Power Rankings: The biggest stories of the offseason

Sure, it's the offseason, but that doesn't mean we can't throw out a few Power Rankings now and then. Today, we focus on the most important developments in one of the wildest offseasons in recent memory. And we start exactly where you'd expect we would ... 1. The saga of Kurt Busch. Has any former champion in NASCAR ever gone through such a dramatic decline in fortune while still in the prime of his career? Busch's separation from Penske, regardless of fault, and his new gig at Phoenix Racing made for one of the offseason's most fascinating soap operas, and one of the 2012 season's more interesting stories. 2. The rise of AJ Allmendinger. You can name plenty of winners in the Kurt Busch saga, like Phoenix and Kurt's former crew, for two, but Allmendinger has to rank at the top of that list. Just starting to come into his own as a driver at Richard Petty Motorsports, Allmendinger found himself in a Chase-worthy ride just days after losing his sponsor. ...