Behind the Wall: June 2015

Monday, June 29, 2015

2015 Pit Road Week 16: Sonoma

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 16: Toyota Save Mart 350

By Richard Tix

NASCAR headed into Sonoma with a ton of questions. Would an underdog win? Would someone steal a Chase spot? Can AJ Allmendinger get another road course win?

Well, AJ won the Pole and it looked possible all of those questions would be answered. Until Sunday came around and Kyle Busch won the Toyota Save Mart 350. Now, we have even more questions to be answered. Will Kyle sweep in and steal a Chase spot after sitting out with an injury for 11 races? Kyle got the win, but he now needs to make up ground and get into the top 30 in points to make the Chase. Can Kyle make up the points difference? Will someone else steal a win later at Watkins Glen?

As it stands right now Kyle Busch has 125 points and is 136 points behind Cole Whitt who has 261 and is 30th in points. Kyle now has 10 races left to make up those 136 points before the Chase, keep in mind Justin Allgaier is sitting at 260 points, so Kyle has to catch an pass both.

It wont be an easy thing to do, but it will be a fun story line to watch down the stretch.

Onto the Power Rankings. Let's check out the movers and shakers this week:

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 16 (Week 15)

Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- Harvick notched another top 5 on the season which is a Cup leading 11. He now has 11 top 5's and 14 top 10's in 16 races. Its another great start for Harvick, but he hasn't been seeing Victory Lane lately. Finish: 4th
Jimmie Johnson (LW-3)- Not a lot of movement with these top guys. JJ once again had a strong weekend where he lead 45 laps (most by any driver on Sunday) and finished in the top 10. Finish: 6th
Kurt Busch (LW-6)- Who is second behind Harvick in laps lead in 2015? Thats right, its Kurt in 3 less races than most other drivers. Again on Sunday he lead 43 laps, which was good for second most on the day. Finish: 2nd
Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-5)- Jr is having another good run in 2015, but gets overlooked because guys like JJ, Harvick, Truex, and Kurt are doing even better. Don't count him out of the title hunt just yet. Finish: 7th
Joey Logano (LW-4)- Three straight top 5's for Logano, maybe I am being too tough on him? It's a really strong stretch for him, but he still has only lead 7 laps in those three races, many of the guys above him can say more than that. Finish: 5th
Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Rough day for Truex. Seems like the only way to hold him back right now is for him to be involved in a wreck. Well, he doesn't have to worry about that for now after getting his win at Pocono. Finish: 42nd
Jamie McMurray (LW-7)- Now that Truex Jr got his win in 2015, McMurray is the next driver up to be underrated on the season and win-less. He currently is 7th in points and has been sitting in the top 9 for 8 races. Maybe his time to come is this weekend at Daytona? Finish: 11th
Kasey Kahne (LW-10)- Kahne hasn't been terrible this year, be he also hasn't been amazing. Instead, he has been pretty consistent and on Sunday he added a top 10 to that list of consistency. Finish: 8th
Brad Keselowski (LW-8)- BK has sat 6th in the points standings for 7 straight weeks. In that time it has been tough to know what you will get from him. He has 3 top 10's in that time, but also 3 finishes of 17+ (the other finish was 12th, right in the middle). Finish: 19th
Clint Bowyer (LW-NR)-Bowyer makes a stop on the NBTW Power Rankings and it has been awhile. Clint's 3rd place finish was his first top 5 of the season and his third top 10 in the past four races. He seems to be picking up a bit of steam lately. Finish: 3rd
Matt Kenseth (LW-9)- Kenseth is behind win-less drivers like Kahne and McMurray and almost behind Kurt Busch (who sat out three races). It hasn't been a strong season for the #20 team, but at least they have that one win to get them to the Chase. Finish: 21st
Paul Menard (LW-NR)- Menard has been in and out of these bottom spots for mush of the season. He just keeps hanging around. He has been in the top 16 in points ever since the third race of the year and lately he has been hanging around the top 12. He may not get a win, but he might put himself in position for a spot on points. Finish: 13th

Dropped Out: Jeff Gordon (LW-11) and Denny Hamlin (LW-12)

Just Missed: Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson

Honorable Mention: Sam Hornish Jr (10th place) and Tony Stewart (12th place)

No one correctly picked Kyle Busch to win this weekend at Sonoma. It has been a rough few weeks for me getting the word out to vote on winners, but this week we had an ok showing, just no lucky guesses. This weekend we head for Daytona on Fourth of July Weekend for the Firecracker 400 (Coke Zero 400). Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Holiday weekend! Check back in for the entry list a preview! As always, thanks for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

2015 Sonoma Schedule

Toyota Save Mart 350

By Richard Tix

It is an off week for everyone but the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Cup heads West this weekend after taking Father's Day weekend off. Not only do we head West, but we head West to the land of right turns at Sonoma Raceway.

This weekend will be a huge week for any driver without a win in 2015 and also those underdogs who's best shot at a win come at a road course. Sonoma is a track where many people see a possible "upset" winner coming from and crashing in on the 2015 Chase party.

So will it happen? Check out all the times you can check out the Cup cars on the track:

Friday June 26, 2015

3-4:55 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice- FOX Sports 2
6:30-7:55 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice- FOX Sports 2

Saturday June 27, 2015

2:15 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying- FOX Sports

Sunday June 28, 2015

3 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 (110 laps)- FOX Sports 1

2015 Sonoma Entry List

Toyota / Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway

By Richard Tix

Sonoma Raceway Entry List from Jayski.com

Notes: Justin Marks is in the #34 this week replacing Brett Moffitt (as was announced earlier this season). Boris Said will be in the #32 Ford Fusion. Dale Earnhardt Jr has a new sponsor, Microsoft Windows 10 for Sonoma. Cole Whitt will be in the Uponor Ford (Uponor's USA headquarters are in Apple Valley, MN so NBTW has to give a MN shout out!).

Friday, June 19, 2015

2015 Chase Power Rankings: First Edition

By Richard Tix

Unlike NASCAR Behind the Wall's Pit Road Power Rankings, this years 2015 Chase Power Rankings will include ONLY drivers with a win. These rankings will not only take into account how they have done so far, but what NBTW things there Power Ranking is for winning the 2015 Sprint Cup Championship.

2015 Chase Power Rankings First

Kevin Harvick- Harvick has to be the Championship favorite right now. I know Jimmie Johnson has more wins, and wins help you move on during the Chase, but Harvicks 7.3 average finish will make sure he moves on round by round as well. Not only that, he leads NASCAR with 1,225 laps lead (560 more then the next closest. Kurt Busch-665). Other than Kurt, he has more than double laps lead than anyone else. That means he will be running up front when the pressure is on and that is where you have to be.
Jimmie Johnson- Johnson knows how this Championship thing works, he has a few. He also leads NASCAR this year in wins so far (4) which is about 26.66% of the races so far. His average finish is down from last years 15.3 and closer to his career average. He has as many wins as he did in 2104 and is one top 5 away from as many as 2014 and we are only 15 races in. This is the JJ everyone has come to know in the past few years, yet something is different...Harvick and that fact that JJ hasn't won a title in this points system yet.
Kurt Busch- It is crazy, but even after missing three races Kurt has the second most laps lead behind Harvick (665 total). He actually has lead a higher percentage of laps while he was on the track than Harvick. Kurt has been in 1st 5.74% of the time compared to the 3.73% of the time Harvick has. It has been night and day looking at 2014 and his first year with SHR and this season. Not sure what happened, but the #41 running many of the same set ups as the #4 might be the answer. Those two teams have something figured out, plus Hendrick engines don't hurt..
Martin Truex Jr- Truex finally got another win and his first of 2015 after being so close so many times. Pocono locked him in the Chase even though he would have been in on points reguardless. Before his Pocono win, Martin had lead 357 laps in the three previous races. Just those 357 laps led would have put him 6th in laps lead on the season (he is actually 3rd with 486). It has been great to see him and Furniture Row succeed this season and the good luck been a long time coming for Truex. Even if he doesn't win again, he has been an even better version of the 2014 Ryan Newman and he made the Finale at Miami.
Joey Logano- Penske hasn't been the talk of NASCAR in 2015 like they were last season, but both Team Penske drivers are having great seasons. Maybe the under the radar approach is just what Joey needs to finish off the next step of his career. It isn't like his stats are lacking either, 1 win, 8 top 5's, 11 top 10's in 15 races (plus 4 poles). It is scary to think how quiet the hype has got on him even during such a good regular season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr- Jr has the Hendrick backing, which helps anyone, plus he is putting it to good use. He and JJ have been fast all season and seem to have found a bit more than teammates Kahne and Gordon have. Seems like Jr has been top 5 or bust this season (8 top 5's and 9 top 10's), which isn't a bad thing. He has also been limiting his number of really bad finishes which is something that you have to do during the Chase. Is this the season he finally win's a Championship? No one has been talking about the loss of Steve LeTarte recently, so that must be a good thing..
Brad Keselowski- I debated having BK ahead of both JoLo and Jr because he has won a title and knows how to get it done when everything is on the line (see last years Chase and how he advanced). At the same time JoLo and Jr have been finishing out more runs in the top 5 and might not be hated by as many other drivers. Does that matter? Not much, but one time around retaliation could cost him a lot. Even after saying that, BK still has a good shot at #2. He has shown speed all season and we know Paul Wolfe is one of the best in NASCAR when it comes to strategy.
Denny Hamlin- Once we get past BK it is JGR and family. I really have those 7 above as the best contenders, with about 4 of them the top dogs. The rest if Joe Gibbs Racing.... JGR just hasn't found the speed the past two years and its drivers are scrapping to stay alive in the Chase. Give these guys credit, they have been sticking around as long as they could with Penske and Hendrick engines. Denny gets the top nod just because he did the same thing in 2014 but made his way to the final four in Miami.
Matt Kenseth- Kenseth has been the most consistent of all the JGR drivers with a win. Anyone who says he should be above Hamlin has a legitimate opinion. Kenseth has been very good on the shorter tracks, but JGR speed has hurt him a bit at 1.5's. They might be closing the gap and the nice thing for the #20 is they're locked in so they have time to make some ground up.
Carl Edwards- Edwards transition to JGR hasn't been as smooth as he would have liked. However, looking back at RFR he can still see a sinking ship so he has to be happy about leaving. If JGR can find the speed than Carl can climb up this list, until then he has been one of the least consistent drivers with a win in 2015.

Well, that's it. After 15 races in 2015 I really think this fight will be up to Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. You can add in the mix Truex, JoLo, BK, and Jr if they make a run into the final four and one of the top 3 have set backs. It will be interesting to watch how the next 11 races unfold and how the new package works at Kentucky. That car package could be a game changer down the stretch and might bring some new drivers to the front of contention.

NASCAR Behind the Wall wont be looking at these Power Rankings week by week, but rather every few weeks just to catch up on how the drivers already locked in are doing. Thanks for checking it out!