2018 NASCAR Pit Road Week 2: Atlanta

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

By Richard Tix

What We learned. What We Saw. What We Heard.

What We Learned: Tire Wear is a Great Equalizer

• Mechanical grip really stood out on Sunday with teams managing tires more than worrying about pure aero. It seemed like it showed with Ford and Toyota both up front. Last year Toyota had a huge advantage in the aero department (or at least that's what it looked like), but AMS and it's worn out track put more of an emphasis on mechanical grip over aero dependency. It will be interesting to watch next week if Ford and Toyota are still close together as LVMS is more of an aero dependent track

What We Saw: Loose Cars and Tire Managment

• The fuel window was larger then the tire window once again at AMS on Sunday. Because of that we got to see how different drivers managed their tire wear throughout the race. It also provided some fun on track racing as fans got to see drivers fighting the cars to hook and stay on that yellow line. Towards the end of the race some drivers finally moved up the track to see if it would help gain any time (Larson is one example). One thing is for sure, tire management played a big role in having so many comers and goers throughout the field.

What We Saw: More NASCAR Gun Malfunctions

• This will be a storyline to watch going forward. On Sunday we once again saw a few more gun failures (around three I believe) from airguns mandated by NASCAR. Obviously this is a work in progress and some bumps along the road will happen, but teams will begin to chirp up the more it happens, especially if it happens late in a race causing a team to miss out on the opportunity of a win.

What We Heard: Strategy

• Seriously, the word strategy was thrown around the booth non stop. Dale Jr even chimed in with a tweet about if your drinking word was "strategy" along with a gif of someone who couldn't stand straight, and he wasn't even watching the race or in the same country! Most of the day it seemed like weather would play a factor and then it ended with a race that had different strategies at play down the stretch (11 and 22), but Harvick had the best one called, "just be faster than everyone else."

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 2 (Week 1)

1. Kevin Harvick (LW-9)- Harvick was head of the class all weekend. He dominated the Xfinity rcae and then did the same on Sunday. He and Childers say they wouldn't be scare of NASCAR tech this year and won't hold anything back. It sure looked that way on Sunday.
2. Denny Hamlin (LW-2)- Hamlin and JoLo are the only two with two top tens so far in 2018 and they were also the only two to try a different pitting strategy on Sunday to offset Harvick's dominance. It didn't work, but they still came out with a nice finish.
3. Joey Logano (LW-4)- Two races and two top tens. The 22 followed suit with the 11's strategy late on Sunday, but Harvick was just too fast for it to matter. It still resulted in a quality 6th place finish.
4. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- It's been a slow start to 2018, but so was 2017 and we know how that played out. Oh, and Martin still got a top ten on Sunday despite the "slow start to 2018."
5. Brad Keselowski (LW-8)- BK won The Clash, then wrecked out the rest of Daytona weekend. He bounced back in a big way at Atlanta by basically being the only one with a sliver of a chance to beat Harvick, and even that wasn't near close enough. Still, they got a top five and a playoff point to boot (Stage Two win).
6. Chase Elliott (LW-5)- The roller coaster continues for Chase. The Atlanta finish did stop at a high point and maybe it will continue to climb next week. He was the lone bright spot for HMS on Sunday and finished top ten to prove it, but more progress still needs to be made.
7. Kyle Busch (LW-10)- For most of the race Kyle was just kind of there. Scary enough, Kyle just riding around still led to a top ten for him and his team. I'd expect his name to be mentioned a lot this upcoming week at Vegas.
8. Ryan Blaney (LW-3)- Blaney is still second in points behind Logano, but didn't manage a top ten or any playoff points on Sunday. What is more concerning is that I confused him and Paul Menard on numerous occasions.
9. Kyle Larson (LW-7)- Larson grabbed his first top ten of 2018 and he and Chase Elliott were the only Chevy's in the top ten. So far 2018 has played out exactly like 2017 when it comes to the Chevy's.
10. Clint Bowyer (LW-NR)- Bowyer sure got a ton of air time on Sunday and it was well deserved. More than once he was flying through the field into the top ten. 
11. Austin Dillon (LW-6)- AD fell back down to earth on Sunday after his Daytona 500 win, but he still managed a 14th place finish. After an early win, everything is about quality finishes and learning for the stretch run.
12. Kurt Busch (LW-NR)- Kurt has now lead laps in both races (16 at Daytona and 52 at AMS) and finished 8th on Sunday.

Dropped Out: Bubba Wallace (LW-11) and Paul Menard (LW-12)

Just Missed: Aric Almirola

The next Team Power Rankings will likely be next week. I want to get at least a race or two in before I refocus on them. I mean, it's not like Daytona gives us a good grasp on where teams are anyways and Atlanta was our first taste of where teams fall but not enough info was gathered. However, AMS also isn't a full indicator of the rest of the season as tire wear is king over aero grip that we will see play out at many other tracks. But, if you want to see the preseason rankings, scroll down here: 2018 NASCAR Pit Road Preseason