Weekly Review and Power Rankings
Geico 500
| Photo: Jonathan Ferrey Getty Images |
By Richard Tix
"Demolition derby." I missed the race and kept up to date on my phone on Sunday but if fan's had one phrase to use for the Geico 500 I think demolition derby would some it up. 35 cars were involved in some kind of incident on Sunday which means only five cars were left clean.
One of those cars was Brad Keselowski who had arguable the best car of the day. The more concerning thing was how many big wrecks happened. Chris Buescher and Matt Kenseth both took off like planes on Sunday in two different incidents.
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| Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images |
Truth be told I missed Buescher's wreck and still haven't seen a highlight of it but I did see Kenseth's. Sometimes cars just get turned a certain way that flaps just can't stop the car from getting lift. That isn't to say we shouldn't look further into NASCAR safety, but I think sometime's its just the nature of racing at high speeds.
The fact that Dega and Daytona are what some fans always ask for (close side by side racing all race long), but then they also say they hate what Dega has become rubs me the wrong way. The simple nature of Dega with restrictor plates, tight action, and the dependency on draft are what create a feeling of pressure to push to the front. At some point all of these guys think "it's go time" and that's when things get crazy.
Sometimes guys will sit back and it ends up being too late to "go." In those cases the wrecks and action are a bit more laid back, but sometimes things happen like Sunday. Everyone want's to go at the same time and the smallest little mistake causes a huge wreck. Unlike at other tracks, those little errors when we have little margin for error create huge messes.
We still have two superspeedway tracks left on the season. Lets see how they play out before we jump to conclusion that this will always happen. Not that I don't want to look for safer ways to run these races, but this has been the beast that is superspeedways for a long time now.
Pit Road Power Rankings Week 10 (Week 9)
- Kyle Busch (LW-2)- Take out the wreck at Bristol and Kyle Busch has two wins and four top 2's in four races (Bristol he finished 38th with his wreck). So far in 2016 he has been the Harvick of last year (but remember Harvick lost the Championship to Kyle). Finish: 2nd
- Carl Edwards (LW-1)- It was Talladega so a ton of these guys will be getting a slide this week in the rankings. Carl is one of those guys. He did have three straight dominate races before Sunday. Finish: 35th
- Kevin Harvick (LW-3)- Just based on points (no wins included) Harvick is still your 2016 points leader. That is mostly because he is still notching top 10's and hasn't had a single finish higher then 17th. Finish: 15th
- Kurt Busch (LW-7)- Kurt now has four straight top 10's and somehow escaped the poor finish at Dega crew. It still seems that he is just a step behind when it comes to winning, but I think most teams are other than JGR. Finish: 8th
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-4)- JJ has two wins and is fourth in overall points (not including the wins). He might be having the best season behind anyone at JGR (Harvick is in that discussion as well). Finish: 22nd
- Chase Elliott (LW-11)- First, can we talk about how good Chase has been so far in his rookie season? He now has six top 10's and three top 5's. Next can we talk about how good he is at superspeedways already? He has taken both poles (Daytona and Talladega) and for most of both races didn't look like a rookie out there. The top of these rankings are top heavy, but if he keeps putting himself in a place to win late in the race then he could get to the top 5. Finish: 5th
- Brad Keselowski (LW-10)- BK is now the fourth driver to notch multiple wins and only the second non JGR driver to do so. Sunday was his fourth Talladega win which is also the location of his first career win. Finish: 1st
- Joey Logano (LW-6)- JoLo ran most of the day in the top 10 but faded and then was involved in a late wreck ruining his day. On another note, he and Kenseth stirred the pot again just before NASCAR heads to Kansas where this all started in 2015, fun! Finish: 25th
- Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-5)- Weird season for Junior. Both superspeedway races he was involved in a wreck and finishes 36th or higher. I think "Amelia"may finally be put to rest after two bad outings to start 2016. Finish: 40th
- Martin Truex Jr (LW-8)- Truex hasn't been as good as he finished 2015 or as great as he started 2016 but in the last few races he has shown some life of consistency. Finish: 13th
- Trevor Bayne (LW-NR)- I think this is a Behind the Wall first, Bayne cracks the top 12. Since Texas (four races) he has three top 15's, two top 10's, and a top 5. That doesn't even mention that his lone finish outside the top 15 was a 17th place finish at Richmond. It very early, but he is currently 16th in points.
- Jamie McMurray (LW-NR)- Sunday was McMurrays first top 5 of 2016 and only his second top 10. He does have eight finishes of 17th or better in ten races, though. The full speed just isn't there right now and not sure if it will be, but this consistency may still get him a Chase spot like in 2015. Finish: 5th
Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin (LW- 9) and Matt Kenseth (LW-12)
Just Missed: Austin Dillon
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