Sunday, May 5, 2013

Pit Road: Week 10

Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway

Sunday the race started and then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally after a long break and the Air Titan doing its job Nascar got the cars back on the track just in time to get the race in before darkness hit. As normal, drivers were trying to beat more then the darkness, but they were also trying to avoid the wrecks that end many drivers days.

Talladega was no different this year taking out Kahne, Kyle Busch, Harvick and more early on. Towards the end of the race promising runs by Kurt Busch, Newman, and Bowyer were all diminished. In the end it was Front Row Motor sports vs Edwards and Kenseth and "David" won. Not just the David vs the Goliath but David Ragan. It was a huge win for him and his team. But lets not go too long on about the race, I'm sure you sat long enough through the rain delay. Here is full results of the Aarons 499.


Rising, Coasting, and Falling drivers after Talladega.

Rising:
  • David Ragan- The list has to start with him. Talladega sure is a place where a small team can come up big but still no one saw that finish coming. Him and his team mate, Gilliland, made there way to the front on the last lap to finish 1 2. Great win for Front Row.
  • Aric Almirola- If you are keeping count, that is his 4th top 10 in a row. Don't look now but he is getting into position to get a Richard Petty Motorsports car into the Chase. I also think he is in line to finally get a win this year.
  • Carl Edwards- He is making a huge push this year with 5 top 5's in 10 races. Plus he has a 6th place finish that he almost notched another top 5. He had a rough year last year, is this the year he makes a run in the Chase again? Maybe get a Championship?
Coasting:
  • Matt Kenseth- Seriously when is he going to get comfortable at JGR? He hasn't missed a beat with his new team, in fact he has been running out of his mind. I'm sure he is disappointed with an 8th place finish after running so well all day and looked to be the guy to beat.
  • Jeff Gordon- He had a terrible day, yet he finished 11th and is on the cusp of a Chase spot. Gritting through Dega may be a race he looks back at as on that would have been much worse but didn't.
Falling:
  • Kyle Busch- He was part of the first crash at Dega. He is on a bad luck streak right now and it isn't pretty.
  • Kasey Kahne- Another guy bit early by the crash and bad luck bug. A guy who was one of the hotest drivers a few weeks ago has had back to back disappointing weeks.
  • Greg Biffle- 36th is not the finish he is looking for, yet he has two of them in a row. He is slipping as of late and needs a solid run to get it turned around
Pit Road (Week 10 Power Rankings)
  1. Jimmie Johnson (LW-1)- Well another top 5 in his 2013 belt. He was in the running down the stretch but was quiet compared to Ragan getting the win so people will forget he was up front.
  2. Matt Kenseth (LW-2)- No change here. May have fallen back to 8th at the end but he was the car to beat most of the race, and it has been that way in a majority of the races.
  3. Carl Edwards (LW-4)- After a huge jump last week up the rankings, Carl continues his steady rise with a 3rd place finish. He was first robbed a win when they got the cars back out after a rain delay, and then again when Ragan and Gilliland came out of no where to take the top 2 spots over.
  4. Brad Keselowski (LW-3)- He finished 15th and wasn't much of a factor Sunday, but no one under him can really make much of a point to be higher then him after Dega.
  5. Clint Bowyer (LW-5)- Going no where and staying 5th, Bowyer finished 18th after he got caught up in a late race wreck. He was having a very good day which he has been known for on plate tracks. Tough finish for him though.
  6. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-7)- Not a great day for Jr, but he got what he could out of his very average car finishing 17th. One of these weeks he will turn it back around and make another stretch run, but when?
  7. Aric Almirola (LW-11)- Aric now has 4 top 10's in arrow and every week putting himself in better position for a Chase spot. Petty sure would love to get a car into the Chase again.
  8. Kasey Kahne (LW-6)- What are you suppose to do with the rankings when power houses like Kahne, Busch, Harvick, and Biffle all go out early? Even Menard had a rough week. Kahne gets the draw because he was the highest last week and the wreck wasn't his fault.
  9. Kevin Harvick (LW-9)- Jumping Busch? Well he won last week, that's all I have got. Plus Kyle was the cause of the wreck that took many out early. (He did apologize for coming up too quick on Kahne).
  10. Kyle Busch (LW-8)- He is in a dry spell. He got up on Kahne too fast and gave him too much of a push and it ruined his day. Not what Kyle needed to get it turned around. He has a Chase spot on lock so he has time to get it figured out.
  11. Martin Truex Jr (LW-NR)- If you take out his 17th last week he has 3 top 20s in his last 4 (two of those top 5's).
  12. Paul Menard (LW-10)- Menard gets the nod over Gordon because this was his worst finish of the season, and its only 26th. In fact in the 10 races his other "bad" finishes were 21st, 20th, and 19th. He is still sitting with a Chase spot.
Dropped Out: Greg Biffle
Just Missed: Jeff Gordon


On to Darlington! If you didn't check it out, take a look at the Nascar Quarter Season Review from this past week that looks at the first 9 races.  Also make sure to come back and check out the race preview for Darlington later in the week. Also follow me on Twitter for up to date Nascar Driver stats!
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