Those early-season wins count just as much as the Braves' June wins. It's currently a 3 1/2 game lead for the Mets, though it was once 10 1/2, which means the conventional wisdom here is "the Braves have all the momentum and are going to catch them." For me, what matters most is that the Mets have the lead. NL East - I'm counting the Phillies out now, but a Mets-Braves race is intriguing. There's potential for major chaos here and that's fun. With the AL East being so tough - even the Orioles aren't that far behind here at 7 1/2 back - there could well be an opening for a lesser-looking roster. The White Sox are four out and, get this, the Rangers and Mariners are only five out. The fact that two division leaders have a lead of 13 1/2 games at the Fourth of July is ridiculous.ĪL wild cards - AL East teams hold all three spots right now, but the Guardians are only 1 1/2 games out.
The White Sox are in third place, but within striking range and have a boatload of head-to-heads remaining against both the Guardians and Twins.ĪL West - The Astros can yawn their way to another title here, so we'll yawn along with them. Though it might not be the best baseball, there's a great shot it'll be incredibly fun. Most teams will reach that mark the the end of the holiday weekend, yet there's still two more weeks of play before we get to the break.Īs such, being only halfway through the season even though it's been such a grind to get to this point, let's take a look at each playoff race and predict how fun (read: close) it'll be.ĪL Central - We discussed this last week and the conclusion is the same. (Last week: No.When we're talking about stats or the standings in baseball, the "first half" are the games played before the All-Star break - regardless of whether a team has played 81 of its first 162 scheduled games. He ended that streak with a dominant run in the final stage, powering past Chase Elliott for his first career victory.ĭropped out: Martin Truex Jr. Tyler Reddick (Last week: unranked) - Before Sunday’s race, Reddick’s career worksheet showed 10 top-10 finishes without a win. He was penalized twice for driving through too many pit boxes.ġ0. 8) - Hamlin was 17th at Road America, his effort stained by more troubles on pit road. But he dropped in the playoff standings, falling one spot below the cutoff line.ĩ. 10) - Despite remaining winless, Harvick showed strength at Elkhart Lake, rallying in the final stage to finish 10th, his third consecutive top-10 run. 7) –– Bell was 18th at Road America, a mid-pack finish for another struggling Toyota driver.Ĩ. The day was a difficult one for Busch as he spun out on the fifth lap after contact with William Byron, sat for a long pit stop to repair damage on lap 17 and later was penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon.ħ. 6) - Busch was 29th at Road America as Toyotas continue to struggle on road courses. He finished 27th after a spin and off-track excursion.Ħ. 4) - Logano drops a position this week after a long day at Road America. He has finished in the top 10 two consecutive weeks and has four finishes of ninth or better in the past seven races.ĥ. 6) - Larson moves up two spots this week after a third-place run Sunday. He has three top 10s in the past four races.Ĥ. 3) - Blaney was up front for four laps Sunday and came home 11th. He admitted making mistakes in the final stage as Tyler Reddick passed him for the lead and eventually the win.ģ. 2) - Elliott was strong Sunday at Road America, dominating the first two stages and leading a race-high 36 laps. 1) - Chastain continues his breakout season with Trackhouse Racing, scoring eight top 10s in the past 12 races, with wins in two of the past 13.Ģ.
#POWER OF TEN RANKING SERIES#
The Cup Series races Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m., USA Network). Ryan Blaney remains in third place in the rankings with an 11th-place run Sunday. He surged to the front in the final stage Sunday and was dominant over the closing miles, winning by 3.30 seconds. Tyler Reddick scored his first Cup Series victory at Road America and burst into the power rankings at 10th place. In the past 12 races, he has eight top 10s. A fourth-place finish Sunday at Road America was Ross Chastain‘s fourth straight top 10 and kept him in first place in NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.Ĭhastain has led laps in eight of the past 16 races, totaling 426 over that span.
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