Pit Road Week 20

Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2013

Just a good ole Hoosier, that's who got to kiss the bricks this past weekend. After plenty of talk during Nascar's break about how it became official that Newman would not be with Stewart-Hass next year he notched his first win. Newman may be from Indiana and he may have won at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway but one guy may have still had a better week.

That man? Tony Stewart. Smoke is owner of Eldora Speedway and the previous Wednesday Nascar held its first race on dirt since the King last won a dirt race in 1970. Not only did the Truck series race there, but it went over ecstatically to the delight of fans. Then Sunday rolls around and his teammate, driver, and good buddy Ryan Newman finished in Victory Lane. That's a good week. Take a look back at the final results from IMS here.


Rising:

• Kasey Kahne- He has had a rough go as of the second half of this stretch to the Chase, but a 3rd place finish and another fast car will make him forget about that. Kahne is sitting 9th now in the standings and with a win that spots keeps looking better.
• Ryan Newman- He was the race winner, but he had a huge jump because he went down early the race before and finished 39th. The win still gives the #39 team hope at one last push for the Chase.
• Jeff Gordon- Back to back top 10's puts Gordon 10th in points. A win would be nice, but if he stays quiet but steady with top 10 wins it wont matter and he will squeak into the Chase.

Coasting:

• Dale Earnhardt Jr- He could even be a riser this week. Early race trouble sent him to 43rd but he and the 88 team fought back and finished 6th. He is 5th in points and should be in easy even without winning.

Falling:

• Jeff Burton- Well he just found a top 10 last race, he did have one of the best cars last week, yet this week he only got in 110 laps. The 43rd place finish really hurt and now he is 20th in points.
• Greg Biffle- Remember when it looked like Biffle and Ford had it figured out. Well Ford hasn't been too bad since then, but Biffle has been anything but good. His last 4 finishes go like this (24th, 15th, 17th, and 34th). Still inside the top 10 (8th) Biffle just may start to worry with more finishes like this.

Pit Road Week 20 Power Rankings

1. Jimmie Johnson (LW-1)- Well no change here. Solidifies his spot going into the Chase with 6, 6! races left.
2. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- It really is JJ and then everybody else. Kenseth slowly climbs back up with a 5th place finish after the break.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- His long run at #2 in the NBTW Power Rankings was done in by a mediocre 19th place finish at IMS.
4. Kyle Busch (LW-3)- Just one race removed from almost winning, Rowdy finished 10th at IMS and is safe with 2 wins and a current 7th place in the standings.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-6)- Jr moves up a spot after having a strong comeback during IMS. He fell to 43rd after he has a loose tire yet found a way to finish 6th.
6. Clint Bowyer (LW-4)- Sundays 20th place finish was Clints worst since Auto Club Speedway, yup, that's 14 races inbetween. In fact he only has 3 finishes 20th or worse and only 2 not in the top 20.
7. Carl Edwards (LW-7)- A 13th place finish by Carl just wont cut it when the Chase rolls around. On a high note (or not so high if you're a Ford fan) he was the second highest Ford finisher (I take that back, thats a very low note).
8. Tony Stewart (LW-11)- Smoke should probably jump some of these guys, but fact is his finishes don't show it other then 2 top 5s in 5 races (other finishes were 26, 28, and 20).
9. Kasey Kahne (LW-NR)- The bottom gets messy. Kahnes last 5 include two 11th place finishes, a 6th, a 32nd, and this weeks 3rd. He would be higher if that 32nd was a top 15.
10. Martin Truex Jr (LW-NR)- Truex has a nice little season going. Take out his 41st and he has run well since his win (7th, 41st, 16th, and 11th). He will need to up that production during the Chase, but they maybe finishes to help him get in.
11. Ryan Newman (LW-NR)- An all over the place season with a completely new team and Newman wins at IMS. He maybe happy, but he also wants to make the Chase and find a new ride for next year.
12. Jeff Gordon (LW-NR)- He has been on a roller coaster ride this year but he finished well at IMS like normal so maybe he will get going?

Really late this week sorry folks, but on the bright side it is Friday and we are almost to race day!