Through 2 rounds of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, we lost one title contender, gained a dark horse, and saw another surefire top 10 for David Reutimann go down the drain because of stupidity on pit road.  Who's hot and who's not this week?  Check out the power rankings...

NEW THIS WEEK: Mark Martin, Dave Blaney, & Michael Waltrip
DROPPED OUT: Juan Pablo Montoya, Travis Kvapil, & David Ragan
ON THE GAS: Matt Kenseth
ON THE BRAKES: Kyle Busch

20. Kyle Busch (-8): "Gentlemen, start your engines" are the 4 most famous words in motorsports, but Kyle uttered the 3 most dreaded words in motorsports, "it's blowin' up!"

19. Kurt Busch (-6): It was not a good day for the Busch family in Dover.  Kurt wasn't much better.  He lasted only 1 full lap and a turn before smacking the wall.  He tried to come back, but he still wound up 6 laps down in 34th, but hey he only finished half as many laps down as his brother did in Loudon.

18. Kasey Kahne (-4): Kahne had one miserable day at The Monster Mile, finishing 3 laps down in 26th.  What should the Allstate Girls say to him this time, "I'm super sorry about your lackluster season?"

17. Martin Truex Jr. (-2): I don't think a lap down in 20th place is what Truex had in mind when he wanted to do well in front of his home crowd.

16. Bobby Labonte: Another top-15 finish keeps Bobby right where he is.  It was nothing special, but a good day for a team that hasn't gone to victory lane for longer than George Bush has been in office.

15. Dave Blaney (previously NR): Finally!  Blaney finished on the lead lap in 12th position at Dover.  He started 37th.  You can bet he's breathing a huge sigh of relief for not getting caught up in someone else's mess.

14. Michael Waltrip (previously NR): Mikey finished 10th after starting 40th!  God help us all, that's another sign of the apocalypse!

13. Mark Martin (previously NR): Again the old man shows he's still a threat.  He never led a lap, but was right there at the end.  That's the Mark Martin we all know and love.  That's precisely the reason he was my dark horse.  I'd watch out for the ageless wonder next year when he comes back full time.

12. David Reutimann (-1): Reutimann drops for the dummy move of the day in the pits.  I don't think that's what the phrase "think outside the box" means.

11. Denny Hamlin (-6): Hamlin had something break during the race, but still came back out for the finish.  FedEX customers are asking if he can teach his teammate Kyle Busch how to do that.

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-3): So tired, tired of talking, tired of talkin' 'bout tires...

9. Matt Kenseth (+10): Kenseth led the most laps en route to being the meat in the sandwich of the Roushketeer 1-2-3 finish.  It's about time we see Kenseth back up front!

8. Jeff Gordon (+2): People are calling for Steve Letarte's head.  That's insane, it's not his fault Gordon had a better car for qualifying than he did for the race, oh wait, yes it is partly his fault because he has to decide on what changes to make.

7. Clint Bowyer (+2): Auntie Em, Auntie Em, I got out of Dover with a decent finish and I'm coming home to the track where I should've won last year!

6. Jeff Burton (+2): Burton has 3 top 10 finishes in a row, who'd a thunk it?!

5. Tony Stewart (+1): Smoke's 11th place finish wasn't all that impressive, until you consider he started 33rd and had to go through the grass to dodge Kurt Busch's spinning blue deuce right at the beginning of the race.

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was the big winner in the standings, picking up 5 positions, but unfortunately you can't move a guy up the rankings who still finished behind this week's top 3.

3. Jimmie Johnson (-2): Sometimes pit strategy comes back to bite you in the a$$, and that's what happened to the 48 team.  It evened out for him with about 100 laps to go, but immediately after the restart we saw he didn't have a winning car when he got gang-Roushed.

2. Greg Biffle (+1): The Biff did it again, winning on a late race pass.  He's winning races the same way Jeff Burton has for the last 3 years.  Now he's the real deal as far as a dark horse is concerned.  The only problem was he and his 2 teammates nearly gave Jack Roush a heartattack.

1. Carl Edwards (+1): Edwards had to settle for 3rd because of Dial-Tone Bob's gamble that didn't work.  So why is he moving up?  Oh, that would be because he finished ahead of Jimmie Johnson and took sole possession of the points lead.

Don't miss the (lack of) action this Sunday at Kansas.  Coverage starts at 1:00 PM ET on ABC.  Until next time, I'm your NASCAR VP, impressed that someone is really coming out of nowhere to battle for this championship!

BK over and out