Denny Hamlin got the job done Sunday in Michigan. After earning eight Sprint Cup victories in 2010 and finishing second in the Chase Hamlin had been winless for the first 14 races of 2011. With the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing getting back to winning form last weekend Hamlin has his sights set on more Victory Lane celebrations as well as another run at the championship title.

VICTORY LANE
Denny Hamlin – Finally getting into Victory Lane.
Paul Menard – 3rd Top 5 of the season.
Landon Cassill – Finished 12th and just and great all day.

THE GARAGE
Hendrick Motorsports – Top finish was 9th but Martin put Earnhardt Jr into the wall.
Jimmie Johnson – 27th place finish drops him to 5th in the points standings.
Storyline that we will remember: Denny Hamlin getting his 1st victory of the Year.
Storyline that we will forget: This could be the beginning of the end of Earnhardt Jr’s run near the front of the Standings as we are headed to Sonoma this upcoming week.

I have decided to update the Power Rankings in a new way as I have come up with a way that I believe will result in a better system of ranking. So with that here is the Power Rankings after Michigan.

POWER RANKINGS
(Rankings will be based off of who is running the best, with an emphasis on the last several races but having respect for the duration of the 36 race schedule. Last Week’s Rankings can be found in parenthesis.)
1. (2) Kevin Harvick – 3rd most points the last 5 races and 3 wins this season.
2. (1)Carl Edwards – Still Leads the points standings.
3. (7) Matt Kenseth – Has scored an average of 39 points the last 5 races.
4. (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Still 3rd in points but not a very good week at Michigan.
5. (6)Kyle Busch – Always up near the front and scored over 33 points the last 3 weeks.
6. (3) Jimmie Johnson – Bad week drops him to 6th in this week’s power rankings.
7. (5)Kurt Busch – I have had him too high according to my new formula.
8. (12) Denny Hamlin– With his first win of the season he is now 8th in the Power Rankings.
9. (10)Clint Bowyer – Would be in the Chase as of right now as he is 10th in points.
10. (11) Jeff Gordon – In the Chase because of his 2 wins.
11. (NR)Greg Biffle – Would be out of the Chase right now but has been running well as of late.
12. (9) Tony Stewart – Only reason he makes the Chase is because Brad Keselowski is 17 points out of 20th.

Driver of Week: Denny Hamlin – Took the green at the restart and powered his Toyota on his way to victory.

Stat of the Week: 84.8 percent of Kyle Busch’s laps run this year have been in the Top 15.

Last Week’s Prediction Results: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was never in contention and cut a tire with 3 laps to go to finish 21st.

Prediction for Sonoma: Jeff Gordon

Question of the Week: Will 10 drivers get 10 Top 10’s before Carl Edwards gets 10 Top 5’s he is at 8 and the 10th spot in Top 10’s is 6?

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