THE ONMC POWER 10: OUR TAKE ON THE TOP DRIVERS THIS WEEK

By Ron Lemasters Jr.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the ONMC Power 10, which ranks the top 10 drivers in NASCAR according to how they’re running right now.

By the end of the week will be the Power Rankings that all others strive to beat for accuracy, pithiness and forward thinking. Or, depending on how we rank ‘em this week, they’ll be smirking once the checkered flag waves at Bristol.

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

Great. Here we go.

1.   1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Duh. He won at Daytona and finished second at both Phoenix and Las Vegas. He had Vegas won until he ran out of gas on the final lap, but was still able to coast around to the flag. We’re heading to Bristol this weekend, and he’s been good there, too.

2.   2. Brad Keselowski: The only other driver besides Junior with three top-five finishes this season, BK is putting paid to those who thought not making the Chase last year was a death knell for the 2012 champ. He’s been strong all season, so far, and he’s in the Chase, thank you very much.

3.   3. Kevin Harvick: While the rest of Stewart-Haas Racing is wandering around trying to find speed and consistency, Harvick had it already. He won at Phoenix and was wicked quick at Vegas until a hub broke. Harv is pretty good at Bristol, too.

4.   4. Jimmie Johnson: He hasn’t won yet this year in three races. Does that qualify as a slump? Perhaps not, but Six-Time hasn’t been himself yet. That will change. It might change this weekend, but Auto Club might be a better harbinger.

5.   5. Joey Logano: Halfway home, and we hit JoLo, who has been bad fast all three races so far only to fail to seal the deal at the checkered. He and Keselowski have won the front row at the last two races, and there’s reason to expect they might do it again this weekend.

6.   6. Jeff Gordon: He was good at Daytona and ran very well at Phoenix. At Vegas he was good, not great. That’s good enough for SuperG, enough to rank him sixth in the first ONMC Power 10.

7.   7. Matt Kenseth: Last season’s fast start is old news, but he has been fast enough to make him a guy that needs to be watched closely for signs of a breakout. The entire Joe Gibbs Racing team has yet to find the pace that the 88, 2, 4 and 22 have, but he’s in the neighborhood.

8.   8. Kyle Busch: His problem so far has been lack of speed, which sounds odd, but it’s true. He doesn’t have the ponies to run with the top five yet, though he has driven his tail off all three races.

      9. Carl Edwards: Cuz was a non-factor at Vegas until the late going, but he was right there when it all shook out. That’s encouraging, because he and longtime Roush stalwart Greg Biffle were in danger of getting overshadowed by Danica’s boyfriend.

1  010. Denny Hamlin: Ol’ Hambone hit something at the end of the season last year and it continued into this year, and he’s a race away from being the old Hamlin. He’s heading to Bristol, which he considers something of a home race, and you know how he races at Richmond and Martinsville.

Close, but no cigar:

Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard, Casey Mears (yes, Casey Mears; if the Chase started today—which it doesn’t—Mears is in.)