2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 7: Texas

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

By Richard Tix

A Texas Motor Speedway track that has given us a bunch of meh races, a new repave, and a move from Saturday night to Sunday head to head with the Masters, that's what NASCAR was up against this past weekend. I will be completely honest, my expectations for Sunday were pretty low for said reason's already stated.

However, for the most part I was pleasantly surprised with the racing outcome. I will still hold by my opinion stated in the race preview about wanting this TMS race to go from 500 to 400 miles, but that didn't change my opinion of the race in general.

Compared to other races on the season, I would give this race a D+ or C-, but when I take into consideration how much I haven't enjoyed most of the most recent Texas races and the fact that we just had a repave here I would move it to a B and vote "yes" on Jeff Gluck's pole.

The crew at TMS did one heck of a job trying to get the track as ready as they could for the race Sunday. They literally were out there dragging it whenever they could (seriously, 6 AM to 1 AM). By the end of the day Sunday a second groove was coming in and at least giving drivers a chance to step out and try it.

Sure, we always want more, but I was satisfied given the circumstances with the action on Sunday. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture before fully giving a thought out opinion. Now, about those 500 laps.... :)

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 7 (Week 6)

1. Brad Keselowski (LW-1)- The Penske duo are the only two drivers to have six top ten's in the first seven races. BK also is tied for the most top fives (five) and has the most wins (two).
2. Kyle Larson (LW-2)- Late surge by the No. 42 gave Larson another second place finish on Sunday. A little too late, but CGR has it going on early in 2017.
3. Chase Elliott (LW-3)- The top three has been solid for a few weeks now and Chase has solidified his spot by being consistent. Next up, closing races.
4. Joey Logano (LW-5)- See BK above, JoLo has six top tens in seven races to start 2017.
5. Martin Truex Jr (LW-6)- Truex is a bit like Elliott, the No. 78 just needs to close these races after running so fast all race long.
6. Jamie McMurray (LW-10)- These CGR Chevy's are fast every week. At this point you have to wonder, will JMac get a win in 2017? His odds are increasing weekly.
7. Clint Bowyer (LW-7)- What seemed like a slow day for the 14 was actually a race in which Bowyer was running an average 6th place all day. They struggled late and finished 11th, but they have been decent all year.
8. Kevin Harvick (LW-9)- Some bad luck has come Harvicks way, but Bowyer actually leads him in the points standings at the moment. Sunday was a promising run for this No. 4 team.
9. Kyle Busch (LW-4)- That was a poor week for everyone at JGR, something was missing this weekend. A week off and Bristol up next could help turn it around.
10. Ryan Blaney (LW-NR)- Stage win, or long term look at positioning for the race win? The No. 21 still had the longest stage to fight back, but couldn't work through traffic after leading the way in stage one and two.
11. Jimmie Johnson (LW-NR)- An exhausting win, literally, JJ leaves zero doubt that you don't count him out, ever.
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-NR)- 10th at Martinsville and 14th at Texas heading into Bristol is good news for Ricky. Good to see both RFR cars gaining some speed in 2017.

Dropped Out: Ryan Newman (LW-8), Denny Hamlin (LW-11), and Erik Jones (LW-12)

Just Missed: Dale Earnhardt Jr and Trevor Bayne