The President finds some time this week to talk about the 10 hottest teams on the Power Gauge as we head into Watkins Glen. With 5 races left before the chase, things are getting tense for some teams trying to make the chase.
1st – Intimidator Racing: Hey, I picked a great week to return to the power rankings, I’m on top! Yes, the President’s Intimidator Racing has had a good turnaround after stinking it up in May and June. Although he has yet to win a race this year, IR came close at Chicagoland with a close 2nd place finish. After falling to 13th place at the end of June, Intimidator Racing climbed back to 4th in the standings with a couple top 5’s, a top 10 and a top 15. He struggled a little bit in Indianapolis with a 20th place finish but was still in the top half of the field. The last road course race for IR didn’t go too well for the team as they finished 25th. Hopefully Watkins Glen will be kinder.
2nd – Armchair Racing, Inc.: Steven Cotter and Armchair Racing, Inc. have been on a tear since June. In the last 13 races, he’s racked up 5 top 10’s and an incredible 3 wins. Steven only had 3 bad finishes in that stretch, The two Pocono races and Charlotte. It was the last Pocono race that knocked him off the top of the Power Gauge after spending 4 weeks in a row there. Unfortunately Armchair Racing had a very bad first half of the year which kept him down around 40th place. Something snapped though, and he started pulling off top 10’s and eventually wins. He’ll have to keep the good runs going since time is running out. Only 5 races remain before the chase begins and he’s 91 points out. He first win this came at the road race in Sonoma. He’ll be looking to become the king of the road this year.
3rd – Suezbele Racing, Inc.: Last time I wrote up the Power Rankings, I predicted Suezbele Racing, Inc. would be in the top 10 shortly. She certainly did not disappoint. She mad it all the way up to 6th place but dropped 2 spots after a bad run at Indy. Sue only has one top 5 this year, which came at the 2nd Pocono race. She’s ringing up the top 10’s and top 20’s though. In the last 13 races, she’s only finished below 20th place 2 times. She’ll most likely be adding a few more time 5’s this year and a win is not out of the question. She’ll make the chase with no problem.
4th – Pappy’s Drivers: Pappy couldn’t have asked for a better weekend at Indianapolis. Not only did he win the race, but the three other teams he was competing against for the top spot, all had bad runs. Larry Scroggins was able to retake the top spot in the standings for the third time this year and put a little bit of distance on second place as well. As long as he can continue his good runs, he’ll probably be entering the chase as the leader. Of course that may only provide more pressure since he’ll have to hold off a lot of teams that will close up right behind him.
5th – Zipperhead Racing: Hey, what’s he doing here? Stephen Dutko hasn’t exactly had a banner year. He’s had way too many finishes at the bottom of the field, but has gained a bit of resurgence in the last few races. In the last 5 races he’s had a 2nd and 3rd place finish, along with a 16th, 24th and 22nd place runs as well. True, he may not be lighting the field on fire just yet, but it could be the beginning of something. He most likely will not make the chase, but he can make life difficult each week for those chase teams. He has a nice supply of good superstars that he hasn’t used yet and could start to make some noise finally.
6th – High Octane: The league’s most winning team this year added another win at Pocono to make him the most winning team ever. He had a couple good runs at Chicago and New Hampshire with 11th and 10th place finishes. A 16th place run at Indianapolis moved him up a sot in the standings from 8th to 7th. Consistency has been a bit of a problem for High Octane. Just when he has a good streak going, it can go sour in a hurry. He’s going into the 5th race of his “good streak at Watkins Glen. He hasn’t gone more than 4 good finishes in a row yet, so let’s see what happens this week. With only 5 races left before the chase, now is the time to begin a bad streak, that’s for sure.
7th – Syracuse Alpine Racing: After struggling the first half of the year, Charquilla has picked it up in the second half. She has climbed all the way up from 41st to 15th place in the standings. Just like Armchair Racing, in the past 13 races she’s only had 2 really bad finishes. She had a top 10 in Indy, a top 15 at Pocono and her best finish this season, 2nd at New Hampshire. As long as she can keep her good streak going, she should be able to stay in the chase.
8th – Speed Demon Racing: After nearly leaving the league a few weeks ago, Speed Demon decided to stay on and has put up some great numbers in both series. In the Busch series he won a couple weeks ago and has moved up into the top 5 in the standings. On the Cup side, he has a 6th, 12th and 19th place finish in the last 3 races. Unfortunately he has been eliminated from making the chase since he ran 8 races less then the rest of the league, but he should be a team to reckon with next year. His main goal this year is to get that first win under his belt.
9th – Green Flag Racing: Carol isn’t having the great year she had last year, but has picked it up somewhat since the end of June. She’s had a good 6 race run except for Pocono where she came in last place. Other than that race, she’s had a top 5, two top 10’s, a top 15 and a top 20. Most likely she will miss the chase but still has a chance. At any rate, she can get some momentum going for next year.
10th – Daniel Jack’s Racing Team: Frank has been hanging around 10th place in the standings the last 5 weeks. Unfortunately he can’t seem to get over that hurdle and move further up into it. In the last 5 races he has had a top 5 and two top 20’s. He hasn’t finished past 25th place in that time. Unfortunately for him, the last time he had a truly bad run was at the road course in Sonoma where he finished in 40th place. Hopefully he can learn something from his picks and get a decent finish at Watkins Glen .
