Power Rankings: Chasing Kyle Busch
Welcome to Power Rankings. As always, Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it’s the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. Direct all your complaints to us at [email protected] and we’ll try to have some fun.
1. Kyle Busch (LW: 1): It’s fair to say Busch had the second or third-fastest car throughout the duration of Saturday night’s race. He wasn’t in the same zip code as the guy who is a couple spots below, but was in position to capitalize when trouble happened. And it happened. We mentioned that Kansas has tormented Busch on Saturday night while writing about his win. Well, that win was his third-straight top-five finish at the track.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW: 4): If it wasn’t for a small piece of debris that cracked the front of Harvick’s splitter, does he catch Kyle Busch? He certainly thought so after the race. And if you’re wondering just what Harvick was referencing, here’s what his crew chief Rodney Childers tweeted after the race.
Well poop.. Hit a piece of debris with about 14 to go and just killed it.. Great job by @KevinHarvick and the guys pic.twitter.com/i1kSr8WJ3L
— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) May 8, 2016
Yes, that small damage might have prevented a win. Can we get these cars a whole hell of a lot less sensitive?
3. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 8): Here’s that guy with the fastest car throughout the race. Truex led a race-high 172 laps and was looking like the surefire winner. Well, as surefire as you can think about a driver named Martin Truex Jr. or Matt Kenseth dominating a race in 2016. Truex ended up 14th after recovering from that fluky pit road incident with the lug nut and he’s going to win a race soon. It’s simply a matter of how soon.
4. Kurt Busch (LW: 5): Busch is a machine so far this season. He’s been incredibly consistent and his third-place finish was his ninth top 10 in 11 races. If you’re making a list of title favorites through the first near-third of the season, Busch doesn’t top the list because he doesn’t have a win. But given that he’s one of three drivers with nine top 10s, he shouldn’t be any lower than third or fourth.
5. Chase Elliott (LW: 3): Elliott is fifth on that top 10 list after his Kansas finish (ninth) was his seventh top 10 of the season. He’s now 10th in the points standings and barring a summer swoon is looking like a lock to make the Chase (oh, the puns) on points. Of course, he could go out and win a race too.
6. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2): Keselowski’s car getting loose under Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson was certainly one of the highlights of the night. As Keselowski spun, so did Hamlin, who had driven in between Keselowski and Larson in an attempt to make up the track position he’d lost by speeding twice on pit road. Keselowski somehow escaped damage in the crash (Hamlin, Larson and Joey Logano all had severely crippled cars) and came back to finish 10th.
7. Carl Edwards (LW: 6): Does Edwards overdrive at Kansas? We’re not sure that the answer is yes, but it seems like a fair question to ask given how much he wants to win at the track just two hours from his hometown of Columbia, Missouri. Edwards scraped the wall early and had to pit under greeen for a vibration but was able to get the laps back and finished 11th.
8. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 7): Yeah, Jimmie Johnson finished 17th on Saturday. Kind of surprising, no? Johnson qualified 15th and never really made a challenge for the lead, though the finish is a bit misleading. Johnson sped on pit road during his final pit stop of the day. Had he not committed the violation, he probably would have finished somewhere in the neighborhood of Elliott.
9. Austin Dillon (LW: 11): Dillon was the fastest of the Richard Childress Racing trio and finished sixth, one spot ahead of teammate Ryan Newman. Meanwhile, teammate Paul Menard finished 40th after retiring less than halfway through the race because of an engine failure. Dillon is now eighth in the points standings, two points ahead of…
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 10): … this guy, who finished 15th at Kansas. It felt like the four Hendrick cars were always between 6th and 18th or so throughout the entire race and that’s where Junior ended up. While Johnson was 17th, Kasey Kahne was in between Junior and Johnson thanks to a dented hood that blunted his drive towards the front.
11. Matt Kenseth (LW: NR): Hey, nothing terrible happened to Kenseth. The 2003 champion finished fourth and is somehow 14th in the standings despite having the wackiest year of anyone in the series so far. Perhaps we should start a pool of who gets a win first: Truex or Kenseth?
12. Ryan Blaney (LW: NR): Blaney is 48 points behind Elliott in the points standings but is 22 points behind him in the Rookie of the Year standings. Yes, the ROY scoring is different than the points system, and yes we think it seems nonsensical too. Blaney was the highest finishing Penske (oops, Wood Brothers) car at Kansas as he was fifth.
Lucky Dog: After finishing 12th, Tony Stewart is 12 points back of Michael Annett, a driver who has started all 11 races this season. Stewart has three starts.
The DNF: Poor Menard.
Dropped Out: Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano
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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!
