Power Rankings: To Xfinity and beyond
With the Cup Series off for Father’s Day weekend, we need a series to rank. We’ve already given the Truck Series some Power Rankings love earlier this year so we’re going to go with the Xfinity Series this week. Let’s do it.
1. Chris Buescher: Buescher is not only the points leader but he’s the only Xfinity Series regular to have more than one win this year. Hell, he’s only one of two Xfinity Series regulars (remember, Erik Jones is officially a Truck Series driver) to have a win all year. And not only does Buescher have two wins (Iowa and Dover), he’s got the most top-five finishes of any Xfinity driver. It’s a well-deserved points lead.
2. Chase Elliott: No, Chase Elliott is not the other Xfinity driver with a win. It’s crazy that this year has been considered a disappointment for Elliott and he’s third in the standings with 11 top-10 finishes in 14 races. But that’s how it goes in a series that has only 20 drivers who have run in all 14 races. He’s going to get a win this year, and maybe multiple ones, but it’s going to take some work to match Ricky Stenhouse’s back-to-back titles before moving on to the Cup Series.
3. Ty Dillon: Dillon has one less top-10 finish than Elliott does and three fewer top-fives. Yet he’s second in the standings. Thank you avoiding bad finishes. He’s still 29 points behind Buescher and with the way Buescher is running, Dillon is going to need to get to victory lane.
4. Regan Smith: While the three drivers ahead of him are making up ground from start to finish, Smith is going backwards. He’s got an average starting position of 8th, but his average finish is 11th. If he can keep the qualifying strength and maintain it throughout a race … well, we have a title contender. Alas, he’s more than a full race behind Buescher.
5. Darrell Wallace: Wallace’s season isn’t remarkably different if he isn’t knocked out of the lead by Buescher at Dover. Yeah, maybe he’s in fourth in the standings and maybe he’s got a win. And a win is obviously huge. But he’s still on the periphery of the title hunt and still looking for a little extra speed every week. His best finish this season has been fifth and his lowest has been 20th. He’s wearing out those 16 positions.
6. Brian Scott: Scott has 10 top-10 finishes, tying for second in the series. Alas, he’s seventh in the standings because of two bad finishes. At Las Vegas he had an engine issue and finished 38th while he crashed and finished 36th at Dover.
7. Elliott Sadler: From title contender to anonymous Xfinity regular in four years? OK, that’s incredibly harsh, but it’s hard not to watch some races this year and think “Oh yeah, Sadler’s in this race” when the ticker cycles through. He’s been a staple from 10th-20th and has led 20 laps all season. 19 of which were at Talladega.
8. Brendan Gaughan: Will Gaughan get two wins this year? He won at Road America and Kentucky last year, his only top-five finishes of the year in 2014. If he does get a win (and no other top five), he’ll eclipse his 2014 total as he has two already this season.
9. Daniel Suarez: There have been times where it’s obvious Suarez is a rookie and relative newbie to stock cars. But there are times where you can see the speed he has. Of course, it helps immensely that he’s driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has the best cars in the series. But it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see him win in 2015.
10. Ryan Reed: Hey, here’s the only other Xfinity driver to win in 2015. And yes, his was a bit of a surprise as Reed drafted his way to the win at Daytona on the final lap in February. Since then, well, it hasn’t been too fun. His best finish is 11th (twice). But he’s 10th in the standings because of the lack of depth in the series.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
