2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 36: Homestead

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Ford EcoBoost 400

By Richard Tix

What a year it has been. This year has been a huge transition on Behind the Wall. Real life changes and priorities have really taken away from the content on here which sucks, but life goes on. Thankfully this site started as a hobby for me to keep me closer to the sport I loved following. It developed into a bit more with it providing a better platform to get my opinion out that couldn't get done on twitter (pre-280 character counts!). This year it basically broke back down to the basic's (Power Rankings and Race Prviews) and even then it was a struggle to get those done, but I still had fun with it and that's what this is all about.

Know what else was fun? The 2017 season. I have never actually called myself a Martin Truex Jr fan, but always thought he was a great guy, one of the good guys in the garage. So to have a season like this for him and his team is something special and I am glad we all got to watch it unfold week by week. 

From the start this was a fun season. We started with five different winners before Brad Keselowski became a multi winner in the sixth race, then Jimmie Johnson won his first and second in back to back races. Following JJ going back to back Joey Logano locked his name into the playoffs just to have it taken away and give the NASCAR world a fun word of the year: "encumbered." From there we moved on and had winners like Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr TWICE, Kasey Kahne, and Ryan Newman just to shake things up. Story lines all around, the year had twists and turns that many may have forgotten just because Martin Truex Jr was so dominate once he got on a roll after all the early season drivers got wins out of the way. Before we got to the Toyota takeover it looked like Team Penske, Kyle Larson, and JJ would be able to get it done all year long, but people forgot that because, after all, NASCAR has a LONG season. 

However, it's a good thing the season will be known for a dominant No. 78 team and not how some drivers thought Toyota had an advantage, because Martin Truex Jr and that team deserve it to be that way. Little other things will be remembered about the 2017 season, but Truex and his story will be up there in everyone's memory bank. As will Dale Earnhardt Jr, Matt Kenseth, and Danica Patrick stepping away from full time Cup driving at season's end. Each are stepping away because of different life path's, but each deserve to be remembered in there own light because they all provided NASCAR and it's fans so much enjoyment. They all brought so much to the table over their careers in NASCAR and have helped shape the sport we watch every weekend. 

We maybe heading into another offseason and one without some core drivers of past, but plenty of news will be coming out every week to keep us going and new stars will start to shine. Luckily NASCAR has one of the shortest offseason's around so even when it feels like a long time, it really isn't as bad as it could be. So, brace yourself, NOD (NASCAR Offseason Disorder, credit @ANNOYINGRACEFAN) is a real thing...

Check back because I do plan on doing some Team Reviews, then Team Previews, and also a spot where you can catch all the offseason team/driver changes.

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 36 (Week 35)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- What a story. What a race. It started out slow, but Martin and the No. 78 team persevered through and in the end they ended up the car to beat, just like every other week. Martin, his wife, and the team have gone though a ton of adversity and stayed humble through the whole thing so it was a great Championship win for them as a whole.
2. Kyle Busch (LW-3)- They had the car to beat from the middle of the race on. They made a pit call during stage three that played a minor role, but they still got up front anyways. In the end the 78 was just too strong late in the race, just like all season.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW-2)- Harvick did what he could. He stayed up front all day, ran his line from light to dark, and hung tough. In the end it wasn't enough to compete with the two best cars all season long.
4. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- Always overlooked. One day we will look back on his career and think "how didn't we hype what he was doing more?" It's because he just gets the job done. I always called him the most consistent driver on the track week in and week out. He is a future Hall of Fame driver who helped pave the way for today's NASCAR whether he tried or not (playoff system). It was nice to see him go out and win at PIR and follow it up with a strong 8th at Homestead where he hung up front a bunch but just couldn't crack the lead.
5. Chase Elliott (LW-6)- No win in 2017, but that overshadows what a great season Chase had. Kyle Larson in his third full year did have a win, 10 top fives, 15 top tens, and an average finish of 14.7, but Chase beat him in almost every category. Chase didn't get the win, but had 12 top fives, 21 top tens, and and average finish of 12th. So, lets not downplay what Chase accomplished this year just because he still doesn't have a win.
6. Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- BK just didn't have enough. Early in the race they pitted before everyone to throw off the strategy and get track position. That worked, but it wasn't enough by the end of the night. BK almost matched his statistics from 2016, but the top cars were just that much better.
7. Denny Hamlin (LW-7)- Homestead was the first race since Dover that Hamlin hadn't led a lap and that's after taking the pole this past weekend. However, he still ran well all day and even to close the season.
8. Kyle Larson (LW-NR)- Larson may have been able to contend for the win on Sunday, but we will never know as he hung back late in the race and let the battle for the Championship play out for the most part. Leading a races best 145 laps is a good way to go into the offseason after the teams rough skid to end the year.
9. Joey Logano (LW-NR)- What a rough way to find rock bottom, but the No. 22 team was much better on Sunday (finishing 6th) and started to put it together down the stretch. If the last three races mean anything for 2018, it is that JoLo may get back to his norm.
10. Ryan Blaney (LW-8)- The Homestead finish is not how Blaney and the Wood Brothers wanted to finish their pairing, but it is what it is. They had a better than expected playoff run which was good to see from both parties.
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-11)- Ricky finished with four straight top 15's (two of them being top tens). His stat line for 2017 was almost all career best down the line, so even though it felt like another poor season, it was a bit of a step forward.
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-10)- One last time for ole Junior. If he had a choice, I'm not sure this is how he would have wanted to end his career running, but you could tell in his voice he still soaked every second of this season up on and off the track. The crowd roaring when he makes a move at Daytona will sorely be missed, but his voice of the sport won't be going anywhere. Thanks for the fun ride Junior!

Dropped Out: Erik Jones (LW-9) and Austin Dillon (LW-12)