2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 24: Bristol

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race

By Richard Tix

The Week 24 NASCAR Power Rankings after Kyle Busch's win at Bristol.

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 24 (Week 23)

1. Kyle Busch (LW-2)- A weekend sweep, 53 total points on Saturday, and another 6 playoff points sure are going to help come playoff time. He's getting hot at the right time.
2. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Truex gets a pass, heck he's run so well he can take a pass in each round of the playoffs until Homestead.
3. Denny Hamlin (LW-5)- Michigan and IMS, two larger tracks where HP and clean air are king... Those are the only two races in the last seven that Hamlin hasn't finished 4th or better.
4. Kyle Larson (LW-6)- Larson breaks up the Toyota theme at the top here, but not for long. A 9th place finish after a win at MIS wasn't what he wanted, but it wasn't terrible either.
5. Matt Kenseth (LW-8)- The top four finishers on Saturday were all Toyota, Kenseth was one of those four (4th).
6. Erik Jones (LW-9)- What a strong run. For most of the race everyone was thinking, "what if Erik wins this thing?" He's been trending up, but he will need a win to get into the playoffs and it might just happen.
7. Kevin Harvick (LW-7)- After only a top 15 and top 20 finish the two previous weeks, Harvick got back on track with an 8th place finish on Saturday.
8. Chase Elliott (LW-4)- The finish was a let down, but the 24 has been the fastest HMS car all year (week to week).
9. Ryan Newman (LW-NR)- Quietly that's back to back top ten finishes for Newman. They just need to find the consistency they had back in 2014.
10. Brad Keselowski (LW-3)- Poor qualifying effort and a poor night overall, Bristol will be forgettable.
11. Trevor Bayne (LW-NR)- Back to back top tens are a good way to forget about all the poor finished of late.
12. Kurt Busch (LW-NR)- Kurt now hoas two top tens in his last three races and three straight of 11th or better.

Dropped Out: Daniel Suarez (LW-10), Jamie McMurray (LW-11) and Chris Buescher (LW-12)

Just Missed: Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson

2017 NASCAR Week 24: Bristol

Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race

Bristol Motor Speedway

By Richard Tix

This week is going to be a condensed version of the weekly race preview. Let's go over some things to watch for and get ready for Bristol Baby!

What to Watch For?

PJ1 TrackBite

• It was a year ago when NASCAR first introduced the sticky compound to be used at Bristol to try and open another lane back up for passing. For the most part it seemed to go over very well so since the night race at Bristol last year NASCAR has used it a handful of times (including Bristol again) with mostly positive reviews. It is the one year anniversary of this compound on Bristol Motor Speedway so it is only right that we keep an eye on how the racing will continue to evolve with PJ1 added to the bottom groove.

Matt Kenseth vs Joey Logano, again..

• It's like a broken record, but it's because these two are in very similar positions. Both need a win to lock themselves into the playoffs (though Kenseth doesn't need one because he can get in on points). Both drivers have fared well here in the past as well. While MK is being chased down by Clint Bowyer in points, JoLo needs a win or his encumbered win will haunt him all the way into 2018. This weekend seems like as good as any for one of these two to get a playoff locking win.

Clint Bowyer's Points

• Speaking of Matt Kenseth above, Clint Bowyer is the next in line for a playoff spot behind Kenseth (Bowyer is 17th in points as it pertains to the playoffs). The No. 14 has been steady and even shown glimpses of top 3 speed, but they also have had some pit falls and don't show that speed enough. Bowyer is 31 points behind Kenseth and almost in must win territory, but a strong run on Saturday, mixed with some stage points and an early MK exit, and Clint is back in the thick of things.

2017 Darlington Raceway Paint Schemes

By Richard Tix

For the third straight year Darlington Raceway is doing a throwback weekend theme which includes NASCAR teams participating in throwback paint schemes. The popularity of this weekend has went from great to amazing in the last few years and most of that is all because of this genius idea. Below you will find the 2017 Paint Schemes, but also check out the 2016 Paint Schemes and 2015 Paint Schemes from Darlington while you're at it and enjoy their glory!


**Note: As more schemes are released this page will continue to be updated


#2 Brad Keselowski

# 3 Austin Dillon

#4 Kevin Harvick

#5 Kasey Kahne

# 6 Trevor Bayne

#10 Danica Patrick

#11 Denny Hamlin

#13 Ty Dillon

#14 Clint Bowyer

#17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

#20 Matt Kenseth

#21 Ryan Blaney

#22 Joey Logano

#23 Corey LaJoie

#24 Chase Elliott

#31 Ryan Newman

#32 Matt DiBenedetto

#33 Jeffrey Earnhardt

#34 Landon Cassill

#37 Chris Buescher

#38 David Ragan

#43 Aric Amirola

#47 AJ Allmendinger

#48 Jimmie Johnson

#55 Derrike Cope

#77 Erik Jones

#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr

#95 Michael McDowell

2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 23: Michigan

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Pure Michigan 400

By Richard Tix

The Week 23 NASCAR Power Rankings after Kyle Larson's win at MIS.

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 23 (Week 22)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-1)- Great car, great run, and he added to his playoff points with a stage win. They only thing that got away was the win.
2. Kyle Busch (LW-2)- Boy, pitting while pit lane was closed was huge, but he and the 18 team bounced back.
3. Brad Keselowski (LW-4)- BK had a great car early, then got stuck in traffic and wasn't the same. A poor late restart cost him a quality finish.
4. Chase Elliott (LW-8)- Another strong day by Elliott, but still no win. He really needs to be in better position late in the race.
5. Denny Hamlin (LW-3)- A forgetful day, moving onto Bristol.
6. Kyle Larson (LW-11)- What. A. Move. 
7. Kevin Harvick (LW-7)- 14th and now 13th at MIS this year, luckily we don't go back a third time.
8. Matt Kenseth (LW-5)- A strong run all day long was ruined late in the race when MK had a tire go down and he limped it to the finish.
9. Erik Jones (LW-10)- Man was Erik fast on Sunday or what? If we raced MIS one more time this year he could contend for a win here.
10. Daniel Suarez (LW-6)- Suarez wrecked with Kahne, but not long before that was battling BK for the lead, great showing despite the wreck.
11. Jamie McMurray (LW-NR)- The 9th place finish hopefully gets him back on track.
12. Chris Buescher (LW-NR)- I think Chris might be getting overlooked here. He has two top tens in his last four and three finishes of 11th or better in that same time. He now has a career high three top tens in a season, and we still have races to go.

Dropped Out: Clint Bowyer (LW-9) and Jimmie Johnson (LW-12)

Just Missed: Trevor Bayne