2015 Chase Power Rankings: First Edition

By Richard Tix

Unlike NASCAR Behind the Wall's Pit Road Power Rankings, this years 2015 Chase Power Rankings will include ONLY drivers with a win. These rankings will not only take into account how they have done so far, but what NBTW things there Power Ranking is for winning the 2015 Sprint Cup Championship.

2015 Chase Power Rankings First

1. Kevin Harvick- Harvick has to be the Championship favorite right now. I know Jimmie Johnson has more wins, and wins help you move on during the Chase, but Harvicks 7.3 average finish will make sure he moves on round by round as well. Not only that, he leads NASCAR with 1,225 laps lead (560 more then the next closest. Kurt Busch-665). Other than Kurt, he has more than double laps lead than anyone else. That means he will be running up front when the pressure is on and that is where you have to be. 
2. Jimmie Johnson- Johnson knows how this Championship thing works, he has a few. He also leads NASCAR this year in wins so far (4) which is about 26.66% of the races so far. His average finish is down from last years 15.3 and closer to his career average. He has as many wins as he did in 2104 and is one top 5 away from as many as 2014 and we are only 15 races in. This is the JJ everyone has come to know in the past few years, yet something is different...Harvick and that fact that JJ hasn't won a title in this points system yet.
3. Kurt Busch- It is crazy, but even after missing three races Kurt has the second most laps lead behind Harvick (665 total). He actually has lead a higher percentage of laps while he was on the track than Harvick. Kurt has been in 1st 5.74% of the time compared to the 3.73% of the time Harvick has. It has been night and day looking at 2014 and his first year with SHR and this season. Not sure what happened, but the #41 running many of the same set ups as the #4 might be the answer. Those two teams have something figured out, plus Hendrick engines don't hurt..
4. Martin Truex Jr- Truex finally got another win and his first of 2015 after being so close so many times. Pocono locked him in the Chase even though he would have been in on points reguardless. Before his Pocono win, Martin had lead 357 laps in the three previous races. Just those 357 laps led would have put him 6th in laps lead on the season (he is actually 3rd with 486). It has been great to see him and Furniture Row succeed this season and the good luck been a long time coming for Truex. Even if he doesn't win again, he has been an even better version of the 2014 Ryan Newman and he made the Finale at Miami.
5. Joey Logano- Penske hasn't been the talk of NASCAR in 2015 like they were last season, but both Team Penske drivers are having great seasons. Maybe the under the radar approach is just what Joey needs to finish off the next step of his career. It isn't like his stats are lacking either, 1 win, 8 top 5's, 11 top 10's in 15 races (plus 4 poles). It is scary to think how quiet the hype has got on him even during such a good regular season. 
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr- Jr has the Hendrick backing, which helps anyone, plus he is putting it to good use. He and JJ have been fast all season and seem to have found a bit more than teammates Kahne and Gordon have. Seems like Jr has been top 5 or bust this season (8 top 5's and 9 top 10's), which isn't a bad thing. He has also been limiting his number of really bad finishes which is something that you have to do during the Chase. Is this the season he finally win's a Championship? No one has been talking about the loss of Steve LeTarte recently, so that must be a good thing..
7. Brad Keselowski- I debated having BK ahead of both JoLo and Jr because he has won a title and knows how to get it done when everything is on the line (see last years Chase and how he advanced). At the same time JoLo and Jr have been finishing out more runs in the top 5 and might not be hated by as many other drivers. Does that matter? Not much, but one time around retaliation could cost him a lot. Even after saying that, BK still has a good shot at #2. He has shown speed all season and we know Paul Wolfe is one of the best in NASCAR when it comes to strategy.
8. Denny Hamlin- Once we get past BK it is JGR and family. I really have those 7 above as the best contenders, with about 4 of them the top dogs. The rest if Joe Gibbs Racing.... JGR just hasn't found the speed the past two years and its drivers are scrapping to stay alive in the Chase. Give these guys credit, they have been sticking around as long as they could with Penske and Hendrick engines. Denny gets the top nod just because he did the same thing in 2014 but made his way to the final four in Miami.
9. Matt Kenseth- Kenseth has been the most consistent of all the JGR drivers with a win. Anyone who says he should be above Hamlin has a legitimate opinion. Kenseth has been very good on the shorter tracks, but JGR speed has hurt him a bit at 1.5's. They might be closing the gap and the nice thing for the #20 is they're locked in so they have time to make some ground up.
10. Carl Edwards- Edwards transition to JGR hasn't been as smooth as he would have liked. However, looking back at RFR he can still see a sinking ship so he has to be happy about leaving. If JGR can find the speed than Carl can climb up this list, until then he has been one of the least consistent drivers with a win in 2015.

Well, that's it. After 15 races in 2015 I really think this fight will be up to Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. You can add in the mix Truex, JoLo, BK, and Jr if they make a run into the final four and one of the top 3 have set backs. It will be interesting to watch how the next 11 races unfold and how the new package works at Kentucky. That car package could be a game changer down the stretch and might bring some new drivers to the front of contention.

NASCAR Behind the Wall wont be looking at these Power Rankings week by week, but rather every few weeks just to catch up on how the drivers already locked in are doing. Thanks for checking it out!