Erik Jones Injury Update | Understanding the Kyle Larson Penalty | NASCAR Power Rankings

the Kyle Larson penalty creates confusion there's a new number one in my weekly Power Rankings and let's discuss the latest on Eric [Music] Jones how's it going y'all my name is Eric welcome to out of the groove in case you missed it I'll put a link right up here last night I uploaded my Talladega race recap and Analysis we broke down the Finish addressed the fuel mileage racing controversy and so much more go check it out if you missed it one late breaking topic we didn't discuss is Eric Jones in the second half of yesterday's race Eric Jones was involved in this scary crash head-on into the turn three Talladega safer barrier just after the wreck over the team radio Jones was complaining it sounded like about his back he was able to get out of the car walk away under his own power he was checked and released from the infield Care Center in a fairly short period of time he was walking around doing interviews with TV with the media said quote I'm sore just really stretched my back out a lot it'll be a long week just getting recovered and feeling better but I'm all right the race ended fox went off the air shortly afterwards reportedly Eric Jones went back to the infield care center and was then transported to a local hospital for further evaluation his race team Legacy motor club released this statement late last night following a crash at Talladega super speedway in Sun Sunday's Geico 500 Eric Jones was transported to UAB University Hospital in Birmingham Alabama as of 11:30 p.m. central Time Jones was evaluated released and will return home to North Carolina this evening no additional details have been given at this time but all things considered this is great news to hear you when the crash initially happened my jaw Hit the Floor we know how tough these NextGen cars are the front of that 43 was demolished now our attention shifts towards the immediate future again we don't have many details at this time so I hate to speculate but we know how serious back injuries can be Alex Bowman missed some time last year go back a decade Denny Hamlin missed a huge chunk of the Season you back injuries are serious they can linger they can affect your ability to feel and drive a race car again want to be clear we do not know Eric Jones's condition but I've seen a lot of fans asking about contingency plans what happen happens if he can't race next weekend at do the answer is easy Cory Heim would be the substitute driver this past offseason himim signed a deal to become not only the Sim driver for legacy motor club but also the team's Reserve driver he's also the reserve driver for 2311 the truck series does not race at do this weekend so Heim schedule should be open should his Services be needed hopefully he's able to enjoy his off weekend hopefully Eric Jones is able to get back close to 100% by this coming weekend hopefully he's back behind the wheel of the number 43 but just wanted to give you guys an update and then discuss the likely contingency plan should Eric Jones not be able to go this weekend pulling for Eric Jones though he's 20th in points would like to see him you know continue to wield that 43 they've got a real shot at making the playoffs either with a win or even potentially on points so hopefully any injuries he may have sustained at Talladega are not serious wishing him nothing but the best before we get to my weekly Power Rankings and I've made some pretty significant changes this time around you'll want to stay tuned let's touch on the confusing Kyle Larson penalty so this past weekend Saturday afternoon Kyle Larsson was not allowed to qualify at Talladega NASCAR reportedly saw a crew member with their hand on the roof rails NASCAR didn't like it they hit the five team with an unapproved adjustments penalty they ejected the the car Chief would not allow the team to qualify and later on decided to force the five team to serve a pass through penalty at the start of Sunday's race Larsson served that penalty yesterday but if you watch the race you'll know that he got back on the lead lap eventually and actually earned stage points in stage two NASCAR made it clear this weekend that no further penalties are to be expected for Kyle lson and this is where fans got a bit confused or they started to raise their eyebrows at least because just a few weeks ago Ryan priest and Noah Gregson were docked 35 points each for their own roof rail related infractions so why the difference between the Stuart hos and hendrik Motorsport penalties well if we go back a few weeks Elton Sawyer NASCAR VP of competition explained that these Stewart hos roof rails were not designed properly did not meet proper specifications they didn't even make it to inspection by contrast the Kyle Larson roof rails were legal they passed inspection it was on their way to to Pit Road to the grid when NASCAR saw a crew member I suppose touching him manhandling them so that's the difference you can argue which one is worse it sounds like steuart hos designed the algal Parts at their shop and NASCAR caught them whereas in hendrik motorsports's case the part was legal past inspection they were just I don't know trying to do something sneakily when nobody was watching again I guess you could argue with which is worse which is more blatant it sounds to me like more effort was put into designing the illegal steuart hos rof rails that's just my opinion but I'm not sure exactly what hendrik did so it's still a bit confusing but I wanted to explain at least the differences let me know what you think down in the comment section below hopefully this somewhat clears things up start of a new week which means it's time for a new edition of my weekly out ofth Grove Power Rankings where I rank the 10 fastest overall all drivers and teams in the Nascar Cup Series right now lots of interesting names scored good finishes on Sunday like Noah greggson getting his first top five of the Year Anthony Alfredo scored a six we'll be interesting to see how this affects my leaderboard I don't have Tai Gibbs in my top 10 anymore I still think this team could strike at any moment but four straight finishes outside the top 10 I'm sorry and one more honorable mention is Alex Bowman he's got four top fives this year that's part of a six-way tie for most in the series problem is he's only LED six laps I really want to put Alex Bowman in my top 10 he's just not quite there yet at number 10 I have Brad kezelowski hear me out hear me out four top fives in his past seven races back-to-back Runner UPS great team execution at Texas when to put on tires when to take advantage of track position Brad Keselowski has the same number of top fives as Al Bowman and like Bowman hasn't led many laps Bowman is actually a few positions better in points but I'm giving Brad Keselowski the 10 spot because of back-to-back seconds and because we have to remember Brad keslowski is trying to recover from a slow start to the year he crashed out of both Daytona and Atlanta both cases he was caught up in wrecks that weren't his fault in fact at Daytona it was Bowman and Byron who caused the big wreck that took Brad out when he was racing for the lead it's really close but that's why I'm giving Brad KZ AAS to slight Edge give me BK at 10 at number nine Christopher Bell he had a red hot streak there for about a month included a win at Phoenix leading a bunch of laps but now Bell has had three rough races in a row terrible weekend at Martinville Texas he wrecked himself but his team persevered still had a pretty decent points day and then another wreck at Talladega this one really not his fault some bad breaks some bad execution I still buy this team's speed jgr is one of the two fastest teams in the cup series garage Bell has multiple stage wins I'm buying the overall speed I'm confident the results will improve shortly at number eight I'll go Ross Chastain look he would have nine straight top 15 finishes if he hadn't wrecked on the last lap at Texas running second despite that hit in the points he's still ninth in the standings and I really like how these next few tracks shape up for Ross he's good at do team should be really fast at Kansas darling he's usually in the mix lots of 12th 13th 14th Place runs lately let's turn some of those into top fives I think Chastain can do it Chastain at eight at number seven I'll keep Ryan blay in this spot look I hardly saw Ryan blay all day yesterday which is shocking considering he finished first and second at Talladega the two trips last year blay LED one lap all day yesterday what as you'll see with my next few rankings here I'm not going to overreact to one Super Speedway race Lany does have four top fives this year which means he's a part of that you know six-way tie for the series lead and he's also been the strongest forward overall this year so I'll cut him some slack I'm keeping the defending champion at seven at number six Chase Elliott now you'll have to allow me to defend myself here let's take Talladega out of the equation still finished 15th Not a Bad Day by any means the three weeks leading up to Talladega Fifth Third first I've liked the trajectory Elliot's been on he still has what a 10-point 8 average finish on the season that's fantastic Chase Elliott is very consistent I love that but again this list is also about who's the fastest overall and that's why I still have Denny Hamlin one spot ahead in the Five Spot even though I know Denny's finished 30th or Worse back-to-back races he did wreck while Racing for the lead at Texas and was probably on the winning strategy at Taladega when he got caught up in someone else's mess but while Denny Hamlin has not been as consistent as Chase Elliott this year not even close he does have two wins and he's LED three times as many laps the highs are very high with Denny Hamlin he's one of only two drivers with multiple wins this season he's got three again if you include The Clash if I need a top five I'm picking Chase Elliot but if I need a win I'm more likely to pick Denny Hamlin generally speaking at least so I've got Denny Hamlin at five and I've got his teammate Martin shx Jr in the four spot still winless I know but he's got a 10.0 average finish he's second in the standings and he's even got a 12.6 average finish at the three super Speedways this year that's pretty darn good for Martin shx and 11th Place run yesterday LED some laps I've dropped him one spot though as you can see because this is his third straight finish outside the top 10 especially when you consider his Toyota teammate just scored their first win of the Season at number three this might be an overreaction but I've got Tyler reck I think Tyler reck is going to be a popular Championship pick later this summer like obviously Byron Larson at this rate will probably be the favorites but I think Tyler reck will get some fun outside the box votes the 45 is RedHot five straight top 10 finishes now he's got a win he's up to fifth in the regular season standings and he's tied with William Byron for the most top 10 finishes all season I hesitate a little because of the issues on Pit Road we've seen this year but hey the pit crew was fine at Talladega partially cuz half the pit stops I guess were fuel only I've had Tyler reic in the top five or six pretty much all year finally has that Victory good for him again I think he will be a a a popular sort of Darkhorse Championship pick in a few months the right things are going my top two might cause some controversy I had to flip him this week which I realize might not make a lot of sense at first William Byron comes in at number two he's been fantastic this year three wins smooth steady consistent even Talladega hardly saw him all day got a top 10 at the end of the race again he's tied for the most top 10 of the year he's been fantastic but my number one spot goes to Kyle Larson Kyle Larson is still the points leader he's led the most laps by far he has more than double the stage wins of anyone else a couple of stats that jumped out at me this morning William Byron's average finish is two positions better than lson he also has two more wins than lson yet Byron is 24 points behind Larson in the standings how is that possible well that's because Kyle Larson has earned 110 stage points nobody else has more than 77 Byron has less than half he's got 50 we saw a great example this past weekend Larsson has to serve that pass through he's a lap down in stage one still came back to earn eight stage points in stage two we talk all the time about William Byron not making mist Stakes he's there at the end always gets a good finish but I think Kyle lson right now has more overall speed sure he'll overstep sometimes and make a mistake late but if he's winning stages beforehand earning all those points in the middle section of the races then it doesn't really matter I guess it'll matter at Phoenix but the first nine races of the playoffs I mean again larsson's leading the regular season standings this Boomer bust philosophy is working for him I saw the light this morning I think I understand now Kyle Larson is in the the number one spot at least for the time being uh there you go some dramatic changes on my list this week I know there'll be some controversy let me know down in the comments below if you agree or disagree with my rankings that was a fun one thank you all so much for tuning in leave a like on this video If you enjoyed subscribe if you're new to the channel we talk NASCAR every single day you won't want to miss an episode and a huge thank you to my very generous patreon supporters as always I will see you all again and tomorrow have a wonderful rest of your Monday

Channel: Eric Estepp

Views: 121,014

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Id: wsFosPvW0KE

Length: 14min 16sec (856 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2024