Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Week 21
By Richard Tix
Another race down in the 2014 NASCAR regular season and another race that goes by where we get a repeat winner. I did say before the season we wont be getting more then 16 winner (it could happen someday, but chances are we normally wont); meaning points will still be important in the race to the Chase.
Just check out the race right now around the final Chase spot (16th). Greg Biffle's gamble at the end of the race didn't pay off in a win (5th place finish), but it did work out in the form of jumping up to 16th in points (or the last spot in on points). He gained the lead over Kasey Kahne who finished 10th by 1 point (Biffle- 590 and Kahne- 589). Biffle also made the jump on Austin Dillon at Pocono. Biffle if leading Dillon by two points after Dillon finished 15th. At the same time, Paul Menard was caught up in a wreck after having a pretty good day and lost a lot of ground on the 16th spot (now 28 points out from 16th).
The 16th spot will be the weekly story line on the home stretch to the Chase, but the big story on Sunday was Dale Earnhardt Jr and Steve Latarte playing the perfect strategy towards the end of the race that resulted in Jr's third win of the 2014 season. As Jr put it, "any driver could be put with this team and win the race." Jr needs to give himself a little more credit, as he was the one holding off a hard charging Harvick, and if it wasn't Harvick it would have been Logano. But, Jr is humble and know's how important a good team is towards a Championship (even without winning one yet).
The win moves Dale Jr into the first spot in the Chase standings and ties him with Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski for most wins in 2014 (3). The thing I like seeing the most this season out of Dale Jr is he truly soaks in every moment. You can tell every win he takes it all in and totally enjoys every second. If he makes a run at a title it will be a special time to be a NASCAR fan, not because he is the son of Dale Earnhardt but because of how much it means to him. You can tell now, racing truly makes Jr happy.
Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 21 (Week 20)
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-4)- He is your new Chase standings leader after notching his third win and having more points then BK and JJ. Last time Jr was in the right place at the right time when BK fell off due to debris on his grill. This time around at Pocono Steve Letarte put him in the right place at the right time by a great pit strategy down the stretch.
- Jeff Gordon (LW-2)- A week after winning his 5th career race at IMS Gordon follows up with another quality finish we have been re-accustomed to seeing (6th). Gordon had the car to beat Sunday but lost the track position towards the end of the race and didn't have enough to get it back.
- Denny Hamlin (LW-6)- Hamlin had a great save at the end of the race but it started a chain reaction that took out a bunch of drivers who were still contending. It wasn't DH's fault, but was unfortunate for a lot of other guys. Not many people are noticing, but Denny has four straight top 10's.
- Kevin Harvick (LW-NR)- Yes, he was off my rankings (See Jimmie Johnson, these are Power Rankings not rankings based on standings), but he proved with his pole and 8th place finish at Indy and now his runner up finish at Pocono with a beat up car that he deserves a spot. The problem with the #4 is when they're on they're a top 3 team, but they are not always on.
- Brad Keselowski (LW-3)- Taking about saves, BK's lap one save was one heck of a save. DH saved one towards the late stages of the race that set off a chain reaction that got BK involved and slowed down his day of trying to come back. BK salvaged a 23rd place finish, but has to be disappointing after he almost won the first stop at Pocono.
- Ryan Newman (LW-7)- If these rankings were purely based off consistency Newman would be top 5 every week. I do take some consideration into consistency because it truly shows who is "hot" at the time, he just hasn't had those runs that make you think he can contend. Newman is all the way up to 5th in the points and is now within 26 points of Kenseth.
- Kasey Kahne (LW-8)- A good run by Kahne on Sunday but not great. He salvaged a 10th place finish after running most of the day in about 11th position. That makes 5 top 10's in his last 7 races (and an 11th place finish) which is dramatically helping his case at a points spot in the Chase.
- Clint Bowyer (LW-10)- Ironically Bowyer hasn't had a really bad finish since Richmond (two 23rds are his worst finishes since then). He also has 7 top 10's since leaving Richmond and has made his way up to 9th in the points (14th in the Chase standings).
- Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- I don't think Kenseth had a car to win Sunday, but a top 10 looked like it was in the books. That is, until he was caught up in the DH save/wreck with Vickers. It looked like Kenseth would clear high until Vickers lost it trying to avoid Hamlin. Tough week for the #20 and you can tell some frustration is growing by not finding a win yet (he is still safe to get in with points).
- Kyle Busch (LW-1)- Yes, it is a long fall, but I also gave him the benefit of the doubt last week after three 2nd place finishes in four races. Guys like Gordon could have been considered for the top spot instead. Well, this week it isn't his fault (blown engine) but I really thought he would get in a roll this year and notch a bunch of wins.
- Kyle Larson (LW-12)- Larson starts making a case to be farther up the rankings and then he hits a rough spell. Right now he is on the up tick and another quality finish will not only move him up these rankings but help out his Chase hopes.
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-9)- Last week I saw a whole bunch of Power Rankings around with JJ in the top 5, yet he hadn't done anything in three races. Now, its four races. In my opinion (and because of what they're named) they are POWER RANKINGS. Unfortunately that means spots go to who is hot now and not just by the points standings. Sorry JJ fans, he has had some bad luck lately and it will not keep him high in these rankings.
Dropped Out: Austin Dillon
Just Missed: Joey Logano and Greg Biffle
Honorable Mention: Jamie McMurray (7th), Casey Mears (12th), Macus Ambrose (14th), Justin Allgaier (16th), and David Gilliland (17th).
This week a lot of underdog drivers finished in the top 25 after the whole mess late in the race left 17 drivers on the lead lap. I got a decent response from NASCAR fans on Twitter when I asked who would win this week, but no one picked Dale Earnhardt Jr. Its odd because Jr Nation is so big that I figure every week I actually ask (A few weeks lately I have been bad at remembering since it has been a busy Summer) I will get at least one Jr response. I did get a lot of Gordon and BK, plus my loyal Kahne vote and Kyle Busch vote each week.
As always, thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall. Check back as I release new articles throughout the week.
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