2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 26: Richmond

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Federated Auto Parts 400

By Richard Tix

Hey! The regular season is done and y'all are still here? NASCAR heads into the final ten races which now has a new name. The Playoffs Chased away the old name - see what I did there? - and with that it brought in some new wrinkles. We now have playoff points included that roll over round to round up until Homestead.

So, now that we're heading to the "post season" Behind the Wall is going to do a complete reset of the Power Rankings. Just like last year, we're opening it back up to 16 spots in the rankings. However, those 16 spots are only going to be made up of the current playoff drivers. After three races the field gets cut to 12 and so will the Behind the Wall power rankings. Again, only playoff drivers will be of those 12 spots. Once we get to the third round (eight drivers left), the power rankings will still be 12 spots, but the top 8 spot will be the remaining divers and the last four can be made up of ANY driver, regardless of if they made the playoffs. Same will happen at Homestead, 12 spots in the rankings, the top four will be the remaining drivers, and the rest of the spots will be made up of anyone else. Just keep that in mind when your favorite driver who is on a hot streak sits in 9th because 8 other playoff drivers are ahead of him/her.

So, lets get it started!

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 26 (Week 25)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-2)- Truex is already up 20 points on Larson (second) and has 38 playoff points after the reset. He can book it to the second round right now.
2. Kyle Busch (LW-1)- Rowdy finished strong with six straight top tens including two wins to finish the regular season. He also has 21 playoff points (third most) to help him move along in the final ten races.
3. Kyle Larson (LW-4)- Well, thats a nice way to finish off the regular season. Larson's win gave him four in 2017 and really helped by giving him an extra 5 playoff points.
4. Denny Hamlin (LW-3)- Hamlin has come on strong late in the regular season (even with an encumbered win). With Toyota still rolling, I expect Hamlin to be strong these final ten races.
5. Kevin Harvick (LW-7)- Harvick is my top Ford going into the playoffs and most of that is because he has been so consistent. 
6. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- Kenseth was the one of the last one's into the playoffs, but don't let that fool you, he has been running very well as of late. He has some ground to make up, but should advance a round or two and then all it takes is a win.
7. Brad Keselowski (LW-11)- BK is not entering the playoffs like he would want to I am guessing. Sputtering in, BK really has run into a ton of poor luck. He still has two wins and 11 top fives this year, so they could get it together.
8. Jimmie Johnson (LW-NR)- Last year I had JJ ranked 9th going into the Playoffs..... Just keep that in mind if he starts advancing this year again.
9. Chase Elliott (LW-8)- Consistent? Yup. Championship contender? Probably not. Lets be honest, barring some crazy story-lines most these guys aren't in line for the Championship this year. However, Chase has had a great year that just needed a bit of late race closing. Maybe he gets Stage Three figured out and makes a run to Miami?
10. Kurt Busch (LW-10)- Kurt has been running strong late in the season. Maybe they have found something? But, is it enough to make a long run?
11. Ryan Newman (LW-9)- Winning speed? Nope. But the No. 31 team has been putting a bunch of quality runs together and not many have noticed.
12. Ryan Blaney (LW-NR)- Winning speed? Yup. But this team can not find any consistency which will burn then in the playoffs.
13. Jamie McMurray (LW-12)- His teammate is going off, meanwhile JMac has been riding steady. Making the playoffs on points is not easy and Jamie just keeps doing it year after year.
14. Kasey Kahne (LW-NR)- One last run with HMS. Let it sink in for awhile and enjoy it while you can.
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-NR)- Hey, at least Ricky gets Talladega in the playoffs. However, it's in the second round and he will most likely already be kicked out.
16. Austin Dillon (LW-NR)- I had AD pegged for a much better season, boy was I wrong. However, he is here and gave himself a chance.