Pit Road Week 10: Talladega

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 10

By Richard Tix

The Big One, Talladega. NASCAR finish its 10th race of the season on Sunday after running at Talladega for the first time in 2014. The next time NASCAR is back drivers will be narrowed down and the Chase will have started.

The summer months are quickly catching us and that means each week it becomes harder and harder for me to catch the full race. This weekend I was in Milwaukee, WI to visit some good friends. Most of these friends are not the biggest NASCAR friends, but on Sunday we did catch some of the race (side note, the Wild playoff game was also on, and the friends I was with are big Wild fans, as am I, so it also created a Talladega delima). None the less, I still got to watch about half the race all total, including the last 15 laps.

From what I got to see the racing was pretty good much of the race and then the ending left fans wanting more. I wanted more as well, but as some fans were not understanding of the decision to end the race, I was.  Unfortunately the spin/crash happened about 2 seconds before Denny got to the White flag, but the way I saw it the cars were all down towards the infield grass at first and looked like they would all be out of the way, which is why I think NASCAR didn't throw the yellow right away.

Once NASCAR saw the bumper, unfortunately they had no choice but to call the race. Now, I think we have been spoiled with late race restarts and dramatic finishes this season as it is. Was it the finish we wanted? No, but can we for one week just enjoy racing? NASCAR will never win with the fans anymore because we will find something to criticize anyways. 

On a side note. I get people who are mad at Brad Keselowski because he had bad luck in the middle of a pack while 6 laps down, but he was also one of the fastest cars at the time. I didn't see/hear anyone complaining about him being in the pack helping people draft before the crash. If you don't want him there, don't draft with him and let him lose the draft. Do I think he was too aggressive? Yeah. But guys want to win and get back in things. Did he have a good chance of making it back in the race? Not really, but until I was in the situation I can't judge, I would want to keep racing if I had a good car too. Do I understand why most people are upset? Heck yeah, your driver was taken out, people get upset even if it was there drivers fault.

Another side note also involving Brad. I love how right away when Danica and BK were involved the Fox cast all said, oh man BK came right down on Danica. Really? It sure looked to me like Danica came up into BK. Same thing Gordon saw as well. Now I don't mind if it was BK who came down, but man these broadcasters are all in on the Danica mania!

So if you missed it, here are the full race results from the Aarons 499.

Pit Road: Power Rankings Week 10 (Week 9)

1. Kyle Busch (LW-4)- Its Talladega, this race really throws a huge wrench in Power Rankings. I thought about leaving Gordon and Kenseth up here, because really it was just a crash that took both guys with pretty good cars out of contention. But, Kyle managed a 12th place finish and avoided a big crash, so nod to him.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW-7)- Since Darlington Happy has been much more consistent. Harvick stayed out of trouble on Sunday and brought home a 7th place finish. With a lot of top drivers going down in crashes, Harvick moves up a bit in the rankings.
3. Jeff Gordon (LW-1)- Well his run on top of the rankings was fun, and heck he only fell because of being a crash, but its tough to leave a guy at #1 after a 39th place finish even if it is bad luck. That was JG's only finish higher than 13th this season. Gordon still sits #1 in the points standings after 10 races.
4. Matt Kenseth (LW-2)- See above. ^ Kenseth moved down due to some bad luck, but he still sits #2 in the standings. He had a pretty good car Sunday so who knows where he would have ended up?
5. Greg Biffle (LW-11)- Biffles last 4 races have been quiet but good. He has one finish outside the top 10 (15th) with 3 top 10's and 2 top 5's in that span. 5th spot is the highest Biffle has been all year.
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-5)- As I am typing this Dale Jr is still hanging in back waiting for the next crash to happen. Sorry Jr Nation, not a shot at Jr but rather the dumb Fox crew who just kept acting like he was waiting to pounce. Jr just waited to long on Sunday and couldn't catch back up resulting in a disappointing finish.
7. Joey Logano (LW-3)- Another driver in the rankings (high in the rankings last week) taken out by a crash at Talladega. It is what it is and JoLo will have to move down because of it. Really all season he hasn't had a bad finish unless he is involved in a wreck or a car malfunction. 
8. Kyle Larson (LW-12)- Check out his last 7 races, no seriously just do it. 5 top 10's and 2 top 5's in those 7 races. One of his lone two outside the top 10 was a quality 16th place finish (which is about where fellow rookie Austin Dillon normally finishes). That 16th place finish was at Richmond after he was fastest in practice which lead to a "Pole" after qualifying was rained out. Then he was spun out by Bowyer and went to the back.
9. AJ Allmendinger (LW-NR)- Some people haven't been paying attention, but in the last 6 races AJ has been pretty good including his last two which were almost both top 5 finishes (6th and 5th). In those 6 races he has 3 top 10's and a top 5. The other three finishes were a respectable 11th, 15th, and 23rd. 
10. Carl Edwards (LW-6)- Add Carl to the long list of guys in my top 6 last week that were effected by a crash at Talladega. I was fair in the rankings and they all moved down. Carl's was unique in the fact that he was the one who got loose and lost it. 
11. Brian Vickers (LW-NR)- Guess who is 10th in NASCAR Cup points this week? If you guessed Vickers you must be really smart! Or just realize I wouldn't bring it up in Vickers spot if it wasn't him, but lets just go with smart. In his last 7 races he has 4 top 10's and two of them were top 5's (both 4th place finishes). Vickers is really having a great season story after finally looking to be back from all of his health problems in the past.
12. Denny Hamlin (LW-NR)- Denny gets the last spot in the rankings because of a win this week at Talladega. But just take a look at all the drivers who dropped out, Johnson, Keselowski, and Newman. If you look at JJ's last 7 races and you realize he was mostly in the top 12 because of his name (true a lot is bad luck, but bad luck and fast car's kept Kurt out of the rankings a bunch in 2013). So its time, he needs to earn his way back in. BK has been down here all year trying to earn his way back to a hot start. Onto DH, he hasn't done too much right in 2014, but with a win he now has time to smooth things out.

Dropped Out: Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Newman

Just Missed: Kasey Kahne

Honorable Mention: Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Landon Cassill, Aric Almirola, and Casey Mears

Well Talladega bit a lot of drivers in the behind this week and left some guys out of the top 12. When you have Gordon, Jr, Kenseth, Carl, and Logano all falling in one week its tough. Not to mention guys like Johnson and Keselowski out of the top 12.  But Talladega is an out liar and the cream of the NASCAR crop will find there way back up to the front if they truly should be there. It is cool to see guys like Larson, AJ, and Vickers all thriving and making spots in the Power Rankings. This past week I never sent out any Tweets asking fans/followers who they thought would win, so this week we have no Tweets to post. Sorry folks, I will remember this week so you can have another chance to featured on the Power Rankings!