Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Auto Club 400
 |
| Robert Laberge/Getty Images |
By Richard Tix
March 20, 2016. What an interesting, fantastic, and exciting day. NASCAR wrapped up it's West Coast swing at Auto Club Speedway and it went out with a bang. The Auto Club finish also marked our first NASCAR Cup racing break of 2016 as we head into Easter weekend.
Where to start? The race itself was just about perfect. Auto Club Speedway has produced some of the best racing on the schedule for the past 4-5 years without a doubt. I won't even let anyone argue that fact with me, it has just been that good. Auto Club makes the case to why NASCAR's tracks should never repave the track surface unless it is absolutely needed. The aging surfaces help give the track character, help develop more running lines, and make teams pay more attention to tire strategy.
Between a perfect track and an improved aero package that is giving early season life to NASCAR at every track the race was almost perfect from start to finish.
To start the race teams had some early tire issues more often then not. It seemed like a case of teams not listening to Goodyear's recommendations on air pressure. Teams will continually do this to test the limits and sometimes it doesn't work. It is just my hunch, but I think they were testing it out early and it failed.
The issues happened less and less as the race moved along, but the action on the track continued to heat up. Passing upon passing every lap. This packaged had already proved to help the passing on other tracks, but at a track like Fontana where many times groves can be found 3, 4 or even 5 wide it makes the action that much better.
It wasn't just passing in the pack, but up front where leaders spared back and forth to take the front spot. By the end of the day we had 26 lead changes, 26!
The second to the last restart was by far some of the best racing of the season. Six different drivers were under a "blanket" going four wide. Guys like Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott getting run's on the high side shooting from high to low to make a pass. I seriously think if you didn't enjoy it you might want to head to the doctor and check your pulse.
 |
| PHOTO: AP / JOSE HUERTA |
After about 5-7 laps of 4 wide battling the restart was finally settled. By the time the run was coming to a finish everyone could feel a tire problem coming. Guys were scrapping the wall and Ryan Blaney even had a tire go down (he made it to the pits without a caution). Then Kyle Busch had a tire go down and before he got to pit lane NASCAR threw a yellow.
It was the second time in the same amount of days that Kyle Busch had a tire issue in the closing laps that ruined his day.
At the time Kevin Harvick held the lead and was now in position to once again lead the most laps of the day but lose the trip to victory lane. Harvick and crew have had this happen more time's then are worth counting and sometimes it makes you think about how many more wins he should have had in the past two seasons with SHR.
Well, add another one to that list as he lost the lead on that last "overtime" restart. The restart battle wasn't near as good as the previous one, but it still made for a fun finish. In the end Jimmie "Superman" Johnson flew to the front on the restart and took his 6th Auto Club win and 77th career win to victory lane.
If the race wasn't enough, the after race should have put you in a evening overload. Drivers, team members, parodies, and wives took to twitter and set it on fire. It was exciting and entertaining to say the least. I won't get into detail, but you can go looking around at Cole Pearn, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Busch (if you're not blocked), Amy Reiman, The Orange Cone, and Kevin Harvick to name a few. Not to mention if you're a basketball fan how amazing the tourney was.
In the end, we had short runs, long runs, pit stop troubles, tire problems, guys conserving tires, strategy, passing, falling, three lanes, five lanes, and heated battles for the lead and all throughout the field. We had just about everything fans have been asking for and want in a race.
NASCAR will carry the most momentum it has had through five races in a long time into Easter Break before heading to Martinsville after. One thing is for sure, no one will forget about NASCAR during the break.
Pit Road Power Rankings Week 5 (Week 4)
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-3)- Leading at least 18 laps in four of five races so far and winning two of them, JJ has a hot start with this new aero package. Not good for other drivers, but at least they still have the Chase to be hopeful of. Finish: 1st
- Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- How much tough luck can he have? Once again leading the most laps of the race and once again coming up short. He held himself very well after the race in adversity. Finish: 2nd
- Kyle Busch (LW-2)- How unlucky can you be to have two tire issues in two days during the closing laps? Even if he was over driving (not saying he was or wasn't, I'm not in his car) its still crazy to think it happened about the same time. He gets the benefit this week (plus no one else stepped up enough to take his spot). Finish: 25th
- Carl Edwards (LW-5)- Strong car all day. Edwards fought off a late tire issue and salvaged a nice finish anyways. Finish: 7th
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-4)- What a long day for Junior and Jr Nation. Most of his air time while struggling was for Batman v Superman, yet he salvaged the day and almost finished top 10. Finish: 11th
- Denny Hamlin (LW-10)- Did anyone have a more up and down day then Denny? Struggling, penalties, and a comeback all sum up his day. What a way to fight through adversity when many (including myself) thought his day was about over. Finish: 3rd
- Brad Keselowski (LW-10)- Another strong car like the 11 and 19, but another case of fighting through adversity. This one was a pit penalty. BK didn't seem to have a winning car anyways, but he made the best he could of the day and was in that front group under a "blanket" to finish the race. Finish: 9th
- Joey Logano (LW-11)- Joey was strong all day but not quite winning strong. Then their is the Truex issue. Look, he didn't touch Martin. Martin was already rapidly falling. Yet, Joey still extended an apology over the radio and after the race. What else does he have to do? It was an aero thing and he got too close, it happens. Finish: 4th
- Kurt Busch (LW-6)- Speaking of Joey, the same thing happened with Dale Junior and Kurt very early except Junior actually made contact with Busch. Yet, no twitter uproar? Oh, yeah because it was Dale. Move along. Anyways, tough break for Kurt as he got lose and slow and Junior had no where to go when he couldn't check up fast enough. Finish: 30th
- Martin Truex Jr (LW- 7)- I really do like Truex, and I understand in the moment him being upset, but what Cole Pearn's says on Twitter after he should have seen the replay and noticed the #78 wasn't physically touched was a bit uncalled for, funny, but uncalled for. Martin was still very strong before the fall off that helped lead to the JoLo situation. Finish: 32nd
- Austin Dillon (LW-8)- Austin took his hot run into Auto Club and then took the pole. But as many predicted, Kevin Harvick took it over by the middle of turns one and two and never looked back. It was a disappointing finish, but his quality start gives him a week of cushion in the rankings. Finish: 24th
- Chase Elliott (LW-NR)- The back and forth for the 12th spot on the rankings keeps happening with the two best rookies of 2016. Chase already has three top 10's in five races and has really stood out. He spent most of the day in the top 10 on Sunday. All three races he has run in the top 15 92% or better of the time. He has an average running position of 9th, 13th, 8th, and 7th in his last four. If not for the last caution he would have had his first top 5. Finish: 6th
Dropped Out: Ryan Blaney (12th)
Just Missed: Jamie McMurray
No comments:
Post a Comment