It’s now Saturday evening, and it’s only been five whole days since the cup series battled Miles the Monster after he survived three days of rain. So, yes that means I’ve got another NASCAR Power Rankings to do way too late in the week before they race at Kansas on tomorrow. If Mother Nature will be so kind as to not make it rain over Kansas Motor Speedway this weekend.
NASCAR Power Rankings 15th-11th
- 15. Chase Elliott
- 14. Chase Briscoe
- 13. Ty Gibbs
- 12. Brad Keselowski
- 11. Chris Buescher
So, NASCAR’s most popular driver finally makes his appearance on the NASCAR Power Rankings list. Since I started this just before the Atlanta race, and Chase was out injured he didn’t make the first edition. Now that he’s been back for three races, and finished in the top fifteen three straight weeks while rehabbing his fractured leg. Let’s see how long it takes him to climb further up this list.
Rough one today at Dover, not much to say other than that. Try to learn from it and move on.
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe_14) May 2, 2023
I guess I jinxed another driver because Briscoe smacked the wall one hundred and ninety laps into the Wurth 400. Which effectively ruined his day, however until that point the SHR cars weren’t exactly performing well anyways. Chase has an average of a nineteenth place finish at Kansas so we shall see if trip can be different.
The rookie is making climbs he was running in the top five over halfway through Monday’s race. His pit crew let him down a bit by not getting the car full of gas on the last stop. So, his good day didn’t end with a good finish. However a jump in the NASCAR Power Rankings was deserved.
Puts our smile on our faces to see these two cars having solid speed week after week ?
Two more Top-10s for the books. ? pic.twitter.com/SScUigEvqJ
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) May 1, 2023
The RFK Racing duo of Brad K, and Chris Buescher were in the top ten almost the whole battle against Miles. Out running every other Ford driver except one Penske driver. Brad and Chris need to continue to race in the top ten and finish there and the top ten on this list is going to start getting really difficult.
The Middle of The Pack
- 10. Joey Logano
- 9. Denny Hamlin
- 8. Ryan Blaney
- 7. Martin Truex Jr.
- 6. Kyle Busch
Joey Logano is done for the day in Dover. https://t.co/U9ZBW4SG2C pic.twitter.com/B1ON5ZFg6C
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
Around 130 laps into the race Monday, and Joey started to cord a tire. Once that happen his day pretty much never even recovered to decent. It actually ended with fourteen laps to go when Joey finally spun out. He’s got a win but a finishing average of around seventeenth. Lets see how far he falls before he starts the climb.
Denny Hamlin is averaging around a thirteenth place finish this season. He’s had good runs and really bad ones but ultimately his Jackman falling down on the first pit stop hurt him the rest of the day due to the difficulty in passing with this next gen car.
Blaney has now finished in the top ten three weeks in a row. He had a rough stretch but slowly and surely has been working on climbing back up. His teammate Logano needs to see what he’s doing differently and change it quick.
What a weekend for the Truex family. pic.twitter.com/wrQJTngqSr
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2023
I told you and have been telling you keep an eye on Truex. Martin proved me right last week grabbing his first win of the season, and leading sixty eight laps. Now jumping teammate Hamlin as the third best Toyota driver.
Kyle was the benefactor of the the rain starting from the front row and leading the first twenty five laps. However again he was his own enemy and got caught speeding on pit road. Once he was stuck back in the pack, he was vulnerable and got caught up in the caution when the 99 spun out.
Top of the Field
- 5. Tyler Reddick
- 4. Ross Chastain
- 3. Kyle Larson
- 2. Christopher Bell
- 1. William Byron
Tyler had a quiet day but consistent day starting seventh and finishing well seventh. He was up and down all race but always consistently in the top ten. His team won at Kansas last year with Bubba so keep an eye on him tomorrow.
Besides getting himself involved in more controversy. He had an awesome race, if his driving style was so aggressive he might have been able to catch Truex at the end if not for the past haunting him a bit. Larson and Gibbs both raced the one a lot harder than they probably should’ve but you get raced how you race other people.
Kyle Larson obviously not thrilled after the race at Dover Monday: pic.twitter.com/JUbKCBo2wN
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 1, 2023
Larson has had some tough races as of late. Getting caught up last week with a Ross Chastain caused accident and then well Talladega being Dega. However he had a FAST car last week, and looked to be the favorite before the bad luck struck.
Ole Willy B, two wins and getting back on track. After a rough short track stint, he’s showing that Hendrick speed on the bigger ovals again. Keep an eye on William. Another couple wins do not seem to be out of the question.
The Picks and Wrap Up
My fellow NASCAR writer Kaleb does an awesome job every week picking some drivers too watch and keep and eye on. However, I’m going to go a little different route this weekend but quickly. From the bowtie brigade a Trackhouse car and any Hendrick car right?
Ross had a dominant race last weekend, in his time with Trackhouse Racing he hasn’t finished outside the top ten at Kansas. However if he doesn’t do it don’t be surprised to see really any HMS car roll into victory lane.
As for Toyota, Bell or Hamlin seem okay. Bell hasn’t finished outside the top ten at Kansas since coming over to JGR, and Hamlin is a three time winner at Kansas. Also don’t count out, the cars Denny co owns at Kansas.
Now as for the Fords, this is a tough one but I actually agree with Kaleb. I think Blaney is a good choice, as of late he’s been asking himself what else he needs to do to win a race and that can’t keep happening much longer. A win is coming for Blaney but also don’t count out the 4 car, Harvick has won multiple times at Kansas.
Kansas, is going to be more a strategy type of race. I feel like right now the aero package is super depending on track position. So don’t be surprised to see some crazy pit road decisions. So, sit back, crack open a cold one if you do that and enjoy some NASCAR racing on FS1 tomorrow around 3 PM with the rest of us crazy fans.
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