Joey Logano Went Too Far | NASCAR Power Rankings Post-Richmond

Joey Logano Austin Dylan isn't the only driver who could face a huge penalty this week and it's finally time for a new addition of my NASCAR Power [Music] Rankings how's it going y'all my name is Eric welcome to out of the groove after a few weeks away today my power rankings return can't wait for you to see my latest and greatest top 10 but first we need to talk potential penalties NASCAR's official penalty report could drop anytime today Tuesday or tomorrow Wednesday everyone anxiously awaiting a decision on Sunday night's controversial Richmond finish there's another driver who I expect to be featured on this week's penalty report and that is Joey lagano haven't really talked about this on the show yet there have been so many other stories clouding this incident but Sunday night after the race I saw some clips of Joey lagano pulling onto Pit Road smoking the tires a little bit there's an official there to say hey cut that out I didn't think too much of it obviously NASCAR doesn't like when their drivers engage in postra Shenanigans either on the cooldown lap or on Pit Road but I figured at worst Lego would be slapped with a small fine similar to other drivers in recent history but then yesterday footage from Joey lano's POV was released and boy does it look bad you can see and hear legano limping down Pit Road smoking the tires a few times with people walking around not great but then he gasses it up right in front of oh members of Richard tiers racing including Austin Dylan's wife and child you see officials and them all scrambling out of the way last minute shoot Johnny Morris a fast PR caught in the crossfire officials immediately went to Joey Lano to yell at him before he even got out of the car yeah okay first and foremost I know what some fans are going to say there should not be so many people especially non-essential workers on Pit Road immediately following a NASCAR race with cars still rolling that's dangerous that's dumb there are dozens of NASCAR officials in that clip none of them appear to be enforcing the hot Pit Road Rules that's something that NASCAR needs to tighten up and certainly there shouldn't be little kids on a hot Pit Road moments after a race that's dumb should not be allowed but that does not excuse in any way shape or form Joey lano's actions here he just totally lost his cool that's completely unacceptable NASCAR's been handing out 50 ,000 fines to guys like Bubba Wallace Daniel Suarez for recent post-ra shenanigans that might be worth double spinning your tires revving your engine with all those people walking around is already pretty dumb but aiming your car at your Rivals team and family clearly trying to show some displeasure maybe even intimidate them a little that's hideous especially when you know that 22 car is heavily damaged parts and pieces are broke on that car that was an extremely poor dis display of judgment by Joey loano and a heavy fine should be coming his way to be clear in no way shape or form does this now justify what Austin Dylan did on the racetrack these are two three completely separate issues on track Austin Dylan crossed the line I think NASCAR needs to change the way they officiate the ends of races in the future they should rewrite the rule begin to actually officiate egregious overaggressive driving starting next year this should be a turning point but that's on the racetrack Joey lagano had every right to be upset frustrated angry with how Sunday's race played out but you cannot show your frustration and anger the way he did on Pit Road that's dangerous and should also be heavily scrutinized and joy Lano knows he messed up too again like I said there's clips of officials immediately going to him and yelling at him chastising him I think that's at least part of why Joey Lano when he got out of his car eventually didn't go confront Austin or Dylan's crew members I think he already realized he might have overstepped things a little that and of course Austin Dylan used his baby as a shield anyway sorry kind of a heavy topic to begin this episode let's have some fun here it's time for the latest edition of Power Rankings my weekly out ofth Grove Power Rankings where I rank the top 10 fastest overall drivers and teams in the Nascar Cup Series right now speaking of Jo Jo Lano he's my honorable mention 14 stage points ran top five had a shot at the win I know the finish at Richmond wasn't good but it was a good run hopefully he can string a few of these together at number 10 I have Alex Bowman it just wasn't his night at Richmond finished 28th he had a few great races in a row one at Chicago was third the very next week but now this is back-to-back bad finishes let's get some of that consistency back rolling in time for the playoffs how about that at number nine I've got Brad kezelowski he led laps at Indie at Pocono but he really wasn't a factor at Richmond and I'm a bit surprised considering RFK won at Richmond one year ago now they head to Michigan where again RFK is the defending race winner Chris Bucher last season it's Brad kow's home track and Roush typically runs well in Michigan so look for Brad keslowski to take a big step forward this weekend at number eight I feel he just keeps slipping a little further down my list every single week William Byron just another kind of okay race for Willie B it still blows my mind that despite those three early wins Byron only has one stage win all season he's only got two top 10s the last six races there's just not a lot of special there right now Byron at eight moving up my rankings is Bubba Wallace I have him in the seven position another top five finish that's four top 10 in five races he also earned points in both of the stages he's made up more than 60 points on the playoff cut line in recent weeks which is why despite Austin Dylan winning his way in at least for now Bubba Wallace is still holding on to the 16th playoff spot he passed up both Chris busher and Ross Chastain in points this last weekend Bubba Wallace is RedHot he's number seven on my list I've got Chase Elliott at number six a solid top 10 run he actually made up some points on Kyle Larson for the regular season Championship but lost a spot to Tyler reck Elliott's last three finishes are ninth 10th and Ninth that's pretty good but it reminds me of last season when Elliot was pretty good but couldn't win I want to see a little more fire from Chase Elliott before we get to the playoffs Elliott at six top five give me Denny Hamlin he nearly stole this race he did run top five all day at Richmond but he wasn't as fast as his teammate Christopher Bell he wasn't as fast as Austin Dylan towards the end Hamlin's got top five speed but the finishes are all over the place in the last four races he's been second 30th second 32nd very fast but got to shake some of that inconsistency got to get the results eventually Hamlin at five at number four I've got his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell the 20 was fast once again won the opening stage on Sunday night but a late speeding penalty cost him here's my thing with both Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell I think they top five cars almost every week in contention to win almost every week but I've got them at four and five because you got to pay the Joe Gibbs Racing tax jgr is blowing an engine almost every single week and both Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell have suffered an engine failure themselves until that team can go several weeks without issue that's a huge concern with the playoffs right around the corner Bell at four at number three I have Ryan blay he finished 11th at Richmond which isn't terrible but kind of sucks cuz it snaps a four race top 10 streak a streak that also included a win at Pocono there's not a whole lot of else to say about Ryan blay we saw with his teammate that team Pensky looks pretty sporty decent day at Richmond for blay I think he'll contend at Michigan blay at three my top two number two Tyler reck nine top 10 finishes the past 10 races that's unbelievable his average finish over the last six races a pretty healthy sample size is 3.6 these are ARCA numbers all that's missing are a couple of wins but reic has soared up to second in the regular season standings just five points out of the Lead watch out for that 45 but in number one still is Kyle Larson winningest driver this year is still the regular season points leader quiet night at Richmond he still finished seventh even on a night when hendrik clearly didn't have their best stuff Kyle Larson led the charge but man this top five especially is probably the tightest it's been all year in my power rankings let me know down in the comments below if you agree or disagree with where I placed your favorite driver would you have a similar top 10 let me know down in the comment section hope you enjoyed that y'all that's going to do it for this episode leave a like if you enjoyed subscribe for more NASCAR content every single day and a big thank you to my very generous patreon supporters plenty more to come later this week as soon as NASCAR releases the penalty report you can expect a reaction from me shortly after thanks for tuning into this episode folks I will talk to you again soon n [Music]