Well, the first non-super speedway track brought clarity for some drivers but also presented more of the same problems for others. Larson is back to his “I'm the best non-superspeedway driver out there” soapbox, while some drivers need to have a pit-crew-only meeting. This week's rankings feature new drivers in the top 10 and maybe a surprise or two.
Honorable Mention:
Gibbs - The fastest JGR Toyota on Sunday, Gibbs had speed all day. If he can continue this, he should find his way to victory lane this year.
Gragson - With two top-10s to start the year, Gragson may have found his place in the top league.
Logano - Logano had an okay Las Vegas race, but that doens’t make up for the first two races.
Off the list:
Bell (5) What an embarrassment.
Wallace (10) Bad luck, but 23/11 is fast. The team needs a pit crew-only meeting
10. Suarez (N.R) Welcome to the top 10. Suarez followed up his win at Atlanta with an 11th-place finish at Las Vegas.
9. Elliott (6) Did Elliott finish in the top 15 again? Yes, but he looks like the third-best car at Hendrick right now. He was never a threat to his teammates and didn’t have a top-10 car.
8. Truex Jr. (7) Truex led 4 laps at Las Vegas and came home with a 7th-place finish. Even when it isn’t his day, he finds a way to finish in the top 10.
7. Busch (3) If there were an award for passing the most cars, Kyle Busch would win it, or an award for most mistakes in a race, Busch would also win that. The 8 is fast, but mistakes after mistakes plagued their day. How do you not push the car back, knowing the front is barely outside the pit box? COME ON! This team also needs a pit crew-only meeting
6. Reddick (N/R) I don’t want to make a habit of having someone jump this high in one week, but the 45 car should have won Las Vegas. Reddick was fast, and I expect him to win a couple of races this year, but he also needs a pit crew-only meeting.
5. Chastain (8.) The Watermelon man rolled the dice at Las Vegas and did well. He gambled on the last pit stop with only 2 tires and managed to hold onto a top 5 finish. With his teammate already winning a race, TrackHouse looks like the TrackHouse of 2022.
4. Hamlin (4) Hamlin led 16 laps at Las Vegas last week (which doesn’t sound like a lot, but with Larson leading over 180, there weren’t many other laps to lead) and came home with an 8th-place finish. It's nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. Hamlin at 4.
3. Larson (5) The top 3 feel like a class of their own this year. Yes, Larson swept the stages and finished first, and if NASCAR only raced at 1.5-mile tracks, he would be in the first spot. Fortunately for the rest of the field, NASCAR has 6 super-speedways…
2. Blaney (2) The top two stay the same this week. Even though Blaney isn’t getting the checkered flags like the Hendrick drivers, he is sandwiched between them; Blaney is looking like the most consistent driver in the field. Finishing 2nd (by a .001 second) and 3rd in the last two races keeps him in this spot.
1. Byron (1) Byron keeps the top spot again this week. He is the only driver of the three that didn’t wreck out in the first 3 races, and he has a win. It worries me that he has experienced trouble the last couple of weeks. If he hadn’t been involved in minor accidents, he could’ve had 3 top 5, but that is how racing goes.
Subject: Race 4-Phoenix race thread 
Wed Mar 06, 2024 7:32 pm
