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.
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.
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