Qualifying was rained out and what last week’s race at Bristol served as the first major milestone in the 2010 season comes into play as qualifying at for tomorrow’s race at Martinsville has been rained out. Thus the field lines up according to 2010 owners’ points putting Kevin Harvick on the poll and Matt Kenseth to his side. Jimmie Johnson is in the sweet spot in row two.
The biggest news quite possibly is that Sprint Cup race cars will return to a conventional blade spoiler as the aero-wing has been abandoned. Early test reports are favorable but it is also a racing aesthetic. The wings just didn’t look NASCAR and fans complained as such. Unlike in the past, the spoilers are absolutely uniform. NASCAR supplies them and they must be kept at the designated angle. You won’t see pit crews banging on the spoiler during a race to get more favorable aerodynamic effects. NASCAR simply will not allow for any tweaking whatsoever with the new race car. It makes this fan wonder, did IROC truly die or was it inbred into Sprint Cup where NASCAR has moved solidly toward standardized everything short of decals and who makes the drive train.
The 2010 Sprint Cup season hit its first major milestone with the conclusion of the Food City 500 t Bristol, Tennessee. Five races down, 22 races until the Chase begins and 31 races until Homestead when the season ends and a champion is crowned. Here we go again, but is it too soon to talk about inevitability?
Does it not feel like it is inevitable Jimmie Johnson will win the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship, his 5th in a row, putting him all alone in 3rd for most championships closing in on Dale Earnhardt’s and Richard Petty’s seven championships. Five in a row would certainly further his own mark of achievement, racking up the consecutive honors.
For those who do not welcome a Johnson championship, there is a glimmer of hope, despite his winning three out of five races this season; he’s still only 3rd in points. He did succumb to a fate not characteristic of championship drivers, a DNF and 35th position in the Daytona 500. He finished outside the top 10, 12th in Atlanta. How many drivers would love to consistently finish somewhere around 12?
For all that misfortune, Johnson is only 14 points out of the top spot which provides the modest feat of overcoming Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth one of just finishing slightly ahead of them at Martinsville, a track that has been very, very good to Mr. Johnson.
Want to be scared even more? Up to this point, Bristol was one track that had eluded Johnson’s mastery. There are fewer and fewer tracks where Johnson has not taken the checkered flag, trophy, and big check.
Kevin Harvick has stood atop the points from week two onward. Whatever hardware problems the Richard Childress gang endured last year have been resolved. Jeff Burton is also in the all important top 12 but a horrible wreck almost sunk teammate, Clint Bowyer who clings to the 12 spot.
Roush/Fenway is looking like an operation ready to grab a trophy or two with Matt Kenseth in 2nd in the points and Greg Biffle in 4th. Carl Edwards leapt forward to 13th spot with his 6th place finish gaining seven positions in the points erasing some of the trauma from the misery of Atlanta.
Look who’s back in the top five after fumbling through much of the early season, Tony Stewart while maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. is finally getting his act together. Junior picked up five positions in the points standings to secure 8th place with his tough 7th place run.
Perhaps one of the most interesting stories of the young season is Paul Menard who after breaking in with DEI then moving to Yates is now looking like a mature, solid competitor with Richard Petty racing with essentially the same crew he worked with last year. He continues to hold down his top 10 position in 9th place.
Joey Logano’s hot start has been interrupted by the accident bug now all the way down to 17th place while Mark Martin’s misfortune pushed him down nine positions all the way down to 16th. In the “sucks to be me” department, surely Kasey Kahne cannot be loving life. Here’s a fellow who’s looked to have had great equipment looking sharp in practice but somehow can’t avoid being attacked by on track misfortune falling another six positions.
As unpredictable as short track racing is supposed to be, Martinsville has been Johnsonville and that’s not the brand of the hotdogs sold at the race track, those jumbo artery destroying delights with loads and loads of red dye.
Jimmie Johnson is still a fairly young driver who hasn’t even raced for a full decade. How many more grandfather clocks does a man need? Well, tomorrow afternoon, one of the 43 drivers starting at Martinsville will become the proud owner of one. It’s hard not to bet on the champ.
The biggest news quite possibly is that Sprint Cup race cars will return to a conventional blade spoiler as the aero-wing has been abandoned. Early test reports are favorable but it is also a racing aesthetic. The wings just didn’t look NASCAR and fans complained as such. Unlike in the past, the spoilers are absolutely uniform. NASCAR supplies them and they must be kept at the designated angle. You won’t see pit crews banging on the spoiler during a race to get more favorable aerodynamic effects. NASCAR simply will not allow for any tweaking whatsoever with the new race car. It makes this fan wonder, did IROC truly die or was it inbred into Sprint Cup where NASCAR has moved solidly toward standardized everything short of decals and who makes the drive train.
The 2010 Sprint Cup season hit its first major milestone with the conclusion of the Food City 500 t Bristol, Tennessee. Five races down, 22 races until the Chase begins and 31 races until Homestead when the season ends and a champion is crowned. Here we go again, but is it too soon to talk about inevitability?
Does it not feel like it is inevitable Jimmie Johnson will win the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship, his 5th in a row, putting him all alone in 3rd for most championships closing in on Dale Earnhardt’s and Richard Petty’s seven championships. Five in a row would certainly further his own mark of achievement, racking up the consecutive honors.
For those who do not welcome a Johnson championship, there is a glimmer of hope, despite his winning three out of five races this season; he’s still only 3rd in points. He did succumb to a fate not characteristic of championship drivers, a DNF and 35th position in the Daytona 500. He finished outside the top 10, 12th in Atlanta. How many drivers would love to consistently finish somewhere around 12?
For all that misfortune, Johnson is only 14 points out of the top spot which provides the modest feat of overcoming Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth one of just finishing slightly ahead of them at Martinsville, a track that has been very, very good to Mr. Johnson.
Want to be scared even more? Up to this point, Bristol was one track that had eluded Johnson’s mastery. There are fewer and fewer tracks where Johnson has not taken the checkered flag, trophy, and big check.
Kevin Harvick has stood atop the points from week two onward. Whatever hardware problems the Richard Childress gang endured last year have been resolved. Jeff Burton is also in the all important top 12 but a horrible wreck almost sunk teammate, Clint Bowyer who clings to the 12 spot.
Roush/Fenway is looking like an operation ready to grab a trophy or two with Matt Kenseth in 2nd in the points and Greg Biffle in 4th. Carl Edwards leapt forward to 13th spot with his 6th place finish gaining seven positions in the points erasing some of the trauma from the misery of Atlanta.
Look who’s back in the top five after fumbling through much of the early season, Tony Stewart while maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. is finally getting his act together. Junior picked up five positions in the points standings to secure 8th place with his tough 7th place run.
Perhaps one of the most interesting stories of the young season is Paul Menard who after breaking in with DEI then moving to Yates is now looking like a mature, solid competitor with Richard Petty racing with essentially the same crew he worked with last year. He continues to hold down his top 10 position in 9th place.
Joey Logano’s hot start has been interrupted by the accident bug now all the way down to 17th place while Mark Martin’s misfortune pushed him down nine positions all the way down to 16th. In the “sucks to be me” department, surely Kasey Kahne cannot be loving life. Here’s a fellow who’s looked to have had great equipment looking sharp in practice but somehow can’t avoid being attacked by on track misfortune falling another six positions.
As unpredictable as short track racing is supposed to be, Martinsville has been Johnsonville and that’s not the brand of the hotdogs sold at the race track, those jumbo artery destroying delights with loads and loads of red dye.
Jimmie Johnson is still a fairly young driver who hasn’t even raced for a full decade. How many more grandfather clocks does a man need? Well, tomorrow afternoon, one of the 43 drivers starting at Martinsville will become the proud owner of one. It’s hard not to bet on the champ.
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