Power Rankings: 10 to go in the Xfinity Series
1. Chris Buescher: This man was atop the Power Rankings when we last ranked the Xfinity Series in June and he’s still here. He hasn’t had the best summer stretch – he finished outside the top 10 in five straight races, but he’s still got a 16-point lead over Chase Elliott. And he still has the two wins in his pocket. Which is more than he can say than …
2. Chase Elliott: This driver, who surprisingly still hasn’t gotten a win in 2015. And while he’s winless, throwing around the “sophomore slump” phrase isn’t really fair. Is Elliott as fast as he was in 2014? No. But it’s safe to say that about the entirety of JR Motorsports. And he’s still racking up the top 10s. In 2015 he had 26 top-10 finishes in 33 races. This year he has 19 through 23. The culprit of his points deficit is really crappy restrictor plate luck. He’s finished 28th and 37th in two of the three plate races this year.
3. Ty Dillon: This guy is winless too and just three points behind Elliott despite two fewer top-five and top-10 finishes. How so? He’s avoided the bad finish. This really sounds familiar to what we wrote in June. Dillon’s worst result this season is a 26th at Daytona in July. He’s been no lower than 15th anywhere else. If Buescher and Elliott have a poor outing, he could pounce.
4. Regan Smith: Despite a 20th at Watkins Glen, where he was a veritable pinball and took his frustrations out on the man a spot above him, Smith is having the best stretch of his season. It includes his win at Mid-Ohio, one which seems like a split decision. If you asked 10 people about his move on Alex Tagliani five would say “dirty” and five would say “that’s racing.” At 50 points behind Buescher, however, the good stretch may be too little too late.
5. Elliott Sadler: If Sadler moves to JR Motorsports in 2016 as has been reported, it will be his fifth different Xfinity Series team in six seasons. Sadler is clearly chasing a championship, and can you blame him? He turned 40 this year. He won’t be driving for too much longer and he’s got a sponsor that’s willing to stick with him. He’s not going to win a title this year though. Because the Roush cars (outside of Buescher) haven’t had much speed, Sadler has been the master of salvage.
6. Darrell Wallace Jr: A promising year hasn’t been bad by any means. It just hasn’t been great either. Wallace has two top-five finishes and nine top-10s and his year has been more known for the run-ins with Buescher than anything else. The question then becomes, is a full-time season like this better than a part-time risk with Joe Gibbs Racing? Very likely, unless that Gibbs season meant a bunch of wins.
7. Daniel Suarez: We’re putting Suarez ahead of Brian Scott despite being six points behind Scott because of the experience factor. Yeah, Suarez is driving the best equipment in the series, but did anyone expect him to be solidly inside the top 10 with five top-five finishes in 2015? If you did, you are likely a Joe Gibbs Racing fan or really, really like Arris modems.
8. Brian Scott: Is Brian Scott going to win an Xfinity Series race? This will be the fifth-straight season he’s been in the top 10 in Xfinity Series points and he is still winless. Richmond will be his 200th race. And it could also be his best chance for a win too. Two years ago he led 239 of the race’s 250 laps and finished second.
9. Brendan Gaughan: Two of Gaughan’s three top-five finishes have come at races that weren’t companion races to Sprint Cup Series events. A coincidence? We think not. With fewer Cup drivers in the field there are more opportunities for drivers like Gaughan to get a good finish. After all, his two wins last year came at races that weren’t companion events.
10. Ryan Reed: Perhaps nothing shows the lack of depth in the Xfinity Series (among regulars … and remember, we said this in June too) than Reed’s position in the standing does. His win at Daytona – something that looks more and more like a fluke – remains his only top-10 finish of the year. Yes. He has one top 10 and is 10th in the Xfinity points standings. So it goes.
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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!
