Pit Road Week 11: Kansas

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 11

By Richard Tix

NASCAR had been to 10 tracks to start the 2014 season and entering Kansas its points leader, Jeff Gordon, had yet to score a win. Gordon had been almost hands down the most consistent driver in the first 10 races prior to Kansas with 4 top 5's and 7 top 10's in that span.

On Saturday, Kansas would hold its first Sprint Cup night race which brought an extra excitement to the air at the track. Finally, after 10 tries, Jeff Gordon got his first win of 2014 at Kansas Speedway.  

The race started off by Kevin Harvick dominating the race. Once Kevin Harvick had a slip up and ended up back in traffic he couldn't get going and just hung around 18th for awhile, but when the race was coming to a close NASCAR saw Harvick back up front and the car to beat.

Fortunately for Gordon, on a late round green flag pit stop Harvick ran out of gas on pit road and lost a few seconds. Those few seconds were just enough for Gordon to get out front and take the lead. Harvick made one last push on the last lap to catch Gordon (while Gordon hit some lapped traffic) but he came up a few car length's short.

It was a huge night for Gordon, but also a huge night for Danica Patrick who arguably had her best race in her Sprint Cup career. She spent most of the night running in the top 10 after qualifying 9th (every SHR car qualified in the top 10). Unlike other times (Martinsville) this time Danica hung around and finished 7th which was very impressive. 

If you missed the race here are the race results. Now lets move onto the Week 11 Power Rankings.

Pit Road: Power Rankings Week 11 (Week 10)

1. Jeff Gordon (LW-3)- Well everyone had the feeling last week that his drop to 3rd in the Power Rankings wouldn't last very long. After the win at Kansas he jumped right back into the spot he had been holding for awhile.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- Harvick stayed safe at Talladega that moved him up. One week later at Kansas he had the car to beat but just not enough time to get to Gordon. After an up and down points start, Harvick is back up to 15th in the points and brings fast cars week after week.
3. Matt Kenseth (LW-4)- Kenseth fell a lap down early and kind of ran towards the middle of the pack for awahile, but he eventually fought back. He actually fought his way back to a 10th place finish.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-6)- Fans dogged him for the end of Talladega but he moved on and posted a 5th place finish at Kansas He now has a win, 6 top 5's, and 7 top 10's so far in 2014.
5. Kyle Busch (LW-1)- This fall might be a little harsh, fair enough, but look at the drivers that jumped him. The top of these standings are all top dogs so its a tough world. Any of these guys you can make a case for a 2-5 spot. Kyle only moves this far because he really didn't have a car to compete on Saturday.
6. Joey Logano (LW-7)- Its been a roller coaster as of late, but fact is JoLo has been fast in 2014. He has lead a lap in 6 straight races (longest stretch in his career) and in 10 of 11 races. If he stay's away from the bad luck bug he has finished top 5.
7. Carl Edwards (LW-10)- Carl has been very good in 2014 but not great. In NASCAR there is a fine line between those two. Uncle Carl has been a top 10 runner but still hasn't had the kind of weeks where he threatens for top 5's or wins consistently. 
8. Greg Biffle (LW-5)- Rough slide for Biffle after a 16th place finish, but he really wasn't a factor in the race. Fact is, almost everyone ahead of him in the rankings was a factor Saturday night (minus Kyle Busch, but he was just #1).
9. Kyle Larson (LW-8)- Larson sticks around the rankings for another week after finishing 12th at Kansas. His average running position was 12th on Saturday and spent 80.5% of the race in the top 15. Week after week he keeps showing up. 
10. Kasey Kahne (LW-NR)- It has been a long start of the 2014 season for Kahne, but for the first time he has found the NASCAR Behind the Wall Power Rankings. This coming after his first top 5 of the season (3rd) and a stretch of 14th, 8th, and a 3rd place finish. With Charlotte coming up Kahne has a chance to make a rankings run.
11. Brian Vickers (LW-11)- Other then Harvick, Vickers is the only guy to not move up or down in the rankings this week. Vickers had a good night at Kansas but he didn't stay consistent enough to have a great night. He ended up finishing 15th but he has had a good enough start to 2014 to stick around another week.
12. Jimmie Johnson (LW-NR)- Who gets the last spot this week? Denny didn't look too impressive and Newman has been good but not great. Aric Almirola has a nice two race run with 13th and a top 10, but is it enough. Well JJ fans, your driver comes away with the last spot, solely because he ran up front a bunch and finished top 10. He is still 7th in points even without a win. A lot of that has to do with the fact that he has lead a lap in 8 of 11 races.

Dropped Out: AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin

Just Missed: Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola

Honorable Mention: Danica Patrick

Well, once again I did not pick the winner. Actually, Kansas was one of my worst predictions of the season (I went with home town driver Clint Bowyer, figured maybe he would keep up his awesome news week). So that is 0-11 to start the year, but who's counting. Fortunately I have some smart followers who did predict the winner!

This one coming from ThisSportz writer Jeff Nathans

Well congrats to the winners and every week look for the tweets asking who will win or just send me a tweet with who you think will win. This week is a bye week for NASCAR Behind the Wall. No All-Star Preview or Post Race Review. I will most likely have a few random post's though. I am heading to Iowa Speedway for the Sunday Nationwide Race and will most likely have a short post about that as well. As always, follow me on Twitter or check out the new twitter fed on the top left of the blog for all the NASCAR info you may need!