Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Good Sam 500
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| Sean Gardner/Getty Images |
By Richard Tix
Sunday was one of those days you couldn't ask for a ton more. Some fans would say the race as a whole was boring, and they have every right to believe that. However, I saw a ton of on track action that the TV's didn't always catch from front to back. The lead lacked some passing this race, but we don't always get the perfect race when it comes to entertainment factor every single week.
Some days guys just have such good runs that no matter how great the aero package they will just run away from the field. This particular Sunday we had some fun, fast paced racing, and the finish was solid gold.
At the end of the day fans will come back in 5, 10 years, and remember the finish. If you ask ten of those fans in ten years how the rest of the race was they wont be able to tell you, but the will 100% remember the finish.
That finish between Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards will go down in history along with the one earlier this year (Daytona). Not many season's do we as fans, media, and drivers get two amazingly close finishes in a whole season, let alone two in the first four races.
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| AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin |
Going into turn three Edwards drove in deep and under Harvick with a good run. Harvick bumped him to try and slow Carl's momentum down. The two drivers were beating and banging down the front stretch until Carl tried one last bump but it wasn't enough as Harvick edged out Edwards to the line by 0.01 sec.
This time it was a JGR driver coming up just short (Denny Hamlin edged out Martin Truex Jr at Daytona to start 2016). The finish gives NASCAR even more momentum heading to Fontana in its last stop on its NASCAR goes West trip.
Pit Road Power Rankings Week 4 (Week 3)
- Kevin Harvick (LW-3)- Last year Harvick dominated the West coast swing. After winning Sunday he has a shot to still take two of three this time around. Finish: 1st
- Kyle Busch (LW-1)- Kyle started out front and could have run up there most of the day if it was not for a poor pit stop's. Once putting on just two tires and another where he completely screwed it up. Still a great run despite those struggles.
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-2)- JJ seemed to have a car to beat, but starting in back to start the day put him in a big disadvantage. He did make that ground up quick, but just couldn't get back to Harvick. Finish: 11th
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-8)- Solid day for Junior at Phoenix. He was there in the end, but it was really only between the front row on that last restart. At least he looked like he could contend for a win Sunday, hadn't had that feeling much yet in 2016. Finish: 5th
- Carl Edwards (LW-9)- Carl really was solid all day long. He seemed to be in second almost all day and when it came down to it, he was second again by 0.01 seconds. He was very gracious in defeat and made the smart move to not wreck Harvick for the win. Clean, hard, fun racing. Finish: 2nd
- Kurt Busch (LW-5)- A quiet day for a guy who was in the top 10 most the day. Kurt has't really been winning fast, but if he keeps being top 10 fast the speed will follow like it did for Harvick. Finish: 6th
- Martin Truex Jr (LW-7)- After starting out the year with two top 10 finishes Truex has followed that up with two finishes outside the top 10. He did run 100% of the race in the top 15, but that wasn't good enough on Sunday. Finish: 14th
- Austin Dillon (LW-10)- What a start for Austin Dillon. Considering the rest of RCR hasn't been that great it makes it even more impressive. So far Dillon has been the 2014 Newman of 2016. He looks like he has turned a corner and spent all day in the top 10. Finish: 9th
- Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- Tough, tough day for BK. Early on he had nothing going. They worked on it and he looked like he would have a top 10 car until he had a right rear go down and it put him 5 laps down. Finish: 29th
- Denny Hamlin (LW-11)- After dropping each week down this list with sub par runs, it was nice to see Denny have a good race. Finish: 3rd
- Joey Logano (LW-6)- JoLo was much better all day than this drop shows. However, his finish was very disappointing after the team was short on fuel (and knew it). They were fast all day and this #22 will get a win or two when it is all said and done. Finish: 18th
- Ryan Blaney (LW-NR)- The rookie duo of Blaney and Chase continue to impress. While Chase just missed out, Blaney got the last spot this week with another quality run all day long at a track that the Wood Brothers had been skipping lately. Finish: 10th
Dropped Out: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (12th)
Just Missed: Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott, and Aric Almirola
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