Pit Road Week 27: Chicagoland

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 27

By Richard Tix

Chase week 1 is in the book and we know the first driver to move on to the next stage. 11 spots are up for grabs as NASCAR heads to New Hampshire after Brad Keselowski won at Chicagoland on Sunday. Two more races until four drivers are officially eliminated. But, since the review is already late lets get right into the Power Rankings.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 27 (Week 26)

1. Brad Keselowski (LW-3)- BK started the fresh Chase Power Rankings off in 3rd behind four-time (Jeff Gordon) and six-time (Jimmie Johnson). After his week 1 win that means he automatically moves on to next round he moves up to the top spot. That is back to back wins for BK and 5 on the season.
2. Jeff Gordon (LW-1)- If it wasn't the Chase and the fact that BK has won back to back races then Gordon may still have the #1 spot after leading 26 laps and finishing 2nd. But, BK has got hot at the right time. That isn't taking anything away from Gordon as he has finished 2nd back to back races,
3. Kevin Harvick (LW-4)- Harvick lead the most laps on Sunday (79) and finished 5th. Not a bad start for his title hopes. If he can finish consistently then he will have a great shot at his first title because he is bound to win at least one more time in 2014.
4. Joey Logano (LW-6)- BK won and Joey finished fourth, the next highest Ford? Ricky Stenhouse in 17th. Just shows how much faster the Penske Ford;s have been in 2014. JoLo and BK are matching up against Harvick and Hendrick for the title early and often.
5. Jimmie Johnson (LW-3)- JJ's top 10 streak of four races ended at Chicagoland on Sunday, but he still managed a 12th place finish. His sights are onto NH (or maybe even just Dover where he has dominated so often).
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-5)- It's been four straight races with Jr not in the top 10, easily his longest stretch in 2014. Right now isn't the time to have that stretch either. The good news? Two of those finishes were 11th and another was 12th.
7. Matt Kenseth (LW-7)- Kenseth finished 10th on Sunday which is a good start to his 2014 Chase campain. Once the field narrows the pressure will start to win a race, until then he can be content finishing strong with good points days.
8. Kurt Busch (LW-9)- Kurt's 8th place finish made it 4 top 10's in his last 6 starts. Those four top 10's are half the amount he has total in 2014 (8). Its a nice time to start getting it going.
9. Kyle Busch (LW-11)- Bounce back weekend for Rowdy at Chicagoland. After taking the Pole during qualifying Kyle finished 7th on Sunday. He led 46 laps, but what is more inportant is that he finally got back on track after a rough stretch entering the Chase (6 races without a top 10).
10. Denny Hamlin (LW-12)- Hamlin finished 6th after a day where his high running position was 5th. He should be happy with the results and move on to Loudon.
11. Kasey Kahne (LW-10)- Kahne finished 13th on Sunday. He wasn't really a front runner (average running position of 17th) but he got a quality (non Chase killing) finish.
12. Ryan Newman (LW-14)- Consistency may just get you through to the round of 12. Newman finished 15th which is about the position I think of him running all year.
13. Carl Edwards (LW-8)- The big dropper of the week, Carl finished 20th after starting 3rd. It hasn't been a good year for any Ford driver not a part of Team Penske.
14. AJ Allmendinger (LW-16)- AJ doesnt have the greatest shot at advancing, but a 22nd place finish wont kill him. He will need a great two race run to advance, though.
15. Greg Biffle (LW-13)- Other then Aric (engine) Biffle finished the lowest of any Chase contender (23rd). Not the start the #16 team needed.
16. Aric Almirola (LW-15)- Poor Aric. He was actually having a good day before his engine gave out on him late in the race. In this new format and the fact that 12 drivers move on Aric still has a shot, but it just got that much smaller.

As I stated last week, only Chase drivers are eligible for the top 16 for now. Once we get to 12 drivers the top 12 will be made up of the remaining drivers and 13-16 can be made up of anyone not left in the Chase. Once we are at 8 drivers the same thing will happen (top 8 will all be Chase drivers and the rest of the list can be anyone). So, that should explain to you why a guy like Kyle Larson didn't make the top 16 this week.

Only one winner this week. I was up in Northern MN fishing this past week so part of it was my fault for not asking on Twitter. Meanwhile, Dave lets me know every week he is picking BK. So, he has been on these reviews 5 times in 2014.

As always, thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall. Since this week is late, if you havent yet, check out the Week 28 Preview: New Hampshire that is already up (every Wednesday). Also, check out the New Hampshire Driver Entry List.