2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 31: Talladega

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Alabama 500

By Richard Tix

2017 NASCAR Week 31 Power Rankings after Talladega

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 31 (Week 30)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Everyone gets a pass at Talladega, including the best team in 2017. Truex might just go into Kansas and grab another win on the year.
2. Kyle Larson (LW-2)- After such a cluster, Larson can take a safe 13th place finish onto Kansas and the next round. 
3. Chase Elliott (LW-3)- Chase made his move late and Suarez was late to fill the hole. I get it, it was aggressive, but who wouldn't be? Suarez shouldn't have been clear to come down so I don't blame it on the No. 24.
4. Brad Keselowski (LW-9)- How BK made it through a few of those wreck and to the end unscathed is beyond me. He now has five career wins at Talladega and is locked into the round of eight.
5. Denny Hamlin (LW-5)- Hamlin was one of about three cars to not be involved in an incident heading into the last restart, amazing. This round he has finishes of 6th and 4th and should move on.
6. Matt Kenseth (LW-6)- 9th, 3rd, 11th, 11th, and 14th are Kenseth's playoff finishes. Yet, he finds himself at the moment on the outside looking in because of his regular season and lack of playoff points (3 playoff points. 10th in points).
7. Kevin Harvick (LW-10)- It's weird, Harvick is fourth in points but doesn't feel safe for the next round yet. He actually has a 22 point lead on 9th so he should be ok, but anything can happen.
8. Kyle Busch (LW-4)- What a round difference makes. Kyle can't catch a break right now, but luckily we're heading to Kansas and he has been very good here lately (five straight top 5's including a win).
9. Jimmie Johnson (LW-8)- JJ is currently sitting 8th, and would be moving onto the next round, however he will need a strong run at Kansas to make sure he advances.
10. Ryan Blaney (LW-11)- Blaney is actually in a transfer spot by 9 points over Kyle Busch and two points over Jimmie. Luckily the No. 21 has shown speed at 1.5's, unlucky he is up against Kyle Busch and JJ and only two of them get a spot in the next round.
11. Jamie McMurray (LW-7)- Did I jinx JMac? He was out before most of the craziness started after wrecking. This comes just a week after having back to back nice finishes. 
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-12)- I'm not sure Ricky will be able to get it done at Kansas to move on, but it was a nice run to get here.