2015 Pit Road Week 32: Talladega

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

CampingWorld.com 500

By Richard Tix

Well, Sunday night NASCAR sure had some story lines after the final flag was thrown. NASCAR put themselves into a situation where it once again had to rule in a pretty grey area and police itself. I have always said one of NASCAR's biggest problem is within it's rule changes it is not ready to continually "police" itself.

It happened again on Sunday when NASCAR put themselves in a box by changing the Green White Checker rule for Talladega. They had good intentions because they were trying to institute the rule to eliminate as many dangerous wrecks at the end of a superspeedway race that they could. However, with the new, only one GWC, rule and the fact that it was the last race in a round, meaning drivers would be eliminated, it put them in a very hard spot.

Then, after a first restart that was (in my opinion) correctly ruled not an attempt, Kevin Harvick put NASCAR in an even harder spot. On the first try, Harvick most likely saw the wreck happening and got up out of the way because he knew his car couldn't get going on restarts. He might have thought that the race would be called and he would be onto the next round. NASCAR ruled it wasn't a restart as they didn'e even get past the start finish. Fair enough, I agreed with the call not only because it made sense, but what a crappy way to end just 10 seconds into a restart.

On the second one, Harvick stayed in line much longer, yet still not getting up to speed. Bayne made a move so he wouldn't bunch everyone up to go to the outside. It wasn't until Bayne was at Harvicks front bumper that Harvick went up high to "clear." Harvick states he was trying to clear and as of this writing no one can actually bring proof to say otherwise.

However, I and many other people believe different. A driver of his caliber didn't not see Bayne who was already in front of him, it just didn't happen. What seems more likely is that the 4 knew no crash was coming this time and the other drivers were past the line, so a yellow would come and he would advance.

Now, this is all opinion and I agree, with the evidence we have as of now, we have no idea his intent or if he is telling the truth. But, this intro is for my opinion on the race and what happened. 

If anything is found moving towards a point that he did in fact cause it purposefully, then he needs to be pulled from the Chase. It was no different then MWR and Clint taking that spin at Richmond, he was intentionally changing the outcome.

But, until the day evidence or the truth come out, NASCAR has to move on. Between the Chase rules and rule changes they were putting themselves in this spot of having to make tough calls in grey area's. It has been, and seems to be, always will be NASCAR's biggest problem.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 32 (Week 31)

Remember, only Chase drivers are eligible for the top 8 spots. The next 4 spots are up for anyone else in NASCAR (whether they were once in the Chase or not). It is a different variation on the Power Rankings, but it is only far to top the remaining 8 first. 

1. Joey Logano (LW-1)- JoLo just swept the round, yes that did just happen. He now has 6 wins in 2015 and leads NASCAR. He was a legitimate title contender last year and now he is a favorite. Finish: 1st
2. Carl Edwards (LW-4)- Carl had three top 10's that round and didn't finish worse than 8th. In the Chase he quietly has 3 top 5's, and 5 top 10's while finishing top 15 in all 6 races. Finish: 5th
3. Brad Keselowski (LW-6)- BK also had three top 10's that round, but two of them were 9th place finishes. Each round he has gotten better and he still has room to improve (see JoLo). Finish: 4th
4. Kurt Busch (LW-5)- This season has been hot and cold for Kurt, but in this last round it was all hot. Three straight top 10's helped him move on. Finish: 10th
5. Kevin Harvick (LW-3)- Harvick only has two top 10's (a win and runner up) in 6 Chase races. Is he starting to feel the heat while coming up inconsistent? Finish: 15th
6. Jeff Gordon (LW-8)- Gordon is slowly turning his rough up and down regular season around. He has three straight top 10's and has yet to finish outside 14th in the Chase. Finish: 3rd
7. Kyle Busch (LW-7)- Kyle just got by on Sunday, but last year he was running better at this moment and missed out because of someone behind him not checking up on yellow. If he keeps advancing he will be a threat to win it. Finish: 11th
8. Martin Truex Jr (LW-9)- Truex had two top 10's this round compared to one last round, but he just got by. He advances, but he will need more to keep the dream season alive this round. Finish: 7th
9. Denny Hamlin (LW-2)- I am giving him this spot because that was some crap luck Hamlin had on Sunday. He has every right to be mad and upset. He did what he needed to the past two races (4th and 2nd), his team fought through adversity at Dega (roof hatch), and still are left out of this round because of what Harvick may have done intentionally. Finish: 37th
10. Ryan Newman (LW-10)- Newman was good, but not great this round. He had three top 15's, but zero top 10's which just isn't enough. Finish: 12th
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-11)- Back to the wall, a weird finish where someone may or may not have intentionally cause Jr to lose a must win race, and Jr still came out with a classy post race interview. #Respect Finish: 2nd
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-NR)- Yes, lost in the Chase races is the fact that Stenhouse Jr has actually been running well. he has two top 10's, 5 top 15's, and 6 top 20's in 6 Chase races. That is as many top 15's as he had all regular season and more top 10's. Finish: 9th