RACE: Sylvania 300 (The Chase, Race #1)
PLACE: New Hampshire International Motor Speedway
DATE: Sunday, September 14, 2008
TIME: 1:00 pm.
TELEVISON: ABC (WMAR, Channel 2)
It must be September, qualifying is rained out for the second week in a row!
How quickly two quick wins changes the whole perspective on the season, in the waning weeks to settle the final “Chase” participants, all eyes were on the building rivalry between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch; however, now Jimmie Johnson is the talk of the sport with ready comparisons to Cale Yarborough, the only driver, so far, to win three consecutive championships. Of course, it would also throw Johnson into another unique fraternity: Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty have won seven championships. Jeff Gordon has four titles. Only Lee Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Darrell Waltrip have won three. Put in that perspective, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch have won zippo!!! while Tony Stewart is one of eight drivers including Johnson to win two.
Speaking of Cale Yarborough, wasn’t this the year Jeff Gordon was supposed to zip past his 83 wins and then take on Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip with 84 each securing his spot as third in total wins? Right now, Gordon remains at 81 wins, where he was when the season started; however, this is “big money” time, and which two drivers shine in September and thereafter better than teammates Gordon and Johnson?
New Hampshire is a tricky track. It doesn’t seem to favor any particular driver, and to say makes as opposed to teams mean anything these days, to say Chevy has had more recent success but that success is scattered across teams.
To pick a winner, fans are probably best to look at which teams have been in a position to win most frequently this year, and (no surprise) it’s Hendricks, Gibbs, and Roush with a little push from Childress. These are the only teams to have drivers in “The Chase” as well. Ironically, the last win from outside the “Big Four” was at New Hampshire earlier this year when Penske driver, Kurt Busch, won a rain shortened in late June. Brian Vickers in his #83 Red Bull Toyota is perhaps the one real “up and comer” from outside the elite. Kasey Kahne has two wins for Gillette-Evernham, but failing to miss the big event and an insane series of ups and downs makes him a tough bet. How about somebody like Denny Hamlin or Kevin Harvick riding for the joy of being in the championship dirty dozen as hot prospects? Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had so many races he could have won this year. Get a good qualifying spot and avoid the big “boo-boo” and look who’s raising the trophy in Victory Lane?
The Roush fellows have not done too well in New Hampshire recently. How are things going in the Joe Gibbs stable? Tony Stewart got some of those “Tony being Tony” headlines after reaming out his crew chief over the radio last week in Richmond. There’s another fellow like Junior who has had defeat snatched from the jaws of victory a few times this year, but doesn’t Stewart run best when things are a little chaotic. Joey Logano’s first attempt at racing at the highest level was rained out by Hanna Storm last week in Richmond. Because of qualifying being rained out, Logano will strap into the #96 Toyota for Hall of Fame racing rather than a 4th Gibbs' ride. The Gibbs organization initiated some fancy negotiations once the qualifying session was shut down. Jimmy Makar and other Gibbs shop members are providing tech support to help facillitate the switch over which will show Office Depot a primary sponsor. Could all this be a distraction to Steve Addington and crew getting their mercurial brat, the season’s most successful driver, Kyle Busch, ready for battle?
From a fan’s standpoint, after all the drama leading up to the final cut at Richmond, the series’ escape to New England seems like either a little bit of a letdown or sigh of relief. The big issues starting “The Chase” are the heightened awareness that a bad finish can ruin a team’s prospects for gold in November. With the way the points are for seedings are determined by victories, Busch, Edwards, and Johnson have a nice starting edge, but misfortune for any of the “elite three” throws them right back in the pack with the rest of the twelve car field. This scenario seems to favor Johnson who knows how to play for consistency. The concept of “playing it safe” does not seem to exist in Kyle Busch’s world.
Jeff Burton, a well-mannered, quiet sort of dude, he’s had his successes at New Hampshire through the years. He doesn’t make noise. He just turns up in the top five when no one’s looking. Let’s see if the Virginia Gentleman shows up the field on Sunday!
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