Weekly Review and Power Rankings
AAA 400 Drive For Autism
By Richard Tix
Elko Speedway Recap:
Stand. Alone. Racing.
Short tracks. Grassroots.
These are the things many NASCAR fans have been beating the drum for lately (heck, for awhile).
If you were paying attention Saturday then you know that ARCA and Elko Speedway put on one heck of a show Saturday night. If you weren't, well it's ok because before getting into the racing on Sunday I am going to put a little focus on Elko Speedway to catch you up (my home track in Minnesota).
Let's start out by being fair, ARCA produces a ton of good shows as do other levels of racing that tend to hit more "local" trackssuch as the Super Late Model's that have featured Ty Majeski and Harrison Burton as of late. However, Saturday was a showcase of why NASCAR needs to get back to spotlighting these series AND the Xfinity and Truck series in there own stand alone events.
Saturday night at Elko was a finish that will be remembered for awhile for race fans who were lucky enough to catch it on MAVTV, watched some of my periscope (some short videos here), or were physically there at the track. During the closing laps of the Shore Lunch 250 Austin Theriault (#52 for Ken Schrader) gave a bump and run on Christian Eckes (#15 Venturini Motorsports) and took the lead, but the battle wasn't over just yet. On the final lap in turn's three and four with a four way battle for the win Eckes (second) tried the same move on Austin (first) which brought them side by side down the front stretch of the short 3/8th mile Elko Speedway and gave race fans a finish where both cars crossed within inches of each other. Austin nudged Christian for the win and a trip to VL (well, a VL created on the front stretch for fans to see and listen to the post race interview).
Right behind them Riley Herbst (#18 Joe Gibbs Racing) and Zane Smith (#55 Venturini Motorsports) got into each other and caused a huge puff of smoke to cover the track behind them. A few others were caught up in the last lap carnage as you might expect on such a short track. Zane was taken to a local hospital but was released later when Venturini Motorsports gave an official release via twitter.
The race gave us a look back at what good hard short track racing has and always will be. Both Austin and Christian walked away knowing they gave it all they had but didn't take each other out in the process. These types of track's and event's are what many fans think are missing in today's truck (and Xfinity) series. If NASCAR could bring back some stand alone races at short tracks around the country it could really help booster the lack of shine they tend to get on a given weekend plus help these local tracks create a destination event.
If anything, Saturday night showed that Minnesota has a gem that many people had no idea existed which ARCA helped bring to light. Elko isn't the only gem around either, these track's are all over and if ARCA, Xfinity, or the truck series branched out and had more stand alone event's I could only see it helping racing as a whole. If each series down the line is stronger because of it, so will Cup down the line.
Dover Recap:
As always, Saturday wasn't the only racing of the weekend. Cup was back at Dover International Speedway on Sunday which was the cherry on top of my own personal weekend that included the trip to Elko Speedway and a local Mopar car show (Mopars in the Park). Dover is a track I have towards the top of my list and in my opinion it produced this weekend.
Early on Miles the Monster took over and caused a ton of action which continued on for the whole race. As the day went on the track opened up and even without a substance to help grip seemed to have two lanes (maybe small lanes, but two none the less). The day's story lines were dominated for the most part by Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, and Jimmie Johnson (mis in Ty Dillon for a late call which lead to him leading the race for 27 laps). Larson (241 led) and Truex (102 led) dominated most of the day, but not in full run away fashion like some of JJ's old wins. JJ started the day in back and made quick work of the field to get up front and remind Larson and Truex who the king of Dover still is.
Though he only led 7 laps on the day, JJ still had one of the top cars on the day. The 48 team was helped by a late caution that bunched the group up and ran Larson thru some speedy dry, but he may have got to him anyways on a "clean" track. Sundays win by Johnson was his 83rd of his career which includes 11 at Dover (which is the most by any driver current or retired). We truly are watching one of the sports best so just realize you're watching history before it is history..
Overall, Dover gave us fun hard racing with plenty of strategy calls and late drama to pass as a good race no matter what the detractors might say. However, once again a good race won't be the front page news as things like the "overtime line" are bound to top the headlines.
Sure, the overtime line is something many fans can't get behind, but lets look at this race for the competitiveness on the track and how well the product seemed to have produced and not another rule that fan's love to cling on and bash. I mean, sure it's nice to finish at something called the start/finish line, but we would have wrecked most likely anyways and torn up half the field no matter where the official line was on Sunday. Don't yell at NASCAR for something that the driver's thought was a good idea after Harvick created a hot mess at Talladega a few years back, its not just one person or entities fault for the rule being in place but rather a lot of forces at play that created a drama filled finish at Dover on Sunday.
Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 13 (Week 12)
- Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Truex is the head of the class right now. Your points leader, your playoff points leader, your led laps leader, and your top ten leader.
- Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- Quiet day for Harvick that still led to a third straight top. However, after leading laps in seven straight races, he didn't find the front all day at Dover.
- Jimmie Johnson (LW-7)- 83 wins, 11 at Dover, 7 Championships. Not much else has to be said about JJ. He now has a season leading 3 wins that gives him 15 playoff points (second only to Truex).
- Kyle Larson (LW-6)- Larson was really, really good on Sunday and had the car to beat. Unfortunately for him, the best car for a whole race doesn't always win late in the race given the situations.
- Kyle Busch (LW-3)- Kyle went through it all on Sunday but climbed out of the hole by mid race. He fell off late, but still had a productive day worth of info they will use in the playoffs.
- Jamie McMurray (LW-5)- Seventh on Sunday, the last time JMac finished worse then 12th was Martinsville (the sixth race of 2017).
- Denny Hamlin (LW-9)- Back to back top tens for Denny, maybe he is starting to turn the corner?
- Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- How far do you keep dropping back luck? Last week he was taken out early and I dropped him four spots, this week I am doing the same. If he goes three for three bad luck may take him out of the top 12 even though he has been fast when he is on track.
- Matt Kesneth (LW-12)- Kenseth has just been average this year, it's about time he breaks out. I really thought it would be Dover, but he had to settle for a 13th place finish even after a small tussle with Blaney.
- Daniel Suarez (LW-NR)- Suarez is really starting to come around and I am not sure how many fans are noticing. a solid 6th place finish on Sunday now gives him four top 15's in the last five races.
- Ryan Newman (LW-NR)- Newman spent some time up front late in the race holding back traffic from catching Ty Dillon. Ryan now has back to back top tens to go with his win earlier this season.
- Austin Dillon (LW-NR)- Another RCR car on the list and getting mentioned after Dover. Dillon didn't run an amazing race, but he put up a 12th place finish one week after winning CMS.
Dropped Out: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-8), Joey Logano (LW-10), and Clint Bowyer (LW-11)
Just Missed: Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr
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