Pit Road Week 33: Martinsville

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 33

By Richard Tix

After the Contender round NASCAR fans started to fire up. What do you expect when in the same week Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr drop out of Championship contention and Brad Keselowski moves on? 

But what I didn't expect was for some race fans to try and say they would not watch the remaining four races just because Jr didn't move on. To me, that's a crazy reason to not watch NASCAR. You could stop watching for many reason's other then because your driver isn't moving on.

Now, I get it, if your driver is left out of the final four races and you would rather watch the NFL most of Sunday, and maybe flip back to the race here and there, more power to ya, but to say it's all because Jr didn't move on? It isn't like he didn't have a fair shot. This year, or last years points format, wouldn't mean a difference, either way he wasn't winning the Championship. Heck, if you go to the old, old points system Gordon I believe has a firm grip over Joey Logano and then Dale.

What happened Sunday was the reason I thought it was crazy not to watch just because your driver dropped out. That's because yes, Dale Jr won his first race at Martinsville and win #4 on the 2014 season. On top of that reason, I think Dale Earnhardt Jr would call you crazy to just stop watching him race because he couldn't win a Championship. He still has 3 more races he can win in 2014! Its not like other sporting events where when your team is out of the playoffs they are no longer playing, no in racing everyone can still go out there and win that trophy. So, to all you fans of non Chasers, enjoy this time as it is a non pressure situation where your driver can shine.

The rest of us will just continue to grow grey hairs and yell at the people on TV who can't hear us, or am I the only one?

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 33 (Week 32)

1. Joey Logano (LW-2)- JoLo had a good car on Sunday in which he held some laps, but down the stretch he just didn't have it. Again he had a fast car and finished 5th, he still looks to be a favorite to move on to Miami.
2. Jeff Gordon (LW-6)- Gordon had one of the cars to beat on Sunday. He lead early and often, but a late caution came out that switched a lot of drivers strategies up. In the end Jr pulled away and Gordon couldn't lock down his spot to automatically move on.
3. Ryan Newman (LW-3)- Newman has turned it on when he needed it. All season I raved about his consistency, but heck, I didn't actually expect him to have a shot at the last four. Well, after a third at Martinsville a few quality finishes might give him the shot he needs.
4. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- Kenseth got into it with Harvick early in the race and it ended up ruining the #4 teams day. However, Matt fought back and finished 6th (even though Happy wasn't too happy with him). 
5. Denny Hamlin (LW-8)- Denny just keeps hanging around in this Chase. He has yet to post at op 5, but hasn't had any crippling finishes either. His 8th place finish on Sunday was the same way. He has left himself with a window of opportunity the next two races.
6. Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- Harvick finishes 33rd and is a head of Carl? Yeah, and so is BK. A slow start by these too who have shown they can win (especially Harvick at Phoenix) is enough to edge Carl. Harvick and Kenseth tangled and Harvick got the short end on Sunday.
7. Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- BK was running top 10 most of the day when something gave out in his rear axle. That ended his day for the most part and puts pressure back on him to find a win.
8. Carl Edwards (LW-7)- Carl could get away with a 20th place finish in the first two rounds, but this round will be harder to get out of that hole. Texas will be a huge test and he will need a quality finish.
9. Clint Bowyer (LW-NR)- Back to back top 10's for Bowyer and he gets the new Top Spot for Non Chaser's. 
10. Kyle Busch (LW-10)- Kyle Busch still leads drivers in points who are not in the last 8. One bad luck wreck at Talladega is the only thing that separates him from a Ryan Newman or Denny Hamlin right now.
11. Austin Dillon (LW-12)- Nothing amazing, but in Dillon's last 6 he has only finished outside the top 13 once. He also only has one top 10 in that span as well.
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-NR)- Well the winner has to get a spot this week. Its tough taking all the drivers left out of the Chase and giving them 4 spots. 

That's it for this week on Pit Road. No one picked Dale Jr this week amazingly, but I also was a bit behind in sending out Tweets since I was at a buddies Wedding. As always, thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall.