2016 NASCAR Pit Road Week 20: Indianapolis

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Crown Royal Presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400

By Richard Tix

Last year at this time the review was about the same: "Kyle Busch Dominating." That's because Rowdy just wrapped up three straight wins after his trip to victory lane at Indy last year at this time. This year he didn't come into the race dominating, but left it with that feeling.

Why? Well because from start to finish Rowdy was the class of the field. All in all no one could really challenge him. No surprise strategy. No late cautions. Nothing. The No. 18 team was on top of it all day.

Past the winner, the story lines get short quick. Jeff Gordon filled in for Dale Earnhardt Jr who is getting over concussion symptoms and Tony Stewart made his last (or we think it is) Indianapolis start in the Cup series. Both shared some special moment's after the race which will be burned into our NASCAR memories.

After that? Nothing much to talk about except that IMS and the Cup series is continuing a run of terrible races here. Look, I am all on board with strategy of all kinds (I've expressed it many times its all part of racing), but IMS has been long single file drawn out lines for years now. To make it worse, green flag runs are normal. If it wasn't for two cars (both the Penske No. 2 and No. 22) then the strategy of 40 cars wouldn't have even produced a story early on.

Those two decided to try and stretch fuel windows and cut down on a stop. Almost everything needed to go perfect, but at least it gave a drama-less race something to watch for. 

The real issue at IMS is, their is nothing that can save it. The racing is what it is here and most likely will always stay the same. Not every race is drama filled as I have mentioned before, but when year after year we get no action from a race it gets hard to bare. In the end all we are left with is nostalgia and the tradition of winning such a prestigious (yet boring) race. Sometimes that has to be enough in the world of racing because there is no puzzle piece to fit into place for IMS. It is what it is so we have to try and enjoy what is here, tradition and a tough race to get all the way through.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 20 (Week 19)

1. Kyle Busch (LW-3)- The No. 1 spot continues to rotate. This time Rowdy takes it after a dominating win at IMS. Four top 10's in the last five races including a win and a runner up finish at Daytona. Finish: 1st
2. Kevin Harvick (LW-1)- Add yet another top 10 to his season performance. That is now a season leading 16th top 10. Finish: 6th
3. Joey Logano (LW-4)- Both the No. 2 and No. 22 were not the fastest guys on the day, but both teams played strategy and it paid off with a decent finish for JoLo. Finish: 7th
4. Brad Keselowski (LW-2)- See above but insert the strategy didn't pan out. Really neither early strategy played out, but BK ended up getting caught up in a wreck where Carl pushed the corner. The No. 2 had an ok day going, but nothing more. Finish: 17th
5. Matt Kenseth (LW-6)- Last week I watched other sites post Kenseth down near 12th (seriously!?!). After a win Kenseth came back and helped JGR go 1-2-4 to finish Indy. Finish: 2nd
6. Tony Stewart (LW-7)- Smoke had a pretty good car all day but it was apparent that it wouldn't be enough to touch Kyle Busch. It was still a solid run for a guy just needing to get hot at the right time. Finish: 11th
7. Kurt Busch (LW-5)- I have praised Kurt all seaosn for his consistency but where has that gone? Three times in his last four races he has finished outside the top 15. Finish: 16th
8. Martin Truex Jr (LW-10)- It's been an up and down year for Truex. Good runs, bad runs, runs that were good and NASCAR decided to drop the hammer on a rule. Martin has seen it all. Finish: 8th
9. Carl Edwards (LW-8)- Did anyone struggle as much at Carl did getting into a corner? Everyone thought it was just because he was on the outside, but then he caused a wreck on a restart while on the inside and we found out he was pushing the corner all day. Amazing how well he ran while having a poor handling car. Finish: 35th
10. Denny Hamlin (LW-NR)- Welcome back to the rankings Denny. It has been awhile, but we have not forgotten you. Hamlin has had some poor finishes (33, 37, 31, and 39) this season that is holding his consistency back. Finish: 4th
11. Kyle Larson (LW-NR)- After a two race stretch with unimpressive finishing results, Larson finally catches a break again. He actually finds himself right in the thick of the Chase race after a top 5 at IMS (16th in points). Finish: 5th
12. Jimmie Johnson (LW-NR)- It's crazy that JJ has been out of the top 12 for so long, but then again its crazy Sunday was his first top 10 in seven races and his second in eleven. Finish: 3rd

Dropped Out: Greg Biffle (LW-9), Ryan Newman (LW-11), and Jamie McMurray (LW-12)

Just Missed: Austin Dillon