Power Rankings: Don’t forget about North Carolina

Just read yesterday that Lowes is pulling the plug on the 48 car sponsorship. The home-improvement giant has been in the sport since 1997 and with Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Racing since 2001. Their logo on the hood for all seven of Johnson’s Championships. It’s just another indicator of how this sport, which saw explosive growth in the 90s and early 2000s, is now running on empty. If you ask me it all started going downhill when they tried to shoehorn a playoff format into the sport.  In 2003 Matt Kenseth dominated the last Winston Cup Series winning the title by 90 points while only winning one race. Ryan Newman won eight races that year, but also wrecked out a lot. Kenseth & Roush Racing’s

Trae Young and 10th-seeded Oklahoma are in a close one early vs. No. 7 seed Rhode Island.