Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Week 20
By Richard Tix
Another week and another Kyle Busch victory. This is starting to get crazy how in the zone he has been in the last 5 weeks. He has now won three straight and four out of five races which will almost assure him getting to the top 30 in the standings and taking a Chase spot.
Rowdy now only needs to average about a 24th place finish to make the Chase by the end of Richmond.
While we are on the topic of Rowdy, I want to take the time to say how ridiculous some of the hate he receives is. I am not a fan of Rowdy's, but I try and respect every driver at the Cup level. These guys are the best in the business and bring it week after week. To try and say NASCAR rig's its races or cautions just for Kyle Busch is a slap in that NASCAR "fans" own face. I hate to break it to you but the other 42 drivers would not accept that. You don't think Gordon would want that last Indy win? How about Smoke, he wants one every week. This is not the WWE and this is not staged.
Also, three wins straight has happened before and will happen again. Not because it is rigged, but because that driver is on top of his game and also a bit lucky (right place right time with the right calls). If you are bored with NASCAR because one guy is dominating then you need to ask yourself, "who is forcing you to watch?" Richard Petty once won 27 races of the 48 he raced (49 in the season). Of those 27 he won 10 straight at one point. Yet, many of the same fans complaining to leave now are the same that complain about it not being like the good ole days...
Streaks happen.. Learn to enjoy them while great things are happening in front of us. You can dislike Kyle all you want (or Brad, or Jimmie, or Harvick, etc), but the disrespectful hate gets old after some time. You can say, 'I still don't like him but that is a pretty good run." Or you can just ignore it, but do not use him as your excuse to leave or say this is why NASCAR sucks, because there is no real reason behind that. NASCAR won't miss you, trust me. They're changing to try and keep you and gain new followers so one lost while they gain a few will not break there day.
So, enjoy the great things as they happen and just root even more on Sunday for another driver, or boo even louder at Kyle. No need to take it too far on Social Media for no real reason except you're sick of him winning.
Guess what, if you hate him here is even more to hate. The Week 20 Power Rankings are below.
Week 20 Power Rankings (Week 19)
- Kyle Busch (LW-1)- He didn't lead the most laps on the day but had a car to beat late in the race during all the restarts. It is truly and amazing run he is on right now whether you like him or not. 4 wins in 5 races and is now all but locked into the Chase (almost to the top 30 in points). Finish: 1st
- Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- If it wasn't for late restarts Harvick may have won this years Brickyard, but he had a few slow restarts and he had to endure a ton of them. Harvick has 12 finishes in the top 3 out of 20 races, pretty impressive. Finish: 3rd
- Joey Logano (LW-5)- Logano has been turning it on lately and he seems to be getting over looked because of Kyle and Kevin. Granted, he isn't getting the wins, but since Pocono (7 races) he has 6 top 5's including two runner up finishes in the last three races. Finish: 2nd
- Kurt Busch (LW-3)- Sunday at Indy was a win for the 41 team. Neither CC or driver are huge fans of Indy but they came away with a top 10. That must also be the reason they were pretty quiet on the day. Finish: 8th
- Brad Keselowski (LW-6)- Both Penske cars have been fast lately but just can't close the deal, instead Kyle Busch has been doing that for them. BK has led laps in the last three races and the Penske camp seems to be onto something. Finish: 10th
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-4)- Not a memorable Brickyard for Jimmie Johnson on Sunday. That's two in a row for JJ and the #48 team where they haven't been very close on hitting, but they are no where near out. Finish: 15th
- Matt Kenseth (LW-8)- Kenseth and the JGR camp is starting to gain some steam behind the red hot Kyle Busch. At the same time the 20, 19 and 11 are also picking up speed. Kenseth just pulled off three straight top 10's on Sunday. Finish: 7th
- Denny Hamlin (LW-11)- Denny now has three top 10's in his last four races, so its not just Kyle Busch getting going. As mentioned for Kenseth, all of JGR is picking up steam at the same time and just in time. Finish: 5th
- Carl Edwards (LW-10)- Carl really blew his finish on one of the last restarts when he came into turn one near JoLo and got lose, sending him back and then farther back. He salvaged a top 15, but Carl had a top 5 car all day and one that sat on the pole. Finish: 13th
- Martin Truex Jr (LW-12)- After a rough stretch Truex Jr finally got back track on Sunday at Indy. The top 5 was his 6th of the season and he still sits 5th in the points. Finish: 4th
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-7)- Jr just can not find consistency right now, but better now than in the Chase. The 88 team needs to get a few things figured out, but if they do they're still a title contender. Finish: 22nd
- Jeff Gordon (LW-9)- Gordon gets the benifit of the doubt, because I just can't drop him out of the top 12 after such a heartbreaking Indy. No Gordon fans, Clint was not trying to take out Gordon, but things happen. He had three straight top 10's coming into Indy, so its just a speed bump. Finish: 42nd
Dropped Out: None
Just Missed: Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, and Paul Menard
Honorable Mention: Ryan Blaney (12th)
Garry has intelligently riding the Rowdy hot streak.
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