Horsepower Rankings: Phoenix

1. Jeff Burton  With Burton’s sixth-place showing at Phoenix, he now has a top-15 streak of at least eight consecutive races the last three seasons. Two of those streaks have come to start the season.
 
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Funny how we almost assumed Junior would get Hendrick’s first win of the season because of his consistency thus far. Oh, how quickly we forget just how good the 48 team is…

3. Carl Edwards  You can make the argument that Jimmie Johnson had the best car when it counted at Phoenix, but I’m sticking to my theory that 312 laps simply wasn’t enough for Carl to regain his rightful spot.

4. Kyle Busch  You drive a Camry now, Kyle. When you win you’re next Nationwide race, repeat, “Camry, Camry, Camry” during the burnouts.

5. Denny Hamlin  Making an argument for who is the best Gibbs team harder each and every week.

6. Tony Stewart  Third fiddle? Well, no, of course not. Still, you have to wonder what it’s like for Tony to be on a team where he is not the clear-cut lead dog.

7. Clint Bowyer  Bowyer’s worst finish in the last five races? 10th.

8. Jimmie Johnson  Although I totally understand why you’re eyes have not made it past the brunette in the photo above, you may want to check out the dude on Nick Lachey’s shirt.

9. Kevin Harvick  Harvick had his worst night of the season at Phoenix when he finished 19th. We’ll call it a slight hiccup and move on.

10. Greg Biffle  Top-10 run at PIR just what Biffle needed, although they never seemed to really get the car dialed in like it was in practice.

11. Mark Martin/Aric Almirola  That one’s on you, Tony Gibson.

12. Jeff Gordon  I know Jeff loves the Nicorette paint scheme, but I’m thinking Garnier Fructis ever time I see it. And that doesn’t conjure images of 850-horsepowered muscle cars.

13. Martin Truex Jr.  DEI’s engine tuners giving Truex plenty of reasons to think long and hard before signing a contract extension.

14. Matt Kenseth  The roller coaster ride continues. Maybe Chip Bolin needs to get busted with a loose oil reservoir cover so Robbie Reiser can give it another six-race go.

15. Juan Pablo Montoya  Something tells me this crew chief swap will do nothing to help either Montoya or Reed Sorenson. In fact, this may be the last you see of JPM in the Horsepower Rankings for a while.

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