2016 Pit Road Week 30: Charlotte

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Photo: Mike McCarn — The Associated Press

By Richard Tix

Five, count them, five drivers from the Chase field of twelve finished 30th or worse on Sunday. This is not the round you want to start out like that and all five now have a hole to get out of. Lucky for them one of them can advance on points alone and all five will have a shot to win the wild card race at Talladega.

Now that I think about it, why doesn't NASCAR move Talladega to the first round? I know how NASCAR is with the schedule (and how tracks are), but Dega as a wild card race makes more sense as in a wild card round like the first round. It gives a team like Chirs Buescher some legitimate hope in making the next round. I would love to keep a superspeedway in the Chase, because like the road course argument, a track of every type should make the schedule. However, in the second round where all 12 guys are legit title contenders it seems a bit too fluky to me.

Anyways, they heat will get turned up another notch this weekend especially with five drivers already on the hot seat.

A review of the Chase Power Ranking Rules:

For the first three races we will have 16 drivers ranked and they will all come from the Chase field. Once NASCAR cuts the field to 12 so will Behind the Wall (again, all Chase drivers). Once we cut to 8 drivers I will still rank the top 12, but the top 8 will be only drivers left in the Chase and the remaining four can be anyone (previous Chase drivers OR someone who was never in the Chase). This type format will continue all the way down to the final (so in the end the Champion will be number one and the other eleven can be anyone in the Sprint Cup.

We're down to 12 Chase drivers so only those 12 are in the rankings this week.

Pit Road Power Rankings Week 30 (Week 29)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Not the finish they were looking for, especially on a 1.5 mile track. They still have tons of momentum and until they post two poor finishes in a row this spot is his.
2. Brad Keselowski (LW-2)- BK's consistency just keeps coming. If the No 2 stays away from bad luck it should be enough to advance him to the round of eight.
3. Matt Kenseth (LW-6)- Great run after starting 17th, but it just wasn't enough. That is four straight top 10 finishes this Chase and his second runner up.
4. Jimmie Johnson (LW-7)- JJ is locked in as one of the final eight drivers in the 2016 Chase after winning at Charlotte. That has to be a great feeling during an up and down season.
5. Kyle Busch (LW-3)- Quietly finishing well, Rowdy has a string of five straight top 10's going right now. He has also led at least one lap in every Chase race so far.
6. Kurt Busch (LW-10)- This round has started out much better then how last round went (one top 10), but will the No 41 team keep it going?
7. Carl Edwards (LW-12)- It was only a twelfth place finish, but after Edwards the Chase drivers fell off. He is safe for now, but still needs to run better.
8. Chase Elliott (LW-9)- What a run for Chase on Sunday until being involved in a wreck on lap 260. He led 103 laps which was second only to JJ.
9. Denny Hamlin (LW-8)- 52 laps led and engine issues, rough way to start the second round. But, Hamlin has been fast so he can work his way out of it.
10. Kevin Harvick (LW-5)- This just isn't Harvick's Chase right now is it? Head up No. 4 fans, he can win at anytime.
11. Joey Logano (LW-4)- Speaking of needing a win, JoLo had issues all day staying on the track and finished poorly as a result. It's early, but he may also need a win to advance.
12. Austin Dillon (LW-11)- Another car caught up in a wreck. Expect the same at Dega which means all five of these guys still have a shot if they stay clean.