Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Week 6 STP 500
By Richard Tix
NASCAR headed to Martinsville this week and put the West Coast swing in the past. NASCAR also started to gear up for some short track racing and the first step on that path was the "paper clip." After mostly 1.5 mile tracks to start the year it was a great breather to get NASCAR back on track.
I could go on and on about my opinion about short tracks in NASCAR and how we should have more of them, but I will save that for the bye week "hot laps" article.
Joey Logano started the race on the pole and lead a ton early on while looking like the one to beat. But, we have seen that race to race with Joey and eventually like normal it rubbed off and he faded a bit. He did hang on loner than normal at Martinsville, however. The beginning of the race was mashed together with yellow flags for many different reasons (spins and debris).
After a caution for Kennedy a few drivers stayed out and Martin Truex Jr took the lead over. Danica Patrick and Landon Cassill also stayed out and on the restart helped slow down the pack while Truex pulled away.
Eventually the fast pack got around those two and hunted down Truex. Truex gave way to Joey Logano once again and a few laps later Kevin Harvick took the lead from JoLo for the first time on Sunday. Denny Hamlin eventually took the lead on the same green flag run and then another caution came out for Ricky Stenhouse Jr (which seemed to be a trend Sunday).
Denny Hamlin struggled on pit road and his pit selection most of the day. It looked like the pit selection might be his downfall on the day. The big issue on this pit stop was that he once again had a loose tire penalty and it put him in the back with arguably the strongest car on the track.
Through the middle of the race Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne all held the lead for a bit of time. We finally started to settle in and get a few green flag runs in, but eventually they gave way to more cautions.
Lap 302 Brad Keselowski took the lead from Harvick meanwhile JGR holds the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place spots. Joe Gibbs Racing showed strong all day and really showed something for JoLo and SHR. On lap 316 BK and DH caught lapped traffic and DH got the low side for the lead.
DH held the lead until they caught up to a lapped Ryan Newman who eventually held up DH, and DH gave way back to Kevin Harvick. At this point every NASCAR fan started thinking will anyone stop Harvick and can this keep going all year?
After a long day of up and down's Jeff Gordon finally had his day in the spotlight when he got the lead on lap 442. He held the lead for a bit but with 41 laps to go a debris caution was thrown and Jeff Gordon was caught speeding during his pit stop.
With 19 Denny Hamlin lead Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. BK followed for laps and just didn't have enough to get around DH. In the closing laps BK tried to set up DH but on turn four of the lasp lap DH didn't bite and covered the inside. BK could have taken him out but only gave him a tap and DH went on to hold for the win.
It was Hamlins first win of 2015 and pretty much locked him into the Chase. The 11 had the strongest car on the day that we got to see and it paid off with a win. Following his win was a pretty epic burnout that I am sure you can find on youtube, it is worth the time.
Pit Road Power Rankings Week 6 (Week 5)
- Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- Harvick still spent a good portion of the day up front even though he didn't finish his usual second or better. Yes, he is human but leading 154 laps and finishing 8th isnt anything to be too upset about, especially when you have two wins. Finish: 8th
- Brad Keselowski (LW-3)- Quite for much of the day, Brad and Paul Wolfe got the #2 in a spot late in the race to contend. They said it before the race and after, Martinsville is a Chase race and they needed to improve here. Finish: 2nd
- Martin Truex Jr (LW-4)- Another top ten? Check. Thats all 6 races so far this year. This team looks like it is ready to get a win in 2015, but when? Even without a win, if they keep this up they may make the Chase om points. Finish: 6th
- Joey Logano (LW-6)- Week after week Joey runs up front at some point (almost always early). Joey could be one of Harvicks biggest threats if they figure out some mid race adjustments to put him in a good spot in the end more often like Sunday. Finish: 3rd
- Kurt Busch (LW-2)- Kurt spent some time up front again and it looked like maybe it would be another SHR day. This ended up not being the case but he fought through it and still had an alright finish. Finish: 14th
- Matt Kenseth (LW-10)- Kenseth was strong on Sunday (many JGR were). He looked like he had a car to win, but came up just short on the day. It was promising to see him run well here, as it used to be a track he hated, now he loves. Finish: 4th
- Jeff Gordon (LW-12)- It was not a fun day for Gordon and his fans, he was up and down all day. He finally got out front late and it looked like he might just win the thing, that was until a caution and a speeding penalty. Finish: 9th
- Denny Hamlin (LW-NR)- Denny Hamlin dominated much of the day but the stats wont show it. He lead, had to fight through the field, and lead again. Eventually he held of a charging BK for the win and gave us a fantastic burn out. Finish: 1st
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-5)- Hendrick Motorsports had a pretty rough day and Jr was at the forefront. His shifter broke (how many times will this happen?) and he was stuck in a bad spot that lead to a wreck. Finish: 36th
- Kasey Kahne (LW-11)- Kahne is running better, thats no doubt, but he still seems to be searching for a bit more. It wasn't a great day, but he brought it home in a decent spot just outside the top 10. Finish: 11th
- Ryan Newman (LW-7)- He gets a break and stays in the top 12, but what the heck happened? He was so strong to start the race and that #31 just fell off. Finish: 27th
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-8)- Man, everything that could have gone wrong for JJ and the #48 team seemed to have happened. So many issues that it would be tough to list here. It's early so I still expect this team to turn it around. Finish: 35th
Dropped Out: Paul Menard
Just Missed: Aric Almirola and David Ragan
Great Run Honorable Mention: Danica Patrick, Casey Mears, and Regan Smith
Only one correct this week. Jeff gets on the board for the second time in 2015
Well that's it for this weeks review. Remember NASCAR has an off week this weekend for Easter. NASCAR Behind the Wall will still get up the normal TV schedule, Entry List, Hot Laps, and Texas Preview but they may get delayed compared to normal release times. Thanks for checking out NBTW!
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