We've got 2 races left to determine a champion.  Jimmie Johnson still leads Carl Edwards, but a slip-up last week at Texas cost him a pretty decent chunk of points.  So who's hot and who's not as we head out to the Arizona desert?  Here are this week's power rankings...

NEW THIS WEEK: Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr.
DROPPED OUT: Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch
ON THE GAS: Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch
ON THE BRAKES: Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart

20. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-3): Junior finished 2nd at Martinsville, and was trying to hold on for another 2nd place finish at Texas.  He ran out of gas again, and wound up finishing 2 laps down in 20th.  He had nothing to lose, but that's just what he did.

19. Brad Keselowski (previously NR): Not bad for your first career start.  It wasn't anything spectacular, but a 19th isn't too bad.  He learned a lot and ran the entire race despite a kiss or 2 of the wall.

18. Kasey Kahne (-6): Brother!  Engine, engine #9, is it yet 2009?  Kahne has had a miserable season.  Despite his 2 wins, he's had tons more crappy finishes, and Texas was no exception.  With a couple victories, but absolutely nothing to write home about, Kahne's season has been about as impressive as John McCain's campaign.

17. Casey Mears (previously NR): Mears had another top 15 finish at Texas after a 12th in Atlanta.  He won't win again before he leaves HMS, but at least he's leaving on a semi-good note.

16. David Reutimann (+2): Reutimann had a dismal day in Atlanta, but got himself another top 10 at Texas after being one of the fastest cars early in the event.  This team has been running strong for the past 2 months, and it's nice to see a new face in the top 10 every week!

15. Martin Truex Jr. (previously NR): Would you look at that?  Truex finished 8th at Texas!  It's amazing what happens when a DEI engine actually lasts the whole race.

14. Tony Stewart (-6):  After winning at Talladega, Smoke has gone up in smoke.  Finishing 17th and 16th respectively at Texas and Atlanta, he's leaving JGR on a not-so-hot note to say the least.  Sure he made the Chase and made one last trip to victory lane with Zippy, but otherwise it's been a bit of a disappointment this year for Stewart.

13. Mark Martin (-3): He finished 12th at Texas, but 22nd in Atlanta, ouch!  The old man is running his last race for DEI this weekend at Phoenix, and Almirola takes full control of the #8 at Homestead.  He wants to make one last run at a championship, but a mediocre finish and a sort of decent finish won't do you any good.  He may steal one at Phoenix though, don't forget he damn near won the race here back in April!

12. Denny Hamlin (-5): I know he finished 3rd in Atlanta, but he stunk it up at Texas.  17th was a gift considering I never heard a word about him during that race.  FedEx fans have wondered if that concussion still has a lingering effect.  Those fans may want to ask Ricky Craven.

11. Jeff Burton (-9): Burton won at Lowe's, but has taken a plunge in the last 3 weeks, with his best finish being a 13th in Atlanta.  It looked like Burton was finally in position to win a championship, but unfortunately he's going to be a bridesmaid for the 15th time.

10. Matt Kenseth (+6): Kenseth led the most laps in Atlanta and finished 4th.  He never led a single lap at Texas, but came home in 9th.  This line may sound like a broken record by now, but where in the world was Mr. Consistency in the first 26 races?

9. Jamie McMurray (+6):  Jamie Mac has finished 7th and 3rd in his last 2 races.  We're finally seeing how well he can run if he just lays off that Crown a little!

8. Kyle Busch (+6): Shrub is back to his old ways, leading laps and finding himself in contention at the end.  Unfortunately it's too little too late, but I'm sure he's happy to be finishing races after the horrendous start he had to this year's Chase.

7. Clint Bowyer (-1): You may be asking how he could drop with a 4th place finish at Texas.  Well keep in mind I haven't done the power rankings since Martinsville, and Clint finished an amazing 20th in Atlanta...yeesh!  Yeah, that hurt big time!

6. David Ragan (+3): Ragan has continued to impress.  He hasn't won yet, but top 12 finishes in the last 2 weeks have shown he's getting closer.  It's only a matter of time before Ragan makes his first trip to victory lane in the Cup Series.  The way he's been running lately, he should NOT race the truck in 2009 when UPS takes over as his primary sponsor!

5. Kevin Harvick:  Happy has finished 7th and 13th in his last 2 races.  That 13th was a lead lap finish in Atlanta, which for him is probably a moral victory, because since he won there for his first career victory back in 2001, he's been anything but good at NASCAR's fastest track.

4. Jeff Gordon: He was praying that the 99 would run out of fuel at Texas so he cross that track off of his "I've never won here" list.  Still, a 2nd place finish at what's arguably been your worst track your entire career is as good as a win.

3. Greg Biffle: The Biff is still running strong.  He's not out of the title hunt yet, but he needs some help from Johnson to win this championship.  One thing is certain, Biffle will not finish out of the top 3 in points this year.  The dark horse most likely won't win, but he'll make it interesting in these last 2 races.

2. Jimmie Johnson (-1): Johnson got lucky in Atlanta, as in the lucky dog.  Chad Knaus helped out at the end with a 4-tire change which got him a 2nd place finish after Johnson got a speeding ticket on pit road early in the race, but he had a decent car.  However, he wasn't so lucky at Texas.  He went a lap down early on the track and never made it up.  That helped Edwards close the gap, and the 99 took advantage.

1. Carl Edwards (+10): Since blowing up at Lowe's, Edwards has finished 3rd, 1st, and 1st.  He took advantage of the 48's struggles the past 2 weeks, doing exactly what he needs to do in order to keep the pressure on Jimmie Johnson.  Just when it looked like Johnson had this championship in the bag, he stumbled in Texas, and Edwards capitalized.

Don't miss the action from Phoenix this weekend.  Until next time, I'm your NASCAR VP guaranteeing you that these last 2 races are going to be VERY interesting!

BK over and out