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CUP: Texas Power Rankings
Jimmie Johnson holds onto the lead in the FOXSports.com/SPEED.com Power Rankings…
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 05, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, celebrates during the victory champagne toast in The Speedway Club after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500> (Photo: Getty Images)
For the second week in a row, Jimmie Johnson scores maximum points by leading the most laps and winning the race. And for the second week in a row, he leads the FOXSports.com/SPEED.com Power Rankings.

The new list, following Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway:

1. JIMMIE JOHNSON — In a duel for the ages, the five-time champion passed Brad Keselowski during a green-white-checkered finish to put the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in victory lane. Last week: 1st.

2. BRAD KESELOWSKI — Strategy, gambling, pure balls-out driving — Keselowski put on a masterful display, but came up just short. But at just 7 points behind Johnson, he’s still very much in the game. Last week: 2nd.

3. CLINT BOWYER — Ordinarily, a sixth-place finish wouldn’t be too bad. But with Johnson and Keselowski finishing 1-2, Bowyer is now realistically out of contention for a championship. Last week: 3rd.

4. MATT KENSETH — The 2003 champion got off to a slow start at Texas, but rallied to finish fourth to score his third top five of the Chase to go along with victories at Talladega and Kansas. Last week: 7th.

5. KYLE BUSCH — Don’t look now, but Busch has scored top fives in four out of the last five races. Pity he’s not one of the drivers actually battling for a championship. Last week: 12th.

6. KASEY KAHNE — A late crash dropped Kahne to 25th, but even had he finished in the top 10 he’d still be out of title contention. Still, a strong first year with Hendrick Motorsports. Last week: 4th.

7. JEFF GORDON — At various times in the race, Gordon looked good, but late contact left him 14th and out of touch with the front-runners. Still in the top half of the Chase, though. Last week: 5th.

8. TONY STEWART — The three-time and defending series champion finished fifth at Texas, matching his best result of the Chase. No fourth title this year, though. Last week: 10th.

9. DENNY HAMLIN — This should have been a race where Hamlin contended for the victory. Instead, he finished a disappointing 20th. Last week: 6th.

10. GREG BIFFLE — A 10th-place finish for Biffle was OK, but somewhat disappointing given that he qualified on the outside of Row 1. Last week: 9th.

11. MARTIN TRUEX JR. — For the second week in a row, Truex finished 13th. And for the third week in a row, he finished outside the top 10. Last week: 8th.

12. DALE EARNHARDT JR. — An excellent seventh-place finish was Earnhardt’s best result since Atlanta. He’s on his way back. Last week: 13th.

13. KEVIN HARVICK — Believe it or not, Harvick’s ninth-place finish was his first top-10 of the Chase. Been a tough year for all the Richard Childress Racing teams. Last week: 11th.

14. RYAN NEWMAN — A decent afternoon for Newman, who finished 12th in his second race back with new/old crew chief Matt Borland. Last week: 16th.

15. CARL EDWARDS — For the third week in a row, Edwards finished outside the top 10. One of the real disappointments of 2012 has been the performance on the No. 99 car. Last week: 17th.

16. JOEY LOGANO — Just two more races left at Joe Gibbs Racing for Logano after his 11th-place run at Texas. Last week: 19th.

17. ARIC ALMIROLA — Decent day for Almirola, who earned his third top-15 finish in his last four races. Last week: 18th.

18. PAUL MENARD — Certainly, Menard was hoping for a better result than 27th place, but that’s what he got. Last week: 15th.

19. JEFF BURTON — Nineteenth for Burton, who next year with be reunited with crew chief Luke Lambert. Last week: Unranked.

20. JAMIE MCMURRAY — Maybe a switch to Hendrick engines in 2013 will help Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. They need something. Last week: 20th

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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