Horsepower Rankings: Dover

1. Kyle Busch  As Kyle would say, “Duh!” Of course he’s up here — on the strength of three wins, a second and a third in the last five weeks. Not too shabby.

2. Carl Edwards  Any other time, Carl would be No. 1. That’s okay, though. Carl is used to running second to Busch after doing so twice in the last three races.

3. Jeff Burton  Burton’s string of consecutive finishes of 13th or better now dates back to October of 2007. That’s 19 straight races.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Junior’s streak isn’t as impressive as Burton’s, as he was involved in two accidents not of his making, finishing 40th and 35th. Otherwise, he has yet to finish outside of the top 15 this year.

5. Greg Biffle  Loose wheels, suspension problems, alternators … what’s next? Worn floormats? If this bunch could overcome its mechanical issues, they’d have won three races by now.

6. Denny Hamlin  The brake pedal is the one in the middle, Denny.

7. Jeff Gordon  For all the talk you hear of Gordon being off this year, take a glance at the point standings and tell me again they’re out to lunch.

8. Tony Stewart  His results of late do not warrant Tony being this high on the list, but it’s Tony Stewart we’re talking about here. In a Joe Gibbs Racing Camry. On the cusp of summer. Tony says those Toyotas are only making seven or eight more horsepower than the other makes, so multiple that by about 10 and you’ll have a more accurate number.

9. Matt Kenseth  Well, well, look who finally decided to get serious… Kenseth and new crew chief Chip Bolin must have reenacted that scene from “Days of Thunder” where Cole and Harry sit in the old dive bar and get their issues sorted out. It’s gravy from there.

10. Kasey Kahne All-Star and 600 wins bookended by finishes of 22nd and 31st. Still really don’t know what to make of this bunch, but the two wins are very difficult to overlook.

11. Jimmie Johnson  You know, the Lowe’s commercials don’t do much to dispel Johnson’s vanilla image. Instead of fixing stop signs and painting fences with Knaus, why not feature Jimmie and Chandra getting oil dumped on their heads like in the Castrol commercials.

12. Clint Bowyer  Anytime you guys wanna pull out of that tailspin your in will be fine with me. Who knew a win could be so damaging in the long run?

13. Kevin Harvick  That goes double for you, Kev. Of course, he’s never shown much love to the tracks we just visited, so maybe he’ll turn it on soon.

14. David Ragan  Got through the early Dover melee like a pro and muscled on to a solid, if not flashy, 15th-place finish. I wonder if the Obama campaign has contacted Jimmy Fennig about mentoring their young, somewhat inexperienced candidate for the upcoming election circus?

15. Martin Truex Jr.  The boy loves Dover, thanks in large part to wearing his underwear inside-out in hopes of changing his recent run of bad luck. If only he’d have won, he could’ve laid some victory skid marks down on the track. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Just off the lead draft: Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Travis Kvapil, Kurt Busch, Dave Blaney

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