This is it… The final chance for the playoff drivers to secure their spot in the championship race at Homestead is already here. Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick already have their tickets. Who will be the two drivers to join them? The newly reconfigured track at ISM created some exciting racing in the spring. I expect it to be even better this week. The Bluegreen Vacations 500 can be seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
NASCAR will have a normal schedule this week. There will be two practices Friday. The first practice is at 2 p.m. ET (NBCSN) and final practice will be at 5 p.m. ET (NBCSN). Qualifying will be Saturday at 12 p.m. ET (NBCSN). The cars will be inspected Saturday before qualifying so we do not have to worry about any cars failing inspection and starting from the back this week.
* I will provide Garage Talk Notes this week but the article will only consist of stats to help your prepare for the race. I will not be available Friday night to monitor the radios and get info from the Garage.
The cars will have the 750 HP engines with the 2” splitter, 8” spoiler and no aero ducts this week. It is the same package they used in all of the short, flat tracks this season. The drivers who ran well at Phoenix in the spring and the races at New Hampshire and Richmond should be up front Sunday.
My early week pick for the pole is Kyle Busch. The No. 18 car started 4th in the spring race at Phoenix and it has quailed in the top 4 in all of the races on the short, flat tracks this season. Busch won the pole for the first race on the reconfigured track at Phoenix last November. He is almost a lock to start on the front row Sunday.
Each week I use different stats in my model to create the best rankings possible to give you an edge on the completion. This week I used Driver Ratings at the short, flat tracks, Average Running Position at short, flat tracks, Driver Rating at the Phoenix, Average Running Position at Phoenix, Green Flag Passes in the short, flat track races this season and momentum from the last 4 non-Superspedway oval track races.
Here are the early week driver rankings for Phoenix…
|
Driver |
| 1. Kyle Busch |
| 2. Denny Hamlin |
| 3. Kyle Larson |
| 4. Kevin Harvick |
| 5. Martin Truex Jr. |
| 6. Chase Elliott |
| 7. Ryan Blaney |
| 8. Joey Logano |
| 9. Aric Almirola |
| 10. Brad Keselowski |
| 11. Kurt Busch |
| 12. Clint Bowyer |
| 13. Erik Jones |
| 14. Ryan Newman |
| 15. Jimmie Johnson |
| 16. Matt DiBenedetto |
| 17. Austin Dillon |
| 18. William Byron |
| 19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 20. Daniel Suarez |
| 21. Alex Bowman |
| 22. Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 23. Paul Menard |
| 24. Ty Dillon |
| 25. Chris Buescher |
| 26. Michael McDowell |
| 27. David Ragan |
| 28. Daniel Hemric |
| 29. John H. Nemechek |
| 30. Ryan Preece |
| 31. Corey Lajoie |
| 32. Parker Kligerman |
| 33. Landon Cassill |
| 34. Ross Chastian |
| 35. J.J. Yeley |
| 36. Quin Houff |
| 37. Bayley Currey |
| 38. Garrett Smithley |
| 39. Timmy Hill |
* I will post my final driver rankings Saturday night.
**Stats from Driveraverages.com and NASCAR Media. Career stats from Racing-Reference.Info…
*** Photos from NASCAR Media
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