Pit Road Week 6: Martinsville

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 6

By Richard Tix

After a week of tragic losses (RIP Bobby and Lynda) some NASCAR fans just needed racing to heal the heart. Sometimes in times of sorrow we need to look to do what those lost loved ones would want us to do, and in this case that might have been racing.

Boy, did Martinsville bring the racing. Just after the green flag flew the fireworks began. Drivers came into the pits early with level heads and left with tempers at a high.  Fireworks flew when Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch got into it on the track after they got into a wreck on pit road. Things settled down between the two after another caution. Kurt Busch then took his beat up SHR car towards the front after he said "our day is done." 

Kurts Day was anything but done, I guess he forgot Martinsville is a beat up cars dream. He took his #41 SHR Chevy all the way to the lead and battled with Jimmie Johnson on the closing laps. After taking the lead late he held JJ off for his first win in two years and his first with SHR. If you missed it, here are the STP 500 results.

Martinsville Preview

Pit Road: Power Rankings Week 6 (Week 5 Power Rankings)

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-4)- Look who is back atop the rankings and not just my Power Rankings, but also the NASCAR Standings. This spot almost went to JJ because JJ had a great day at Martinsville, but Jr has been so consistent and fought through bad days. Sunday wasn't a very good day, yet he finished 3rd. That says something about this team.
2. Jimmie Johnson (LW-5)- If JJ could have taken that win and got back around Kurt, I would have a different #1 this week. For now JJ will have to be patient, his time will come. 
3. Matt Kenseth (LW-2)- Kenseth finished 6th, yup 6th. I had to look at it again because what I remember about the race was a lot of JGR guys struggling. Good finish for the #20 team.
4. Carl Edwards (LW-1)- Carl is another driver having a great start to 2014 yet he had a mediocre finish at Martinsville. But because of all the mediocre finishes by guys on top of the standings he only falls to 4th after a 13th place finish. Look for him to bounce back at Texas.
5. Jeff Gordon (LW-3)- Gordon had a long day! After being many fans favorite to win on Sunday, Gordon found himself in the back. But at the end of the day the team didn't give up and salvaged a 12th place finish. 
6. Kyle Busch (LW-7)- A week after a win, Rowdy took the Pole for the STP 500. Other than that he had a long day of trying to find his car. He ended up finishing 14th, but like the next guy on this list still moves up a spot.
7. Tony Stewart (LW-8)- Not a great day for Smoke, he spent some time towards the front, but wasn't truly a contender for the win Sunday. After two straight top 5's he fell all the way to a 17th place finish. The bottom of these rankings really have a mix of guys who have been up and down, so Smoke somehow gains a spot without doing much. We will chalk it up as an Owner Win.
8. Kurt Busch (LW-NR)- After his "day was over" on Sunday, Kurt rallied to win his second grandfather clock (first since 2002). I will give him this, he did a heck of a job bouncing back after his near melt down when he and Brad Keselowski got into it. Maybe Kurt has turned the corner? If so he is a huge threat for the Cup.
9. Joey Logano (LW-NR)- After two rough weeks, JoLo once again had a strong showing at Martinsville. He picked up his 3rd top 5 (all of them 4th place finishes) and sits 8th in the standings. If he keeps it up, he should join his Penske teammate with a win in 2014.
10. Austin Dillon (LW-10)- Staying at 10th, Dillon was quiet again on Sunday but managed another top 15. Top 15's can get you on the list if you get them every week, but he wont be moving up very fast. Good start for a rookie though, as he is riding around learning, yet still finishing top 15 (I'm looking at you Danica).
11. Brad Keselowski (LW-6)- This happened in 2013 as well, but so far the causes of his slips are different. He has still seemed to have a fast car, but the finishes don't so it. One more week and he will go from first in the rankings to out of them in a few races.
12. Paul Menard (LW-NR)- Man I wanted to give this spot to AJ Allmendinger, but Menard has 3 top 10's in his last 4 races. That is too tough to ignore.

Dropped Out: Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Newman

Just Missed: AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, and Clint Bowyer

Honorable Mention: Marcus Ambrose and Aric Almirola

NASCAR Behind the Wall had about 25 votes on Twitter for this weekends race winner and not a single one picked Kurt Busch. So it looks like another week without congratulatory praise! Either we need better guesses, or more voters! I'm going with more voters because the driver I predicted didn't win either. NASCAR heads to Texas to get a view at the new jumbo screen, Big Haus. Check back for the preview and also new articles coming this week.