Pit Road Week 24

After leaving Michigan with another first time 2013 season winner, Joey Logano, I figured the same might happen at Bristol. Well I was wrong and Matt Kenseth was the one to prove it. I missed most of the race so this weeks review will mostly be based on how they finished and how the points effected there points standings. So I am throwing out the window if a driver ran well but got caught up in a wreck. So now that you know how I am attacking this weeks review lets get after it. Check out the full results here from this past Saturday.

Rising:

• Juan Pablo Montoya- Maybe getting fired got him going, none the less starting at the track he got fired after (Watkins Glenn) he has finishes of 5th, 11th, 3rd. He might make a case for another ride in Nascar if he keeps it up.
• Paul Menard- He needs a win and a miracle but the fact is he had a 4th place finish last week in Michigan and a 6th place finish this week at Bristol. He still sits 17th in points.
• Jeff Gordon- After a struggling stretch where it looked like his Chase chances were spent Gordon finished 7th at Bristol. Surprisingly he is still 13th in points and a win would go a long way in getting that Chase spot he is seeking. 

Coasting:

• Kasey Kahne- If you take out his rough day at the Glenn Kahne has 4 top 10's in that stretch of 5 (3 top 5's). He is heating up for a stretch run, but the question is can he stay out of trouble during the Chase?

Falling:

• Brad Keselowski- It didn't look like BK was having the strongest night, but finishing 30th by the end of the night really brought him back down after making a good run as of late. He really needs to push for top 5's and more important wins in the last few races.
• Kurt Busch- Same story as BK, Kurt lands on the falling list just after making a strong push towards the top 10 (He dropped back out this week after jumping in last week). Kurt still needs that illusive win.
• Jimmie Johnson- Wow, trouble finds JJ a week after bad luck found him. Is this still the same JJ that won all those Championships? I'm sure he will put it together but this team normally is immune to bad luck.

Pit Road Week 24 Power Rankings

1. Kasey Kahne (LW-10)- I'm going way against the grain, but Kahne's last 6 goes like this (11, 3, 1, 34, 7, and 2nd this week). Someone has to take JJ's spot, and even though Kenseth just got his 5th win I don't consider someone "Hot" until they can do it for at least a mini stretch.
2. Joey Logano (LW-8)- I have been on his bandwagon since the season started, but look at the stats (5 straight top 10's with a win and 2 top 5's in the last 5 races).
3. Jimmie Johnson (LW-1)- Whats going on with the #48 team? Is the dynasty starting to come to an end? Is he going to become the Patriots of Nascar (Great but not Amazing)? Or maybe its just a road bump.
4. Kyle Busch (LW-4)
5. Matt Kenseth (LW-11)
6. Clint Bowyer (LW-5)
7. Carl Edwards (LW-3)
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-9)
9. Kevin Harvick (LW-2)
10. Juan Pablo Montoya (LW-NR)
11. Greg Biffle (LW-NR)
12. Brad Keselowski (LW-7)- Fair or not BK gets to hold on after being one spot higher (11th) in the standings and by being the reigning Champ over Kurt. Let me get this straight though, both have tons of work to do and really need to find a win because neither would get the WC.

Dropped Out: Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman

Just Missed: Paul Menard and Jeff Burton

Well the past few weeks have been busy and this is the start of the Bristol Review from a few weeks ago.