The SuperSpeedway Power Rankings – September

It’s a playoff edition of the rankings!

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1 Martin Truex Jr. (LM 1)

There’s been one driver and one driver alone who deserves this spot for the majority of the season. That’s the highest praise you can give Martin Truex Jr. His team is the best out there week in and week out.

2 Kyle Busch (LM 2)

Three drivers have separated themselves this season. Kyle’s number two…

3 Kyle Larson (LM 3)

…and number 3! Larson is still my pick to win the title. He’s not given me a reason to waiver.

4 Brad Keselowski (LM 9)

This is where the rankings get difficult. Brad spent most of the season hanging around my 10th spot. But he’s really coming on strong when it matters. That’s enough for me to give him the big jump to 4th.

5 Denny Hamlin (LM 5)

Hanging around, hanging around, hanging around. I feel like Denny isn’t that far off but he’s not known for hot streaks.

6 Chase Elliott (LM 7)

Chase is still in the show me something point of his career. Being the best performing car at Hendrick used to mean something but man, what a struggle it’s been.

7 Matt Kenseth (LM NR)

Introducing, for the first time this season, the driver of the number 20 (but not for much longer), Matty Ice!

8 Kevin Harvick (LM 4)

If one guy is going to sneak into the final four at Homestead, I think it’s this dude right here. The New Hampshire accident hurt but he’s got enough cushion to push through.

9 Jimmie Johnson (LM 6)

What a strange season. I’ve never seen Jimmie struggle like this and yet he’s still a top 10 driver in the series. We have 8 races to go and he only has 3 top-fives and 9 top-tens! Can we count him out yet? I’ll answer that… NO!

10 Ryan Blaney (LM NR)

He gets this spot by default only because he’s 8th in points. Honestly, I have no idea what to do here.

Also considered

Jamie McMurray and… I don’t know… pick a number.

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SuperSpeedway Fantasy League Week 3

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Fantasy League Standings after New Hampshire

After week two of the Playoffs, Eric’s team has taken a commanding 532-430 lead. This week can be summed up pretty easily. Eric’s team featured all three stage winners, Kyle Busch (race winner) and Martin Truex Jr. His team also featured a three headed Toyota monster of Busch, Truex and Matt Kenseth.

While Eric had three drivers over 47 points, James had three drivers score two points or less. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne.

Eric came into this week three points behind and is now leading by 102 points as we head to Dover.

Rules

  • Eric and James each picked 8 playoff drivers, draft style.
  • The total points earned by a driver throughout the playoffs will contribute to the team’s total.
  • Most points earned wins.

Eric’s Team (532 Total Points/283 for the Race)

47 Martin Truex Jr.
58 Kyle Busch
30 Denny Hamlin
36 Ryan Blaney
24 Ryan Newman
18 Austin Dillon
48 Matt Kenseth
22 Jamie McMurray

James’ Team (430 Total Points/178 Race Total)

50 Kyle Larson
45 Brad Keselowski
30 Jimmie Johnson
2 Kevin Harvick
22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26 Chase Elliott
1 Kurt Busch
2 Kasey Kahne

Bracket Challenge

Eric and James each filled out a bracket for all 10 races. We are also joined by our follower/friend of the podcast, Todd Henry.

Rules

  • Each correct pick is worth 10 points per round for the first three rounds.
  • Each correct Homestead Pick is worth 15 points.
  • Pick the Champion and you get 20 points.
  • Most points win.

Eric’s Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Jimmie Johnson

James’ Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick

Todd’s Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick

Points will begin to accumulate at the end of round one.

The SuperSpeedway Fantasy League Week 2

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UPDATE: Chase Elliott’s penalty has been added. The 24 team received a 15 point penalty following Chicagoland.

Fantasy League Standings after Chicagoland

After week one of the Playoffs, James leads Eric 267-249. Stage points played a huge role in the driver’s totals at Chicagoland. Eric had race winner Martin Truex Jr. but early struggles cost him total points. Also, Kyle Busch’s issues plagued him the whole race after a dominating first stage.

James was able to take advantage of two 50+ point drivers Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski also had strong days helping his cause.

Rules

  • Eric and James each picked 8 playoff drivers, draft style.
  • The total points earned by a driver throughout the playoffs will contribute to the team’s total.
  • Most points earned wins.

Eric’s Team (249 Total Points)

49 Martin Truex Jr.
32 Kyle Busch
45 Denny Hamlin
26 Ryan Blaney
14 Ryan Newman
21 Austin Dillon
34 Matt Kenseth
28 Jamie McMurray

James’ Team (252 Total Points)

42 Kyle Larson
42 Brad Keselowski
29 Jimmie Johnson
52 Kevin Harvick
12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
53 Chase Elliott (-15 points for penalty. New Total 38 Points)
21 Kurt Busch
16 Kasey Kahne

Bracket Challenge

Eric and James each filled out a bracket for all 10 races. We are also joined by our follower/friend of the podcast, Todd Henry.

Rules

  • Each correct pick is worth 10 points per round for the first three rounds.
  • Each correct Homestead Pick is worth 15 points.
  • Pick the Champion and you get 20 points.
  • Most points win.

Eric’s Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Jimmie Johnson

James’ Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick

Todd’s Championship Four

Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick

Points will begin to accumulate at the end of round one.

SuperSpeedway Fantasy League Week 1

Here we go! It’s Eric vs James in the SuperSpeadway Fantasy League. We have two games setup for this year’s Playoffs. The fist our Fantasy League, the second is our Bracket Challenge. Remember that you can join the fun! Just submit your picks on our Facebook page and compete alongside us “experts.”

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Fantasy League

Eric and James each picked 8 playoff drivers, draft style.

The total points earned by a driver throughout the playoffs will contribute to the team’s total.

Most points earned wins.

Eric’s Team

Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Newman
Austin Dillon
Matt Kenseth
Jamie McMurray

James’ Team

Kyle Larson
Brad Keselowski
Jimmie Johnson
Kevin Harvick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Chase Elliott
Kurt Busch
Kasey Kahne

Bracket Challenge

Eric and James each filled out a bracket for all 10 races.

Each correct pick is worth 10 points per round for the first three rounds.

Each correct Homestead Pick is worth 15 points.

Pick the Champion and you get 20 points.

Most points win.

Bracket Challenge Standings

Eric’s Championship Four

Truex
Larson
Kyle Busch
Jimmie Johnson

James’ Championship Four

Truex
Larson
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick

Points will begin to accumulate at the end of round one.

The playoff points bubble bursts in Michigan

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Joey Logano makes his way down pit road with a flat tire late in the Pure Michigan 400. He finished 28th. Eric Young — The SuperSpeedway

BROOKLYN – The battle for the final spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series took another wild turn Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

The final spot in the playoffs was up for grabs with four races remaining but by the time the checkered flag flew, all of the drivers battling for those precious final positions all stumbled.

Late in the race, Michigan native, Erik Jones and a batch of other contenders came into Sunday’s race needing a win to secure a playoff spot. Late in the race Jones was battling his teammate and points leader, Martin Truex Jr. for the win. It appeared the Furniture Row cars would finish one-two until two late restarts jumbled the field, allowing Kyle Larson to steal a precious win.

“I just couldn’t get going,” Jones said about the last restart. “The 20 (car) got to the bottom of me and the 42 (car) was to the right of me. I saw them getting runs and had to pick one or the other.I wish it would have worked out a little better”

Truex ended up finishing third after dominating the majority of the late part of the race, followed by Jones. Jones now sits 130 points out of the playoffs 19th in the standings.

The rest of the bubble drivers did not fair so well.

The day looked like it would be a step in the right direction for Joey Logano who eventually tumbled even further down in the standings after finishing 28th. Logano started second and came into the Pure Michigan 400 needing a win to qualify for the playoffs. He began the race sitting 18th in the standings, 95 points behind the behind Matt Kenseth in 16th. After the race Logano currently sits 119 points out of the playoff picture and remains 18th in the playoff picture.

Que Kenseth, who found himself in the top 5 in each of the final two restarts only to stumble with an issue on the final restart. Kenseth finished 24th and sits 31 points ahead of Boyer who struggled as well with two pit road speeding penalties and suffered damage on lap 148, resulting in a flat tire on lap 151. He ended up 23rd, one spot ahead of Kenseth.

The biggest loser of the day was Daniel Suarez who was battling Brad Keslowski for the lead early in the race but ended up tangling with Kasey Kahne on lap 139 when Kahne came across his nose.

“I was just trying to hold my line,” Suarez said.  “He (Kahne) went up a little bit too soon for me. This is going to be damaging to our (playoff) chances.”

The finish was Suarez’s first DNF since Daytona in July.

Truex built on his overall points lead, earning the most points of any driver (52) and winning stage 2, adding to his impressive playoff points total of 35 with 15 stage wins.

“We go beat fair and square,” Truex said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. There was no distinctive move. If a guy screws up in front of you, you take advantage. He (Larson) took advantage.”

Brad Keslowski looked like the driver to beat for the first 100 laps of the race before falling back late with pit road gambles and trouble on late restarts. Keslowski won Stage 1, his fourth of the year. He now has 14 playoff points.

“It just didn’t come together at the end, but it was nice to lead a bunch of laps,” Keslowski said. “I was really proud of us. We just didn’t have enough to really run with the 77 and 78.”

To read more about Kyle Larson’s win at the Pure Michigan 400, click here.

Finishing Order

1  Kyle Larson

2  Martin Truex, Jr.

3 Erik Jones

4 Ryan Newman

5 Trevor Bayne

6 Chris Buscher

7 Austin Dillon

8 Chase Elliott

9 Jamie McMurray

10 Kyle Busch

Falling Up

Is Paul Menard’s deal with the Wood Brothers good for NASCAR?

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I have a problem with Paul Menard. Not Paul Menard the man, Paul Menard the race car driver.

This week’s announcement that Menard would be taking over the legendary 21, Wood Brothers Ford, when Ryan Blaney moves to his home base at Team Penske in 2018, really rubbed me the wrong way. The reason? I believe this is a bad look for NASCAR as a sport. But before you get too upset with me, let me list the reasons why I feel this way.

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