NASCAR Power Rankings Week 4 – Phoenix
Las Vegas delivered a fantastic race on Saturday afternoon. There was passing all over the place and moments of three-wide racing that went on for several laps. That was one of the better intermediate races that I’ve seen in my short tenure as a NASCAR fan. Let’s hope they keep up the aggressiveness this weekend as they head south to Phoenix.
Phoenix is a very unique 1 mile short track. It has a massive flat tri-oval and low banking in the corners. It is also the host track of the 2021 Cup Championship Race so it should provide us a good preview of what’s to come in November or whenever the season ends. I’m usually lost into football season by then…sorry.
This week I am cutting my rankings to the Top 10 only. Turns out I put way more effort into this thing than I thought I would. I don’t want the quality of my writing to diminish, so I am writing up just the Top 10 to save myself some time. I like to post tidbits throughout the week as I discover them, check out my twitter page for more.
1) (Last week 3) Denny Hamlin – Denny took home another Top 5 as he finished fourth in Vegas. Look for that success ton continue as he has a Top 5 in three of the last four races in Phoenix. The only outlier was spring 2020 when he got into a wreck while running inside the Top 10.
2) (2) Martin Truex Jr. – Vegas was a big bounce-back race for JGR as they placed all four of their drivers in the Top 7. Truex had the 6th best speed on shorter flat tracks last year, so look for him to be a factor again in PHX.
3) (1) Kevin Harvick – Harvick has started 36 races in Phoenix. He has won a quarter of those races and finished Top 5 in half of them. Even after a rough outing in Vegas, It’s safe to say it will be a good weekend for the 4 car.
4) (4) Chase Elliott – Elliott won his first Cup Championship here last November (I was right, the Championship is November) while leading a race-high 153 laps.
5) (5) Kyle Busch – Kyle finished 11th in the Phoenix race last fall, which broke a streak of five consecutive Top 3 finishes. In those races he led 491 laps, but led zero laps in 2020.
6) (11) Kyle Larson – Larson had a big win on Sunday in Vegas, his first ever win on a 1.5 mi track. Hendrick cars look good to start the season. With plenty of young driver talent in their garage, they will likely be the team to beat for quite some time.
7) (12) Brad Keselowski – Very impressive 2nd place finish for the 2 car on Sunday. Keselowski won Stage 1, finished second in Stage 2 and was up front all day. He had the best green flag speed last fall at Phoenix and was the fastest car at shorter flat tracks in 2020.
8) (14) Ryan Blaney – Blaney makes a big move up the rankings this week after a 5th place finish in Vegas. He has finished in the Top 6 in three of his last 4 four races in Phoenix. Last spring he got caught up in the same wreck that Hamlin did and it ended Blaneys day early.
9) (9) Christopher Bell – Bell continues to impress in his first Cup season on a top-tier team, finishing 7th in Vegas. He didn’t run well here last year in the 95 car, but I’m not ready to count out Adam Stevens at this track. He’s had great success at Phoenix as the crew chief for Kyle Busch, no reason they won’t record another Top 10 on Sunday.
10) (8) William Byron – Willy B has never finished better than ninth at Phoenix in a Cup car. After a win at Homestead and another Top 10 last week, can he finally find some success in the Grand Canyon State?
