Round 9 Power Rankings: Drivers

Here are the power rankings following round nine at Iowa. Number next to driver represents change in rankings based off of last rankings:

Biggest Mover: Ryan Hunter-Reay (+5)

Biggest Loser: James Hinchcliffe and Takuma Sato (-3)

1. Ryan Hunter-Reay +5
Ryan has clawed out of nowhere to put himself three points back of the leader. Momentum is behind him, as well as a great team. Can an American get back to winning the title?

2. Will Power -1

A tough stretch of races for Will, but not to worry, five straight road courses for Power to show off his skills. Unfortunately, he can't afford a slip up, as he has company at the top of the standings now.

3. Scott Dixon 0

Dixon might have had one of the worst handling cars at Iowa, but he found a way to bring it home in fourth place. That takes some damn good skills.

4. Simon Pagenaud 0

Starting last on his fourth ever career oval race, Simon passed his way through the field and finished fifth. That is truly amazing.

5. James Hinchcliffe -3

Hinch just needed to finish to put himself in a great position to take the championship, but instead, spun and wrecked. Such a shame, but he'll have hometown support in Toronto and Edmonton. 

6. Helio Castroneves -1

Helio was close to ending the Penske drought at Iowa, but ended up falling short.

7. Tony Kanaan +1

TK ran great and finished P3. Hoping for better luck  this weekend then last year at Toronto.

8. Dario Franchitti -1

Hard to win when you can't start the race.

9. Graham Rahal 0

Graham, like Dixon, had a terrible car, yet he finished in the top ten. Great run, and I expect a good result from him in Toronto.

10. Justin Wilson 0

Wilson was running great until something went wrong on the last stint. But the ovalmeister can take a break and show us that he is still a beast on the road courses.

11. Alex Tagliani 0

Tough luck for Tags because he had a fantastic car. Tags is one of the contenders for the win this weekend.

12. Oriol Servia 0

The streak of awesomeness is over as Oriol had a mechanical issue. Not to worry, he'll probably qualify P20 but pass 18 cars in the race.

13. Ryan Briscoe 0

He was in control with the fuel strategy. But then got in a crash with Newgarden. His season is slipping away from him.

14. JR Hildebrand +1

JR had a rocket of a car but made a a silly mistake. JR continues to prove he has the pace to win.

15. Rubens Barrichello +1

Not a bad run at all for Rubens on the oval, finishing P7. Now a string of road courses for Rubens to enjoy.

16. EJ Viso +1

Viso had an amazing car but got tangled up with Power in the race. Still proving he can race well on a consistent basis.

17. Takuma Sato -3

Takuma had one of the worst cars out there. It was pretty depressing to watch. But he finished for the first time in four races.

18. Ed Carpenter +1 

Good news: Ed ran great at Iowa. Bad news: Ed won't see an oval until halfway through September.

19. Marco Andretti +4

Marco finally had a good, complete race this season. Is he gaining his season wind for the rest of the season?

20. Charlie Kimball -2

Char-dog had another one of those ill handling Ganassi cars. I'm hoping to see the Charlie we saw a couple of races ago.

21. Josef Newgarden -1

Good equipment, fast speed, but no result to show for it. Story of his season, unfortunately. 

22. James Jakes -1

When your teammate continually does well and you don't, something is up. Next five races will be pivotal for Jakes to prove why he has a ride.

23. Sebastien Bourdais -1

SeaBass is back, time to kick some ass.

24. Kathrine Legge +1

Legge did fairly good at the end (minus the spin), but the first part of her race was rather awful. We won't see her until Fontana.

25. Mike Conway -1

When you're getting passed by Simona, something is seriously wrong.

26. Simona de Silvestro 0

I guess she beat Conway, which is a positive, but who hasn't? Time to see if the Lotus updates work.

Let me know what you think.

-Matthew Hickey