ONMC'S POWER 10: Bud-Wise Guy Climbs

The annual Southern 500 at Darlington played to a sold-out stand on Saturday, and at the end of the day, it was Kevin Harvick doing the donuts.

He took four tires when others took two, and he whipped them home with the Bojangles biscuits (another word for tires). That was his second victory of the season, and all but assures him a spot in the season-ending Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. No, really. We really mean that.

In light of that, and the coming of the Easter Bunny, we award Kevin Harvick the title of King of Spring…and the top spot in the ONMC Power 10.

As always, we rank the top 10 drivers in NASCAR according to how they’re running right now.

How it works is simple: we tell you who the 10 best drivers are after each race this season, and you can agree, disagree or improve on them by commenting on the article itself. Sound good?

Here we go.

1. Kevin Harvick: Happy was surely that on Saturday night, leading the majority of the laps from the pole and putting himself in the Chase. He beat Six-Time and others to the flag. He’s the King of Spring. Last week: Not ranked  

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Came home second, took two on the final stop. Nearly had it won, but more tires beat him. Texas? What Texas? Last week: 6

3. Jeff Gordon: Still hasn't won yet this year, but it's only a matter of time. Not quite there yet, but he’s close. Leads the points, too. Last week: 2

4. Matt Kenseth: Still hasn't won this year, but he’s sneaking up on it. For the first time in weeks, he was right there at the end. Signs that he and Jason Ratcliff are moving forward. Last week: 5

5. Carl Edwards: Has a win, but isn’t strong where you’d expect him to be strong yet. Respectable at Darlington, but Fords not numbered 2 or 22 haven’t been stout…yet. Last week: 4

6. Kyle Busch: Showed signs of being able to challenge Harvick, but lost the nose after halfway and chased it home. He’s going to go on a tear here shortly…he’s won four of the past five spring races at Richmond. Last week: 3

7. Jimmie Johnson: Started off so bad at Darlington he looked like No-Time instead of Six-Time. But, as expected, he recovered when the sun went down and nearly won the thing. Ran out of tires at the end. And no, he hasn’t won yet. Last week: 8

8. Brad Keselowski: Looked like he would challenge, but didn’t. There’s a lot of that going around in the Ford camp. He’s stout, has a win and is a threat…just not last week. Last week: 7

9. Tony Stewart: Somehow—Smoke and mirrors, maybe?—he and Chad Johnston keep making top-10 finishes. He was out to lunch most of the day, but rallied. Story of his season, and he’s 12th in points. Last week: not ranked

10. Kyle Larson: After Friday night’s near miss, he had everyone talking on Saturday. Mostly, they were saying stuff I can’t repeat here. He was fast, a little erratic for him, and he kept looking for the cushion, but all in all, not bad. Last week: 9

Dropped out: Paul Menard, Joey Logano 

Close but no cigar: 

Logano (mechanical failure put him in the outhouse after being in the penthouse at Texas); Menard (Lady in Black bit him…hard); Brian Vickers (led briefly, gambled on two), Austin Dillon (keeps making finishes); Ryan Newman (showed a burst, ninth in points). A well-deserved week off and then it’s off to Richmond.