1. Jeff Burton: Jeff Burton remains on a tear in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, holding onto both the top spot in the point standings after Texas and in this week's Power Rankings. With his battle from the 35th-starting spot to finish sixth in Sunday's Samsung 500, Burton added 20 points to his lead over RCR teammate Kevin Harvick. With his record at Phoenix, Burton should be able to hold onto his lead. He hasn't finished worse than 15th in his last 14th starts at the 1-mile track. While driving for Jack Roush, Burton scored back-to-back wins in the desert in 2000 and 2001. Since joining RCR in 2004, he's posted four of his nine track top-10 finishes, including a ninth-place finish in the fall last year.

Last Week's Rank: First

2. Carl Edwards: Carl Edwards made a leap in our power rankings this week after his commanding performance Sunday at Texas, where he led the most laps en route to his third win this season. Edwards has mastered the new Sprint Cup car on the intermediate tracks and implores all drivers complaining about the new car to do their jobs and concentrate on racing. When he gets back to racing this weekend, Edwards will try to take his skills on the intermediate tracks and apply them to the 1-mile track at Phoenix Saturday night. Since his awful debut at the track of 37th in 2004, Edwards was on a steady streak of finishes of 11th or better until last fall when an engine failure relegated him to a 42nd-place finish. He had started on the pole for that race and led 87 laps before his engine expired 125 laps into the race.

Last Week's Rank: 11th

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has just been cruising along this season and remains in the third spot in the rankings this week after finishing 12th Sunday. He maintained his fourth-place spot in the standings but lost a little bit of ground to points leader Burton when his promising day starting from the pole was lost when he chased the handling of the car the entire day. Junior is a two-time winner at PIR, though, and may be able to gain in the standings if he can capitalize on that past success in his debut at the track with Hendrick Motorsports.

Last Week's Rank: Third

4. Kevin Harvick: Kevin Harvick didn't let his 21st-qualifying result, his worst start so far this season, hold him back at TMS. He managed to continue his streak this season of finishes 14th or better with an 11th-place finish Sunday. The finish was good enough to keep him in the second spot in the standings, but he lost 20 points to leader Burton. The driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet has a good track record at PIR, though. Harvick swept the Cup races there in 2006 and finished 10th and sixth there respectively last year. He has an average finish of 13.2 in 10 starts.

Last Week's Rank: Second

5. Kyle Busch: Although he completed the most quality passes at 51 (passing a car running in the Top 15 while under a green flag), Busch battled an ill-handling race car at Texas en route to his fourth top five of the season. Busch continues to lead the season driver ratings (112.0) heading into Phoenix where he has one win and four top 10s.

Last Week's Rank: Eighth

6. Denny Hamlin: Denny Hamlin had a strong race Sunday at Texas finishing fifth from the 14th starting spot. He jumped one spot, to seventh, in the standings and stays in our sixth spot in the rankings. Hamlin came close to winning his first race at Phoenix in this event last year. He led 70 laps, the second most of the race, en route to his second straight third-place finish there. Those are the only finishes he's posted within the top 10 there in five starts.

Last Week's Rank: Sixth

7. Tony Stewart: Tony Stewart's getting closer to winning his first race driving under the Toyota banner. He was able to battle back from a 24th-place starting spot in Texas to post his fifth top 10 of the season (seventh). But the outspoken Stewart was one driver voicing his displeasure with the handling at Phoenix. After the race Stewart spoke about how he was loose on entry and exit in the corners and tight in the middle and felt if he started with better track position he could've possibly pulled off an even better finish. For this weekend's race at PIR, Stewart might be able to post an even better finish as he's posted top five finishes in half of his starts there. Stewart won in his first start there in 1999 and posted second and fourth-place finishes there, respectively, last year.

Last Week's Rank: Fourth

8. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson said after the race that he was "shocked in how the bad the cars drove in traffic" at Texas. That said, Johnson was the worst driver that finished in the top 10 in quality passes after he only completed 19 passes while running in the top 15 in green flag conditions in the Samsung 500. But Johnson was able to jump four positions to sixth in the standings after finishing second in the Samsung 500. This weekend Johnson will look to gain more ground in the standings at Phoenix where he has a fourth-place finish and a win with the new car.

Last Week's Rank: 10th

9. Clint Bowyer: Although he dropped a few spots in the rankings, Bowyer still sits comfortable after capturing his fourth consecutive top 10 of the season. Since his Kansas Jayhawks won the NCAA title, Bowyer hopes to celebrate in Phoenix with a win of his own.

Last Week's Rank: Seventh

10. Matt Kenseth: A possible top five run at Texas for Kenseth was hindered after the team opted to stay out on old tires on the last pit stop under caution. Kenseth wound up finishing ninth after the cars behind him pitted. Kenseth was one of only four drivers that held an average running position of 5.0 in the 339-lap race. He was also one of four drivers that led 50 or more laps. This weekend Kenseth is set to make his 300th career Sprint Cup start. Last year he finished fifth and third, respectively, at Phoenix.

Last Week's Rank: 15th

11. Ryan Newman: Despite going a lap down while running in the the 11th position, Newman was able to return to the rankings after battling back to finish fourth. But the good day turned bad after the race when the No. 12 Dodge failed post race inspection for being too high in the right rear. Newman lost 25 points as a result, but will look to gain them back at Phoenix where he's coming off a fifth-place run. Since making his first career Sprint Cup start at PIR in 2000, Newman has gone on to post three top fives.

Last Week's Rank: N/A

12. Jeff Gordon: Gordon looked like Morgan Shepherd or Carl Long on Sunday, by just running a few laps and then collecting the prize money. Texas Motor Speedway still remains one of two tracks Gordon has yet to visit victory lane at. The 1.5-mile track is also now home to his only 43rd-place finishes in the Sprint Cup Series after a terrible day with the new race car. This weekend Gordon will look to get back on track at Phoenix International Raceway, which is his best track, of 1-mile or more, on the circuit based on his 8.3 finishing average.

Last Week's Rank: Fifth

13. Greg Biffle: Greg Biffle fell six spots, to ninth in the point standings, and four in our power rankings after finishing 39th at Texas due to mechanical failure. He's coming off his second career second-place finish at Phoenix in the fall last year. The driver of the No. 16 Ford has a 17.4 average finish at PIR with eight starts.

Last Week's Rank: Ninth

14. Jamie McMurray: Jamie McMurray battled back from a 32nd-starting position to finish 14th Sunday at Texas and gain five spots in the point standings. It was his second top-15 finish this season. He heads to Phoenix this weekend hoping to continue the success he's had of late to improve upon his 24.3 average finish there. In nine starts, McMurray posted a best finish of 12th in the 2003 race. Since joining Roush Fenway Racing in 2006, he's averaged a 20th-place finish at PIR.

Last Week's Rank: 13th

15. Kasey Kahne: Kahne dropped to the 15th and final slot in the rankings after finishing 25th in the Samsung 500. He still maintains the 12th position in the point standings, but is losing ground to Kenseth who trails by 54 points. Kahne averaged a running position of 12.3 in the race at Texas up until he had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a vibration. It wound up being a front splitter issue, which caused him to lose a bunch of track position. Kahne will have to turn it up a notch if he plane to remain in the rankings. In his last two races at Phoenix he has finished 31st and 40th, resepctively.

Last Week's Rank: 12th