After an exciting and controversial finish at Richmond, the Sprint Cup Series heads to a track that has deep roots in it's history, Darlington Raceway, dubbed "Too Tough To Tame." Here patience and racing the track, not your competitors, is what pays off, and rubbing against the wall is as expected as the big one at Talladega. The Lady in Black has a freshly paved surface, and higher speeds will present another challenge for the drivers. Without further ado, here are this week's power rankings.

1. Kyle Busch

While racing for the lead with just a few laps to go, he got into Dale Earnhardt Jr, sending him into the wall. However, Busch's 2nd place finish was his 7th this year, and put him back on top of the Sprint Cup Series point standings. In his three starts at Darlington, he has two finishes of 23rd or worse, but has a 7th place finish here back in 2006.

2. Jeff Burton

Burton recovered from being involved in Richmond's version of the big one to finish 11th, but Burton seems to have fallen off a little bit from the competition as far as running up front is concerned. However this consistency will certainly earn him a spot in the chase, and you can expect more of it at Darlington, where he has an average finish of 11.5.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Over two years have passed now since Earnhardt won a points paying race, with heartbreak coming in the closing laps at Richmond. However, Jr. has run well at Darlington in years past. In 2006, he finished 5th despite suffering from the flu, and has finished 11th or better in 7 of the last 9 races there.

4. Carl Edwards

Edwards finished a solid 7th at Richmond, and should expect more success at Darlington, where he has three top-10's in four starts. The only other finish is a DNF due to an early engine failure.

5. Clint Bowyer

Bowyer's streak of consistency continued when he ran in the top-5 all night at Richmond, and was able to steal the victory when Busch and Earnhardt tangled. Now Bowyer returns to the site of his first career pole, which came at Darlington last year before going on to finish 9th. Over the past year Bowyer's performance has improved greatly, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he was up front in the final laps.

6. Denny Hamlin

This guy has lost so many races in his young career, and Saturday night may have been the most heartbreaking for the Virginia native. However, Hamlin will have to put that behind him as he goes to the egg-shaped oval that is Darlington, where he finished 2nd last year.

7. Tony Stewart

Where Stewart will drive next year is still uncertain, but he's continued to run up front, finishing 4th at Richmond. Darlington is one of the few tracks that Stewart hasn't won at yet, but he's been consistent, with an average finish of 11.9.

8. Greg Biffle

Biffle has been on a slump as of late, and it continued at Richmond where he only finished 14th. In the past five races, he's only had one top-10 finish, including a 39th at Texas. However he's had a lot of success at Darlington, including back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006.

9. Kevin Harvick

Harvick fought an ill-handling car all night and managed to earn his first top-10 since Bristol, finishing 8th. Harvick has been hit or miss, however, at Darlington, where he only has 4 top-10's in 11 starts.

10. Jimmie Johnson

Johnson was never a contender at Richmond, and was involved in the big crash midway through the race. However, Darlington is one of Johnson's best tracks, where he's only failed to finish in the top-10 once in nine starts, and swept the races here in 2004.



Other Notables:

11. Jeff Gordon- Recovered from being a lap down to finish 9th at Richmond, and is the defending winner of the upcoming race, and looking for his 8th career victory at Darlington.

12. Kasey Kahne- Finished 10th at Richmond after running in the top-15 for most of the night, for his fifth top-10 of the season. He has three poles in five starts at Darlington, and an average finish of 12.4.

13. Mark Martin- Will again race at Darlington this weekend. His experience makes him a favorite to run up front.

14. Martin Truex Jr.- He earned his first top-5 of the season at Richmond, just his 3rd top-10 this season. He's never finished in the top-10 at Darlington, but has an average finish of 12.5.

15. Kurt Busch- This is a driver who needs to turn things around. He hasn't finished better than 23rd in the past five races, and has only one top-5, which came in the Daytona 500 when he pushed teammate Ryan Newman to the win.