Behind the Wall: August 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

2015 NASCAR Schedule Changes

NASCAR Makes Changes to the 2015 Cup Schedule

By Richard Tix

On Tuesday NASCAR released its much anticipated 2015 Cup Schedule (actually all three schedules). As NASCAR stated before the release, there were not a lot of huge or dramatic changes. However, NASCAR did give back Darligton's Labor Day race after they (idiotically if you ask me) took it away and left it up to Atlanta. Atlanta now moved to the beginning of the season and a few other small tweaks. Well, have a look for yourself.

Need to compare? Check out this years Schedule on the Schedule page! The Firecracker (Coke Zero at Daytona) will be run on Sunday July 5th this upcoming season. Other then that and Darlington not too drastic of changes for the 2015 season.

Week 25 Preview: Atlanta

Oral-B USA 500

Week 25

By Richard Tix

If temper's weren't high enough leaving Bristol then the remaining two races should get you going. 12 drivers are locked into the Chase, so everyone else will be fighting for the remaining 4 Chase spots at Atlanta and Richmond. Guys like Kahne, Biffle, Bowyer, McMurray, and Ambrose will all be looking to win one of the remaining two races.

5 laps left at Atlanta with guys like Kahne and Biffle up front, will one of them make a move? This is one of the parts of the new Chase that I like right when they announced it. NASCAR isn't scripting this drama, but it still happens. Also, the thought of more then 16 winners? Really? I am still on the side that 16 plus winners in the first 26 races will only happen 1 in 10 years. In that year, it will likely include 2 drivers stealing 2 of the 3 plate races and a driver stealing a road course win. Even this year we have Almirola and Allmendinger getting in off of underdog wins and we are stuck at 12 winners.

If we do hit 16 winners, more drama will come because a 17th winner means the last guy in points will miss out. In that situation you can bet the 16 guys with a win will be running for points and hoping a 17th doesn't win.

Anyways, back to the point. The next two races should bring come exciting racing and at the very least some exciting story lines heading into just one race until the Chase.

The Good, Middle, and Bad

The Good

Jeff Gordon- Jeff Gordon has run Atlanta a whopping 40 times in his career. He has 5 career wins, 16 career top 5's, and 26 top 10's. More impressive, he only has 1 finish outside the top 15 in his last 14 (18th) and only 3 non top 10's (18th, 13th, and 12th). With the season he is having you can almost write down the top 10 now.
Kyle Busch- Last years Atlanta winner, Rowdy has an average finish of 8.75 in his last 4 races here. He isn't always dominate here but has shown he can win, 2 career ATL wins in 16 tries. A good ATL finish might help the team forget about there Bristol frustrations.
Carl Edwards- He is either running up front at Atlanta or having some kind of issues (just check out his career finishes). He hasn't won at Atlanta since 2008, but he has had chances where he finised 2nd and 3rd.

The Middle

Greg Biffle- His last three Atlanta finishes have all been top 15's, but none better then 12th. In 19 starts he has only 9 top 10's but still an average finish position of 15.9. The Biff will need a good outing at ATL to keep his Chase hopes alive heading to Richmond.

The Bad

Aric Almirola- Its a short list to look at, so for fantasy purposes you will want to look at more tracks similar to Atlanta, but Aric's three finishes leave something to be desired (20th, 32nd, 21st).
Joey Logano- I actually see JoLo jumping right off of this category this year (last year he finished 2nd), but other then his second last year he only has one other top 20 finish (18th in 2012). He is trending in the right direction and just won at Bristol so I expect a good finish.
Kasey Kahne- This is all based on recent finish position. I repeat, all based on finishing position. Kahne actually is pretty good at Atlanta. He has 2 career wins and has led at least one lap in 8 of his 17 races here, but for whatever reason he has four straight bad finishes (engine and other problems are big factors). Look for him to turn it around this time.

Atlanta Articles:

Entry List
Power Rankings
TV/Race Schedule from NASCAR.com this week
Fantasy Atlanta- Sleepers and Bust- From TimerSports

Short preview this week. I didn't get up the Schedule but have included a link to NASCAR.com's Schedule. No This Week in NASCAR either. Next week NASCAR Behind the Wall will get back on track with the typical articles. Thanks for checking it out and come back to check out the weekly Power Rankings!

2014 Atlanta Motor Speedway Entry List

NASCAR Driver Entry List for Atlanta

By Richard Tix

NASCAR has two regular season races left as they head to Atlanta Motor Speedway for its lone stop in 2014. Entry list from Jayski.com

Notes: Martin Truex will be in the #78 World Vision Chevy. Brett Moffit makes another Cup attempt. Justin Allgaier is in the #51 Auto-Owners Insurance scheme. Ty Dillon will be in the #33 Chevy this weekend and Greg Biffle will be with Ortho (one of his 2015 sponsors).

Monday, August 25, 2014

Pit Road Week 24: Bristol

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 24

By Richard Tix

2014 has been the year of the three. After Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR has five drivers tied with the most wins (three). The most recent driver to add his name to that list is IRWIN Tools Night Race winner Joey Logano.

Joey Logano has had a remarkable 2014 season so far. The season started with the #22 fast week after week, resulting for the first time in his career, fans to start talking about his Championship hopes. His third win could be the most important as it was his first since race 9 and could get him back on the roll he needs entering the Chase.

IRWIN Tools Night Race Results

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 24 (Week 23)

Joey Logano (LW-4)- Joey goes from the car to beat at Michigan (but finishes 3rd) to winning at Bristol. Not bad. In his last 5 races he has 4 top 5's and 5 top 10's (that top 10 was 6th at Wtkins Glen). He has been red hot and at the right time.
Kevin Harvick (LW-3)- He had four straight top 10's before finishing 11th at Bristol. He won the Pole for the last Bristol stop in 2014 and also lead 74 laps.
Jeff Gordon (LW-1)- Gordon has led a lap in 7 straight races after leading 29 at Bristol on Saturday. 16th wasn't the finish he was looking for but it wasn't devastating either. Look for a bounce back in time for the Chase.
Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-2)- Bristol happens. Jr was involved in a crash which led him to having his second worst race of the season (right behind Texas where he only finished 12 laps). With how well his season has gone the #88 is just onto the next one.
Greg Biffle (LW-6)- Has anyone started to race better in a more clutch moment? Biffle was on the verge of missing the Chase and after his last 6 races he has put himself back in the picture. He has four straight top 10's and in his last 6 races has 6 top 15's. Who said the days of good "points days" were over?
Brad Keselowski (LW-8)- BK couldn't catch and pass his Penseki Teammate on Saturday and had to take the runner up position. I think BK can live with it after his first Truck Series win on Thursday (well that's when they finished). Side note: Penske/Penske drivers swept the weekend. BK, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano.
Matt Kenseth (LW-9)- After a disappointing Michigan race Kenseth got back on track with a third place finish on Saturday. I know his confidence might be down without winning in 2014, but I would still keep and eye on him for the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson (LW-12)- JJ has gone through is stretches this year, but like normal the team has stuck together. The biggest reason he is such a title contender year to year is they learn from rough stretches and don't just fall into the rut (this coming from a non JJ fan). Speaking of, JJ has finishes of 9th and his first top 5 since Michigan (4th) at Bristol.
Ryan Newman (LW-11)- Week after week I just run out of things to say about Newman. Lets just go with "middle."
Clint Bowyer (LW-10)- Not a great race for Bowyer overall. The 17th place finish doesn't kill him in the Chase Standings, but it didn't really help either.
Kasey Kahne (LW-7)- Bristol just killed Kahne in the points running (finished 35th). I am hanging onto the belief that he will win, but time is ticking (two races left).
Denny Hamlin (LW-5)- Big fall, but the last three races haven't been that great for him. After leading some on Saturday he got caught up with Harvick and got wrecked. A frustrating night for DH, but he can breath a sigh of relief, he stayed in the top 12.

Dropped Out: No one

Just Missed: Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, and AJ Allmendinger

Honorable Mention: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (6th), Paul Menard (9th), and Jeff Burton (15th).

Not a huge turnout this week again on votes. I have a few dedicated voters and the rest depend on me to send out a few tweets, which I will get random follower responses from. Well, we still had a winner again this week.

Again, thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall and thanks to all that voted. Every week just predict the winner and let me know on Twitter and your tweet will make the review.