Nascar Pit Road Week 4

Bristol Motor Speedway

 

My Bristol Motor Speedway preview started out by talking about Las Vegas and Matt Kenseth holding off Kasey Kahne for the win. Well this week Kasey Kahne was out front with a strong car at the end of the day and no one had time to catch him. After a late restart with about 40 laps to go Kahne pulled away. On the restart Brad Keselowski was lined up on the outside row and just couldn't get it going, so him and Kyle Busch (right behind BK on the restart) fell back quick and spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. Kyle and BK both had cars to win the race but never made up enough track position after that restart. After the race we had some good ole confrontation with ex JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. It seems this little spat has been dragging on since Daytona when they got into it on Twitter after the race. This week after Hamlin bumped Logano and sent him spinning and into the wall, Logano approached Dennys car after the race. Nothing cam of it but after the race on Twitter they went back after it. You can check a bit of that conversation out here:



Why's that.. What would u do? “@joeylogano: Hey @dennyhamlingreat job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on”
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 17, 2013

Next week could be fun if they get hooked up at Fontana. You can catch the rest of the results here: Food City 500


Rising, Coasting, and Falling drivers after Bristol Motor Speedway

Risers:

• Clint Bowyer- After struggling all day at Las Vegas, Bowyer had a solid run and notched a top 5 finish in Bristol. That would be Bowyers second finish within the top 10 on the season and moves him back up to 4th in points.
• Ryan Newman- I'm putting him in the risers, but that doesn't mean he is back yet. Newman finally stayed out of trouble (No engines or blown tires) and that resulted in a 7th place finish. Newman moved up 8 spots in the points and now has a to 5 and a top 10 on the season. If he doesn't have any struggles on the day he can start stringing some to 10s along the way.
• Kasey Kahne- Last week Kahne just didn't have enough on the closing laps to pass birthday boy Matt Kenseth. This week after a late restart no one else in the field could catch him. It has been a pretty great start for Kahne and his team and he looks to be a possible title contender by seasons end.
• Kurt Busch- Kurt has always been a very good driver at Bristol, but to see him take a small team car and finish 4th is definitely worth a spot on the risers. Most likely he will still have an up and down season with his team not being able to compete with the big boys, but finishes like this will make them remember him at least.
• Honorable Mention: Brian Vickers (First race of the year, in for Mark Martin, and one top 10) and AJ Allmendinger

Coasting:

• Dale Earnhardt Jr- This coasting section is starting to look familiar. Jr again adds to his fast start with a 6th place finish. Two top 10's and 2 top 5's to start the season out and Nascars most popular driver has moved into 2nd place in the standings.
• Brad Keselowski- Unfortunately for Jr, Brad has done everything that much better finishing every race in the top 5 so far this season. Yet after races BK has still been disappointed that he hasn't notched a win yet. With this hot of a start it doesn't seem to be too far off before he gets his first of the season. BK finished 3rd this week behind Kyle Busch.
• Paul Menard- I would also consider Menard to still be climbing as well considering his career he has been a top 20 driver, and the past two weeks he has put up back to back top 10 finishes. I don't think many expect him to stay a top 10 driver, but if he keeps up the way he has finished the past two weeks their is a chance he gets a win somewhere along the line and fights for a wild card spot. Menard brought home a 9th place finish at Bristol.

Falling:

• Denny Hamlin- I don't think many believe Hamlin will stay down here for too long, but with all the fines and his Logano spats, plus the fact he has had two poor finishes in a row (15th and 23rd this week) their is no way Denny doesn't see his name on this list. By the end of Bristol Hamlins car was so hard to handle he was using the corner walls to steer him around the track. Look out for a bounce back at Fontana, either that or a run in with Logano, both are the same thing.
• Jeff Burton- This far into the season and one of the veteran drivers who some thought could still make a late aged turnaround has as many DNF's as top 10's (One). Burton is all the way down in 25 for points and was a part of my "We're Going Streaking" article last week.
• Tony Stewart- For Smoke it looked like Bristol could be the way to keep it going on the season and maybe even get a win after qualifying 8th but finding trouble had something to say about that. Smoke finished the race in 31st and dropped to 24th in points. He is part of a group of guys who should be a part of title contention that just need to put some quality races under their belts (Gordon, Newman, Harvick, and Burton).
• Dishonorable Mention: Jeff Gordon, Aric Almirola, and Carl Edwards.

Pit Road (Week 4 Power Rankings)

1. Brad Keselowski (LW-2)- Another race, another top 5. Also BK is a top the points after this weeks 3rd place finish.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-3)- Another race, another top 10. Jr has been just a step behind BK this season by finishing a few races in the top 10 and not top 5 like BK. Still the best start for Nascars most popular driver that he has ever had.
3. Jimmie Johnson (LW-1)- JJ had a tough week finishing 22nd. He drops to 3rd on my rankings and also 3rd in the points standings.
4. Kasey Kahne (LW-8)- Kahne gets the win and also makes a big move in the power rankings. That's a 2nd place finish and a win in the past two weeks.
5. Carl Edwards (LW-4)- Not a good week for Carl, but he only moves down one spot. It may have been a bad week but Carl looks like he is back on track this season. Next week will prove if I am right or if he moves out of the top 10 completely.
6. Greg Biffle (LW- 10)- Biffle just finished outside the top 10 (11th) and quietly is 5th in points so far.
7. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- Not at all his fault, Kenseth was in the wrong place at the wrong time (behind Gordon when he crashed). Other than some bad luck Kenseth hasn't had a misstep yet, unfortunatly bad luck has him on the bottom half of my rankings.....For now.
8. Kyle Busch (LW-NR)- Kyle is stringing together some good races as of late. Upset that he didn't get the win, Kyle still had a car to win and finished 2nd at Bristol.
9. Clint Bowyer (LW-NR)- Clint check back in to the power rankings after dropping out last week. He is still 4th in points and only had the one bad finish at Vegas. He is down here mostly because he hasn't seemed to be in contention to win those races. I think Clint could make a run up these rankings with a few more top 10's, or possibly a win to show he is contending like he was at the end of last year.
10. Denny Hamlin (LW-6)- Tough spot right here. I think that Paul Menard deserves a chance at the top 10 in rankings, but too many drivers have been sticking around. Denny had a bad finish but he did lead 117 laps at Bristol. Hamlin is also still 6th in points and most, like myself, believe he will bounce back.

Dropped out: Mark Martin (didn't race) and Tony Stewart.
Just Missed- Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, and Tony Stewart.

Disclosure from Bristol Motor Speedway Preview (Quick Link to Bristol Preview)

• I'm always most interested in the Laying Low category. The good and bad drivers are nice, but that's just really how the drivers have fared in the past few races at the same track, not a lot of me picking who will be good or bad. But the Laying Low is where I try to find the diamond in the rough.
• This weeks laying low was Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr, and Brian Vickers. McMurray and Vickers finished in the top 10 and Truex finished just behind in 12th. Montoya was the dud of the week finishing 30th, but at Bristol that happens. (and when picking Montoya to do something that also happens)
• Quickly, the drivers who have had bad luck in the past all seemed to keep the streak going. Smoke, Hamlin, and Edwards all had a down week and were in my Bad Category.
• Also if you check out the Good Category it seemed to be of mixed results.

Updated Sprint Cup Standings can be found Here (They should also be up later this week on this blog Here)
Also check my Twitter page out with Recent Updates and Tweets from around Nascar.

And the Brackets are in, check out March Madness Nascar Style. New Article will be up but the Elite 8 drivers are: Kyle Busch v Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne v #55 Car, Brad Keselowski v Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kurt Busch v Paul Menard.