Grapevine: Rankings: Harvick closes in on top 10
Kevin Harvick closed in on a top 10 spot on the Castrol Rankings with another NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Michigan
The Richard Childress Racing driver pushed his Chevrolet past Denny Hamlin with 10 laps to go to secure his third win of 2010 and confirm his place in the end-of-season Chase for the Championship.
His success, aided by a 10th place in the supporting Nationwide Series race, also moved him up from 15th to 12th in the Castrol Rankings, continuing a rise from 55th at the start of the year.
Hamlin's runner-up spot allowed the Joe Gibbs Toyota man to climb a spot to 11th, while the man overhauled was IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe, who fell to 13th.
It was a bad race for Hendrick Motorsports, its highest-place driver in the Sprint Cup, Jeff Gordon (16), finishing only 27th and dropping three spots in the Castrol Rankings.
Four-time champion Jimmie Johnson was a poor 12th, but that was 20 places higher than he managed in the same race a year ago, which allowed him to boost his Castrol Rankings score.
Jean-Eric Vergne became only the second driver on the Castrol Rankings to win an overall title in 2010 (following Davide Valsecchi's GP2 Asia crown) as the Frenchman wrapped up the British F3 championship at Silverstone.
Vergne (97) scored two pole positions and won the last of three races at the famous circuit, gaining 15 places in the process and making him the highest-ranked F3 driver on the Castrol Rankings.
His Carlin team-mates James Calado (275) and Adriano Buzaid (292) won the other two races, gaining 47 and 33 places respectively.
Tom Dillmann (307) endured a tough weekend in the German F3 Cup at Lausitz, not managing to finish higher than fifth in either race. He dropped 12 places while Scandinavians Kevin Magnussen (518) and Jimmy Eriksson (653) shared the wins and both gained at least 40 places.
Britain's Ben Barker (814) climbed 126 places after winning twice in Australian F3 at Morgan Park while Brazilian V8 Stock Car champion Caca Bueno (294) launched himself back into title contention with a win at Salvador and gained 20 places in the Castrol Rankings.
To see the full Castrol Rankings, visit www.castroldriverrankings.com
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