As expected, last night’s Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (the 25th of 26 regular season races in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) saw multiple drivers clinch berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Kyle Busch burst into NASCAR’s postseason with a flourish, bagging his fourth win of the year to mark his return to the Chase after failing to make it in last year. Additional Top-10 “automatic” spots were secured last night by Kevin Harvick (who finished 9th), Matt Kenseth (who finished 12th), and Carl Edwards (who finished 18th).
Also, despite finishing 36th after an early incident, Kasey Kahne clinched at least one of the two Wild Card spots on the strength of his two regular season wins at Bristol in the spring and at Pocono last month.
Throw in the two other “automatic” drivers – points leader Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer – and that means seven of the 12 Chase spots have been spoken for.
In regards to a Top-10 spot in the Chase, four drivers will head into the final regular season race at Richmond International Raceway in control of their destiny:
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who sits seventh in the standings at 37 points above 11th place, can clinch a Top-10 spot by finishing 32nd or better at RIR (33rd with at least one lap led, 34th with most laps led).
Joey Logano, who sits eighth in the standings at 16 points above 11th place, can clinch a Top-10 spot by finishing 11th or better (12th with at least one lap led, 13th with most laps led).
Greg Biffle, currently ninth in the standings at 14 points above 11th place, can clinch a Top-10 spot by finishing ninth or better (10th with at least one lap led, 11th with most laps led).
Kurt Busch, currently 10th in the standings at six points above 11th place, can clinch a Top-10 spot by winning the race (second with at least one lap led, third with most laps led).
Jeff Gordon (11th in the standings), Martin Truex Jr. (13th), and Ryan Newman (14th) can all clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a win at Richmond. All three of these drivers had great results at Atlanta, with Truex finishing third, Newman fifth, and Gordon sixth.
But things are much trickier for Brad Keselowski after his engine failure in the latter stages of last night’s event. He sits 28 points out of the Top 10 and has no wins. Thus, he must be victorious at Richmond to have any hope of a Wild Card spot.
Here’s how the table looks:
1. Jimmie Johnson – 837 points, four wins
2. Clint Bowyer – 809 points, no wins
3. Kevin Harvick – 795 points, two wins
4. Carl Edwards – 795 points, one win
5. Kyle Busch – 786 points, four wins
6. Matt Kenseth – 768 points, five wins
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 750 points, no wins
8. Joey Logano – 729 points, one win
9. Greg Biffle – 727 points, one win
10. Kurt Busch – 719 points, no wins
11. Jeff Gordon – six points behind Ku. Busch, no wins
12. Kasey Kahne – WC #1, -10 points, two wins
13. Martin Truex Jr. – WC #2, -15 points, one win
14. Ryan Newman, -20 points, one win
15. Brad Keselowski, -28 points, no wins
16. Jamie McMurray, -39 points, no wins
17. Paul Menard, -61 points, no wins
LOCKED IN: Johnson, Bowyer, Harvick, Edwards, Ky. Busch, Kenseth, Kahne. VIRTUAL LOCK: Earnhardt Jr. ALMOST LOCKS: Logano, Biffle. IN RANGE: Ku. Busch, Gordon, Truex Jr., Newman. OUT OF RANGE: Keselowski. VIRTUALLY ELIMINATED: McMurray, Menard.
As the SuperMotocross season heads outdoors, the NBC Power Rankings change significantly with results from the Motocross opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. The Power Rankings assign a numeric value to each individual moto (90 points maximum) as well as the overall standings (100 points) and averages that number over the past 45 days. Included in the Power Rankings are results from the final five Supercross rounds, which fit into that 45-day timeframe.Dylan Ferrandis finished on the podium in his first race back after experience a concussion in Supercross Round 4 at Houston. – Align Media
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to rocket to the top of the SuperMotocross rankings – only about 74 minutes in fact. Lawrence dominated his first moto and beat his teammate Chase Sexton, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross champion, to the line by 10 seconds. He had to fight a little harder for the second moto win as Sexton stalked him throughout the race and ended up less than a second behind.
Beginning this week, we have added the SuperMotocross points’ ranking beside the rider’s name and in one fell swoop, Lawrence went from being unranked in the 450 class to 26th. To qualify for the inaugural SuperMotocross’ guaranteed 20 positions that automatically make the gate for the three-race championship series, Lawrence needs to be inside the top 20 in combined Supercross and Motocross points. The bubble is currently held by Justin Starling and Lawrence needs to make up 44 points to overtake him.
Sexton’s second-place finish in the overall standings at Fox Raceway marked his ninth consecutive top-five finish. After the race, Sexton compared the battle he had with Lawrence to the one he experienced with Eli Tomac in last year’s Pro Motocross championship. These two riders had a significant advantage over the field in Pala, but there is still a lot of racing to be completed.
After missing 13 rounds to a concussion, Dylan Ferrandis told NBC Sports that he was not going to do anything risky in the season opener at Fox Raceway. If he dialed back his effort at all, one would be hard-pressed to notice. He finished third in both motos and was third in the overall standings. Ferrandis began the weekend just outside the top 20 in combined SuperMotocross points and climbed to 19th. In the next few weeks, he will get a little more breathing room over the cutline and then challenge for wins.
Adam Cianciarulo’s three-race streak of top-five finishes ended with a sixth-place overall at Fox Raceway, but that was enough to advance him one position in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings and land him eighth in the combined points standings. His individual motos were moderate, but Cianciarulo is still battling the effects of injury and a nagging loss of strength in his wrist.
Aaron Plessinger returned from injury in the Supercross season finale to finish second at Salt Lake City. He added another top-five to his season total and now has six of those in the 13 rounds he’s made. With Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac not currently racing in Motocross, Plessinger has an opportunity to rise to the third seeding in short order.
A bad start to Moto 1 at Fox Raceway was not enough to deter Hunter Lawrence. Neither was the fact that he was riding with sore ribs after experiencing a practice crash earlier in the week. He was a distant 10th to start the first race and for most of the 30 minutes, it seemed he would finish off the podium. Lawrence did not win the 250 East Supercross championship by giving in to hopelessness or pain, however.
Lawrence picked off one rider and then another until he found the battle for the top five in front of him at the halfway point. Once the field started to lap riders, Lawrence used the opportunity to continue forward through the grid. He passed third-place Jo Shimoda with two laps remaining and challenged Maximus Vohland for second on the final trip around Fox Raceway, but had to settle for the final spot on the podium. Lawrence dominated Moto 2 and claimed the overall victory in Pala.
Justin Cooper made his first start of the season at Fox Raceway and earned enough NBC Power Average points to climb to second. Partly this was due to consistently strong runs in both motos and a 5-4 that gave him the fifth position overall, but he is also not weighed down with moderate Supercross results. It will take a week or two to see where his strength lands him on the grid.
In only his third Pro Motocross National, Haiden Deegan scored a second-place finish in the overall standings. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire may feel he has something to prove after finishing second to Jett Lawrence in the 250 SX West division. He certainly rode like that was the case in Moto 1 and easily outpaced the field on his way to victory lane. In Moto 2, he crashed twice on Lap 1 and dropped back to 39th. It took half of the race to get inside the top 20 and salvage points. By the end of the race, he was 11th and while that was enough to get him on the overall podium, it cost him points in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
Haiden Deegan surprised the field in Houston in his 250 Supercross debut by finishing fifth. At the time, he said his strong result was because there were no expectations. He echoed that statement after the Motocross season opener. His second-place finish in the overall standings was enough to project him five positions up the SuperMotocross Rankings. In 11 rounds in the combined series, Deegan has earned seven top-fives and a worst finish of eighth.
Jo Shimoda did not make his first Supercross race of 2023 until late in the season. He finished fourth on the hybrid track of Atlanta, which had some similar elements to Fox Raceway. His fourth-place finish in Moto 1 of the Motocross opener made it seem likely he would score an overall podium, but a sixth in the second race cost him points in the NBC Power Rankings in a field that promises to be extremely tight.
250 Rankings
This
Week
Driver (SMX rank)
Power
Avg.
Last
Week
Diff.
1.
Hunter Lawrence (1)
89.56
2
1
2.
Justin Cooper (42)
84.67
NA
3.
RJ Hampshire (3)
83.67
3
0
3.
Haiden Deegan (4)
83.67
8
5
5.
Jo Shimoda (16)
82.33
7
2
6.
Guillem Farres (46)
79.33
NA
7.
Levi Kitchen (6)
79.11
5
-2
8.
Max Anstie (5)
77.83
12
4
9.
Max Vohland (8)
77.50
14
5
10.
Enzo Lopes (10)
76.00
11
1
11.
Mitchell Oldenburg (13)
74.25
16
5
12.
Carson Mumford (19)
71.22
17
5
13.
Jordon Smith (7)
70.56
9
-4
14.
Ryder DiFrancesco (48)
70.33
NA
15.
Chris Blose (12)
67.00
13
-2
16.
Chance Hymas (27)
66.00
19
3
17.
Tom Vialle (9)
65.78
18
1
18.
Jett Reynolds (55)
63.33
NA
19.
Michael Mosiman (28)
62.33
20
1
20.
Garrett Marchbanks (64)
59.00
NA
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner in Supercross and overall winner in Motocross. It awards 90 points for each Moto, Heat and Triple Crown win. The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
