. That race was run in a tidy 2 hours, 17 minutes, and 56 seconds.

Posted by Tom Zulewski at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )