2015 Pit Road Week 4: Phoenix

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 4 CampingWorld.com 500

By Richard Tix

Coming into week four of the NASCAR season the big news was Kevin Harvick taking the pole at Phoenix where he has dominated the past five races and Kurt Busch's return to the #41. As it turned out on Sunday both of those topics were the main story most of the day.

The interesting part was that to start the race Joey Logano was actually the man out front. JoLo took the early lead to many fans surprise. Looking back it shouldn't surprise too many people that Joey lead early at a race (he has every week for the most part), but it was Phoenix and Harvick has been so good here.

It didn't take too long and"Happy" found his way to JoLo and around him for the lead. Kevin didn't look back for a very long stretch while continuing to pace the field.

A bit past mid way Brad Keselowski and the #2 crew decided to take two tires (while a bunch of leaders took 4) on a caution. BK came out the leader and on the restart took off from the field. Most of this was due to the fact that BK had a few others starting up front with him that had two tires and blocked Harvick from the front.

Eventually Harvick found his way to BK (about 50 laps later) and took the lead back. Harvick never really looked back on the day as he kept the lead and finished his fifth win at Phoenix in his last six starts (including four straight).

So, once again Happy won. Even though the day was dominated by the #4 it was a pretty entertaining race. It just proved NASCAR should really make more stops at tracks smaller than 1.5 miles each year, especially if they keep changing the car packages.

But, the other news on the day was the return of Kurt Busch. Not only did Kurt return but he returned in mid season form and was actually a threat to push his teammate (Kevin Harvick) at one point. He came up short, but it was encouraging to see him run well after what he has gone through early this year and how much he struggled on the track in 2014.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 4 (Week 3)

1. Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- Easy call to keep Harick in the top spot. He has left off right where he was in 2014. That's good for him and bad for others. The only good thing for other teams is they have a whole year still to figure it out. Finish: 1st
2. Joey Logano (LW-2)- Every week Joey is fast early on. Practice, Qualifying, first few laps. Then the team loses it a bit and never finds it back to the front. He is still putting down great finishes, but the 22 just needs some in race adjustments to start winning a few more races, Finish: 8th
3. Martin Truex Jr (LW-3)- NASCAR might not have a better feel good story of 2015. Truex and his wife have gone through plenty of struggles lately and four straight top fours will help put a smile on there faces. I for one just hope it keeps going. Finish: 7th
4. Brad Keselowski (LW-6)- After his engine going down at Daytona BK has strung out three straight top 10's leading a lap in each. Phoenix was by far his best race so far in 2015, but even he knew he might not have enough for Harvick.  Finish: 6th
5. Ryan Newman (LW-11)- A big jump, but I think some have missed that Newman is leaving off where he ended 2015. Other than the 500 he has three straight top 10's and two straight 3rd's. Finish: 3rd
6. Kasey Kahne (LW-7)- Kind of like Truex, the difference between 2014 and 2015 for Kahne has been night and day. He still only has two top 10's, but Sunday was a good run for the #5. Finish: 4th
7. Jimmie Johnson (LW-5)- JJ was sent to the back after a lap two run in with Vickers because he had to pit, well the rest of the day was an impressive comeback to the front. He ended up finishing 11th, but that was a score for the #48 team. Finish: 11th
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-2)- It's an unfair drop in the rankings, trust me I know, but its the early season and thats when spots fluctuate. In all fairness Jr wasn't haven't the greatest day as it was before he lost a right rear and was left as a DNF. Finish: 43rd
9. AJ Allmendinger (LW-10)- This small team just keeps pushing in 2015. Sunday wasn't an amazing run but it was very up and down and he still brought it home top 20. If he keeps this car in the top 20 he might be able to make the Chase on points alone. Don't forget though, he will be the road course favorite now. Finish: 17th
10. Matt Kenseth (LW-9)- Sundays 16th wasn't something to ride home about, but where was JGR in general? The weird thing was, Phoenix isn't a 1.5 where the speed is all important, but rather a track that almost runs like a short track. Finish: 16th
11. Paul Menard (LW-12)- No top 10's on the season, but he does have three top 15's and his worst finish is 25th at Daytona. This is the kind of start Newman had in 2014 that brought him all the way to the Chase Finale. Finish: 14th
12. Kyle Larson (LW-NR)- Many (myself included) thought 2015 would have started out better for Larson. After his slow start he does have two straight top 10's, so things might start rolling soon. Finish: 10th

Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin (LW-8)

Just Missed: Jamie McMurray

Honorable Mention (Good runs but no where close to top 12 rankings): Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Justin Allgier

First one of 2015 for NBTW

Back to Back for Hannah

Well that's it for Phoenix International Raceway. We had a season high 9 correct votes this week with the race favorite Kevin Harvick winning. Thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall!