2015 Week 8 Pit Road: Bristol

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 8: Food City 500

By Richard Tix

This week NASCAR was at Bristol for some short track action. Bristol was the first stop of back to back stops of short track action before Richmond. This week I will be keeping the review part of this article short and sweet, unlike the actual race that took up the whole day.

Most of us knew going into Sunday morning the race was going to be threatened by rain. The race started out postponed by the rain in the morning. Just as one rain cell was moving out most fans could see that another cell would be moving in shortly after and if NASCAR started the race not much would get done. 

Well, NASCAR decided to start anyways and as it turned out, they got a whole 23 laps in. It seemed like the 23 laps could have waited until after the second rain cell. It really looked like that cell would have a larger clearing behind it and 23 laps only took about 10 min.

Either way, things got going early and Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano got together early and ruined there night. Once racing got back going strange things didn't stop. Denny Hamlin didn't get back in his car (neck spasms) and Erik Jones made his debut in a Cup car. Also, Kurt Busch's CC didn't come back either (kidney stones). 

In the second half of the race Jimmie Johnson made a strange move that was more desperate than he normally gets and it started a wreck. Somehow, most involved didn't incur heavy damage but it did hurt Harvick enough he was done competing for the night.

In the end it came down to a bunch of guys who did not have a win in 2015 and it was looking more and more like a first time winner would pull off the win at Bristol. With Matt Kenseth leading a small pop up shower came in and NASCAR went under the red flag again.

NASCAR would get back going for a G-W-C and Kenseth held onto the lead and the win. It was Kenseth's first win int he New Chase Era and the first time he can say he is an almost lock to make the Chase.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 8 (Week 7)

1. Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- He lead 184 laps on the night, don't forget that. It's Bristol and anything can happen (which will be a trend for a lot of guys in these rankings this week). Finish: 38th
2. Jimmie Johnson (LW-5)- What A day/night for Johnson. He never lead a lap, started a wreck, yet finished second. Finish: 2nd
3. Jeff Gordon (LW-7)- Up and down day for Gordon. His kids gave a great command to start the race, but it wasn't enough to hold off the rain I guess. Finish: 3rd
4. Joey Logano (LW-3)- Rough day for JoLo as BK got loose and collected him into an early wreck. It cost Joey a quality finish and his top ten streak, but he is already in the Chase so its onto Richmond . Finish: 40th
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-6)- Jr had a tire go down early that put him in a hole. He worked his way out of some of that hole but wasted a quality car because of that early bad luck. He and the #88 team still fought back for an alrigt finish. Finish: 16th
6. Brad Keselowski (LW-2)- BK got loose after the rain start and brought a caution on lap 23. IN the same wreck he collected his teammate JoLo which was a Pensek 1 2 punch. BK did get back out to pick up a few points he would have lost by calling it a day. Finish: 35th
7. Martin Truex Jr (LW-3)- Truex is another driver that saw his top ten streak go up in smoke Sunday night. He still has a great start to the 2015 season and has put himself in a good position for a Chase push. Finish: 29th
8. Matt Kenseth (LW-NR)- Kenseth finally gets to relax and know that he is locked in the Chase. That is the first time he has had that relief in the New Chase Era. Now they cn start to catch up on the 1.5's. Finish: 1st
9. Kurt Busch (LW-10)- Kurt once again started the race on fire like he has been doing in 2015, but again had a disspointing finish. Something he and his team will need to figure out soon. Finish: 15th
10. Jamie McMurray (LW-11)- Not an amazing night by JMac but it wasn't a throw away race either. Gannasi seems to once agian be strong enough to push for a few wins in 2015. Finish: 14th
11. Kasey Kahne (LW-8)- Kahne had a great night going at one time, but bad luck ruined that. The plus side is it looks like he has closed the gap on his Hendrick teammates since last season. Finish: 37th
12. Ryan Newman (LW-NR)-RCR is still fighting his penalty, but Newman looked like he put it in the rear view mirror on Sunday. He didn't have an amazing night but it was the finish that counted. Don't look now but he is back in the top 16 of points. Finish: 5th

Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin (LW-9) and Carl Edwards (LW-12)

Just Missed: Danica Patrick and Aric Almirola

Honorable Mention: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (4th), Justin Allgaier (8th), Austin Dillon (10th), and Brett Moffit (17th)

Full Race Results
2015 Current Driver Standings

ARF was almost right. 

Back to Back weeks for Garry

Michele's Kenseth fandom finally pays off!!

Well thats it for this week. Now NASCAR heads to Richmond for the third short track in the last four races. Richmond is a personal favorite of mine so I am already looking forward to Saturday night. Check back for this weeks race preview laters this week.