2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 22: Watkins Glen

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

I Love New York 355 at the Glen

By Richard Tix

The Week 22 NASCAR Power Rankings after Martin Truex Jr's win at WGI.

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 22 (Week 21)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Truex must have heard Rowdy coming for the top spot because he put in another strong performance on Sunday at WGI. 34 playoff points before the 15 he will get for being regular season champion.
2. Kyle Busch (LW-2)- I missed the scuffle with BK (step away for ten min and miss a huge chunk of the storyline...), but from what I heard it seemed more like a racing deal. Either way, Rowdy had a winning car and let the emotion over take him (took it out on BK and his CC later for not having a plan). This is still a Championship caliber driver who could get hot going into the Playoffs.
3. Denny Hamlin (LW-6)- Past the 78 and the 18, it's a mixed bag of drivers headlined mostly by Toyota's. Hamlin has a fourth or better finish (including a win) in four of his last five races and six of his last eight.
4. Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- BK screwed himself on a late pit by (barely) going thru too many boxes, but if not for that he was setting up for a top five after leading a bunch of laps.
5. Matt Kenseth (LW-7)- Another Toyota getting it going at the right time. Kenseth has four straight top tens (three top fives) and escaped WGI without a new winner. 
6. Daniel Suarez (LW-10)- ANOTHER Toyota driver turning it on, Suarez is starting to get the hang of things as of late. He has four straight top tens and notched his first top five of his career on Sunday.
7. Kevin Harvick (LW-3)- Rough day for the No. 4 team. Not a bad car, but some poor luck.
8. Chase Elliott (LW-9)- Fast car all day, but again faded. Almost every time it has been on a mid to late race strategy call (or sometimes lack of call). They have to realize soon that Stages aren't going anywhere for awhile and they need to adjust.
9. Clint Bowyer (LW-11)- Another quality run, but this team has to find winning speed or a winning call and the way Toyota's are running it needs to be a winning call.
10. Erik Jones (LW-NR)- Throw out to wreck at Loudon and IMS and Jones has Four straight top tens... Yup, another Toyota.
11. Kyle Larson (LW-5)- It's been one heck of a slide for Larson. He was so close to first just weeks ago and now Kyle Busch has passed him in the battle to catch Truex.
12. Jimmie Johnson (LW-8)- JJ is getting one more pass because I still can't count him out of any season, but holy crap has he been struggling to find good finishes.

Dropped Out: Kasey Kahne (LW-12)

Just Missed: Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell