Pit Road Week 18

Daytona International Speedway: Fourth of July Weekend

Well Daytona is a place where drafting and staying out of trouble is key and Saturdays winner did just that. Well it seems like Jimmie Johnson didn't need to draft all night -he was that dominate- but he did stay up and out of trouble.

Most of Saturday night was dominated by Johnson and he didn't look back. One week after Matt Kenseth took the season lead in wins Johnson came storming back tying him and showing why I thought some sites were crazy for not having JJ #1 in there rankings. Onto the Rising, Coasting, and Falling drivers this week. Take a look at Saturdays results from Daytona here.


Rising:

• Casey Mears- Well this finish maybe short lived for Mears, but it is his first top 10 this season. That top 10 was almost wiped out on the last lap but he ran the wall to the finish line for a 9th place finish.
• Tony Stewart- Much needed after a few down races, Smoke got back on track with a runner up finish. He is now back up to the top 10 in the standings and maybe this is his hot streak that he is known for?
• Kurt Busch- Another week and another fast race for Kurt. He wound up finishing 6th which is his third top 10 in arrow and fourth in five races. He is now up to 9th in the standings.
• Jamie McMurray- Back to back top 10's for McMurray. He may not have much of a shot at the top 10 but if he can muster a win one of these weeks he could push for a Wild Card spot.

Coasting:

• Clint Bowyer- I may as well rename this section Clint Harvick group.  Seems like every week they just keep notching consistent finishes and it will be interesting to see if either gets hot during the Chase. This is Bowyers third straight top 5.

Falling:

• Jeff Gordon- It seems like bad luck is finding Gordon this year. He found it again at Daytona this week and ended up 34th. Luckily for him he still has a shot if he can get it going.
• Paul Menard- Two weeks and two bad finishes in arrow. Menard went out early at Daytona and now he is sitting right in 20th position in points which makes his road very tough the rest of the way.

Pit Road Week 18 Power Rankings

1. Jimmie Johnson (LW-1)- Well he dominated all night at Daytona and he will keep dominating the top spot in the Power Rankings until otherwise noted. He may keep the top spot until the rankings are reset for the Chase unless he hits a real rut.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- 7 straight races where Harvick has finished in the top 10. Yes I said 7. That's back to the ASR so yeah he will sit second fiddle to JJ.
3. Clint Bowyer (LW-3)- Well another top 5 in Bowyers consistent season. The top 5 at Daytona is Bowyers 6th top 10 since the ASR.
4. Kyle Busch (LW-5)- Kyle got caught up on the last lap wreck at the line but still finished 12th. Since the ASR he has 3 top 5's and 4 top 10's.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-6)- JR stayed out of trouble (or away from Danica) on the last lap and got himself a nice top 10 (8th). He now finds himself back in the top 5 of the Power Rankings but a win would be nice.
6. Matt Kenseth (LW-4)- Well he had a rough finish after getting caught up in a wreck but so did a good amount of other drivers. He still has a car week after week that can contend.
7. Kurt Busch (LW-10)- Kurt finished 6th at Daytona and he also moved into the top 10 in the Sprint Cup Standings
8. Greg Biffle (LW-9)- Moving up yet a bad finish? Daytona took a lot of drivers for a loop but don't take this the wrong way, Biffle is still trending the wrong way on the season as of late.
9. Carl Edwards (LW-7)- See Biffle, then add it to Edwards. Carl isn't falling on the season though as Biffle is, but he has a rough week.
10. Joey Logano (LW-8)- JoLo was another guy caught up this week and he gets a one week pass because he had been so hot.
11. Ryan Newman (LW-NR)- Well Newman hasn't been amazingly hot, but he has had a consistent stretch here that is worth a bottom spot (10, 14, 15, 18, and 5th).
12. Tony Stewart (LW-NR)- Well it is only one finish, but his runner up spot does look nice after he had struggles the past few weeks. Smoke can fall right out of these rankings as easy as he got in if he doesn't show some consistency.

Dropped Out: Kasey Kahne (LW-12) and Martin Truex Jr (LW-11)
Just Missed: Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr

This week Nascar heads to New Hampshire (Loudon). Later this week Nascar Behind the Wall's Loudon Preview will be up and I will try and take a stab at the "Halfway Review" that will take a look at how drivers are stacking up for the run at the Chase.