NASCAR Power Rankings: Darlington

(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Gordon— Gordon rebounded from sub-par finishes at Talladega and Richmond with a strong fifth at Darlington, joining Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson in the top five. Gordon remained the Sprint Cup points leader, with a slim 29-point margin over Tony Stewart.

"Hendrick engineering accounted for all of the cars in the top five," says Gordon. "That's pretty impressive. I haven't seen that kind of dominance since Tony Stewart's whips-and-chains-themed hauler party of 2008. Yeah, and Aaron Fike got handcuffed at that one, too."

"But what can you say about Mark Martin? The man is a machine. I'm glad he's on board with Hendrick through 2010. Being behind the wheel of a Hendrick car is like career Viagra."

2. Tony Stewart— Stewart recorded his fifth top-five finish in the last six races, finishing third at Darlington, as Stewart-Haas Racing continued to make its presence felt. Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman finished fourth, his third straight top-five result, and the two seem more than ready to give Stewart-Haas its first victory.

"To put two cars in the top five at a track as demanding as Darlington is a big deal," says Stewart. "With the amount of wrecks and cautions, I'm just happy my car is still intact. That's called 'bringing it home in one piece,' not to be confused with 'bringing home one piece,' which I try to do every night."

"Now, should Darlington get a second Cup date? I love this track, but you know how I roll. If you can't get what you want by the first date, then why bother with a second?"

3. Jimmie Johnson— With a crash in qualifying relegating him to 42nd on the grid in a backup car, Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team started in a hole. Things didn't get much better in the early going, as Johnson was pinned a lap down after the caution flew as he was making a green-flag stop.

But showing the perseverance for which they've become known, the Lowe's team regrouped, overcoming a spin on the track and an incident in the pits, to steadily gain track position. Chad Knaus opted to keep Johnson on the track during the final caution, and Johnson drove to an unlikely second-place finish.

"Things weren't looking so good early," says Johnson. "I'm not sure I can say this without being 'randomly' drug-tested, but we were 'behind the 8-ball.'"

"The NASCAR drug policy is pretty 'cut and dry,' which is exactly how some guys in the garages like their cocaine. I'm not sure I buy Jeremy Mayfield's explanation that he tested positive because of a mix of prescription and over-the-counter medications. Should you even be driving at all when you're mixing those types of medications? I think not."

"But cheer up, Jeremy. Maybe you didn't qualify for the race, but you did qualify for a drug suspension."

4. Mark Martin— Martin won a grueling Southern 500 at Darlington, navigating through a record 17 cautions and leading the final 46 laps for his second win this season.

Martin recently announced that he'll return to race another full-time season for Hendrick Motorsports in 2010, and seems committed to capturing that elusive Sprint Cup championship. Martin moved up four places to 11th in the point standings, and is 285 out of first.

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