Almost certainly there will be all kinds of finger pointing and conspiracy theories that will attempt to describe the last eighteen laps at Texas on today’s postponed race. What’s to say when the driver who led the most laps finishes 31st and the pole sitter who was most competitive throughout finishes in 33rd?
Add it up and analyze it to the maximum and there’s really only one sane conclusion, THAT’S RACIN’! You want some video -- check this out (apologies for commercial) ...http://msn.foxsports.com/video/NASCAR?vid=c07ac775-6038-44ef-8efe-e15095a3ba30 Listen to the post-crash interviews with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and see the high level of sportsmanship they show. They show such calm and no anger. If nothing else, a normal person would still be shaking with fear after the big pile up!!!
Even the most fervent Jeff Gordon haters must have felt sorry for the guy today. He had one of those great Hendrick’s rides that could do no wrong having a substantial lead before David Reutimann’s car blew up catching fire spewing oil on the track on lap 310. Good news going into that caution was that Jimmie Johnson would not have had enough fuel to finish the race meaning the chosen one could well have finished well below the top ten thus opening up the points competition. Gordon and Johnson took four tires while numerous competitors took only two moving them back in the pack a few cars from the lead. Fifteen cars benefitted from the wave around. Jeff Burton led the pack with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Greg Biffle filling out the top five as the green flag dropped. Instantly, divers were engaged in a mad scramble for the lead stretching to four wide in places with Tony Stewart moving back several positions in the scramble.
Just a lap later, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon were battling for position making contact on a couple of occasions as Carl Edwards was attempting to surge forward. The #14 tapped the #24 while the #88 had no place to go as the impact slowed the cars in front of him ever so slightly. The result was a Talladega style big one with all three cars destroyed. Other drivers caught in the mess where Juan Montoya, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, Jaime McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, and Joey Logano. NASCAR then issued the red flag to get the wreckage off the track and to get the racing surface cleaned up for competition.
When conditions cleared and the status changed to yellow, the pit stops were completed, and the green flag waved for the start of lap 322. Jeff Burton paced Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Jimmie Johnson back into action. Burton could not hold his lead as Hamlin took the lead and Kyle Busch pulled into second. The #48 car began its push to the front, first overtaking Junior, then passing Kyle Busch on lap 332. As the white flag flew for lap 333, Hamlin maintained his lead looking like a sure winner but with each stretch, Johnson closed in tighter and tighter. Going into turns three and four, one could almost sense another Johnson miracle, but Hamlin, injured leg and all, held on to win, his second in three races.
The results:
1. Denny Hamlin, #11, Toyota
2. Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
3. Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota
4. Kurt Busch, #2, Dodge
5. Kasey Kahne, #9, Ford
6. Mark Martin, #5, Chevy
7. Kevin Harvick, #29, Chevy
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr., #88, Chevy
9. Martin Truex Jr., #56, Toyota
10. Greg Biffle, #16, Ford
11. Ryan Newman, #39, Chevy
12. Jeff Burton, #31, Chevy
The big wreck pushed several competitive rides down to positions 30 to 36 where Jaime McMurray placed ahead of the misery train of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jun Montoya, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer all just ahead of the fellow whose engine explosion set forth the conditions that led to bedlam, David Reutimann in 37th. Only Brian Vickers whose mishaps early in the race separated these competitors from the quitters at the end of the line.
While the top five in the points standings remains the same as last week, on closer examination, Jimmie Johnson is the big winner once again now widening his points lead over second place, Matt Kenseth to 108 points. While Jeff Gordon remains in fifth place, he is now 220 points behind. Other winners in the points battle include the Busch brothers with Kyle Busch gaining six positions to end in 6th place while brother, Kurt, gained five positions to nail down 9th. Teammates, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Mark Martin gained three positions putting Earnhardt in 7th and Martin into the elite in 10th. Kasey Kahne, still buried deep in the standings, moved toward respectability gaining four positions to 22nd place.
The chase for the Promised Land is red hot given less than 100 points separate Jeff Gordon 200 points out of first from last week’s winner, Ryan Newman in 16th, 316 points out of the top. Wins take on more significance since the latest revision to the Chase formula, thus victory lane is in search of more competitors. In eight races, there have been five different winners, with Jimmie Johnson with 3, Denny Hamlin with 2, then Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, and Jaime McMurray having single wins.
As we look toward who might be running for the championship besides Jimmie Johnson, one of the best tickets to success, consistency, wracking up top 5’s, show us the results so far this year are quite revealing. Only 12 drivers have two or more top 5’s. Only five have three or more. Here’s the kicker, beyond that, none have four, but Jimmie Johnson has FIVE!!!
Drivers with 3 tops 5’s: Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin
Drivers with 2 top 5’s: Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya
Repeat top ten finishes also tell part of the story as Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth have been in the top ten for six out of eight races. Greg Biffle only missed the top ten once.
Why all the attention to the numbers this week? Because next week’s race at Talladega marks the one quarter mark for the 2010 season. If we can identify the most consistent teams, we’ll know who will be in the big show after Richmond in September.
What happened to Jeff Gordon this week demonstrates the value of getting the five points for leading a lap and five more for leading the most laps.
We look forward to Talladega with much nervous anticipation. The spring Alabama getaway is notorious for jumbling up the standings as drivers can be in the wrong train at the end and lose many positions, then there’s always the specter of the dreaded “big one” that takes out several top competitors almost every trip to the great “injun” burying ground. The hopes and dreams of many a racer are buried with the deceased native-Americans. Rules and equipment changes will make this year’s event even more ominous.
In the meantime, congratulations to Denny Hamlin. This was one hard fought win.
Add it up and analyze it to the maximum and there’s really only one sane conclusion, THAT’S RACIN’! You want some video -- check this out (apologies for commercial) ...http://msn.foxsports.com/video/NASCAR?vid=c07ac775-6038-44ef-8efe-e15095a3ba30 Listen to the post-crash interviews with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and see the high level of sportsmanship they show. They show such calm and no anger. If nothing else, a normal person would still be shaking with fear after the big pile up!!!
Even the most fervent Jeff Gordon haters must have felt sorry for the guy today. He had one of those great Hendrick’s rides that could do no wrong having a substantial lead before David Reutimann’s car blew up catching fire spewing oil on the track on lap 310. Good news going into that caution was that Jimmie Johnson would not have had enough fuel to finish the race meaning the chosen one could well have finished well below the top ten thus opening up the points competition. Gordon and Johnson took four tires while numerous competitors took only two moving them back in the pack a few cars from the lead. Fifteen cars benefitted from the wave around. Jeff Burton led the pack with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Greg Biffle filling out the top five as the green flag dropped. Instantly, divers were engaged in a mad scramble for the lead stretching to four wide in places with Tony Stewart moving back several positions in the scramble.
Just a lap later, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon were battling for position making contact on a couple of occasions as Carl Edwards was attempting to surge forward. The #14 tapped the #24 while the #88 had no place to go as the impact slowed the cars in front of him ever so slightly. The result was a Talladega style big one with all three cars destroyed. Other drivers caught in the mess where Juan Montoya, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, Jaime McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, and Joey Logano. NASCAR then issued the red flag to get the wreckage off the track and to get the racing surface cleaned up for competition.
When conditions cleared and the status changed to yellow, the pit stops were completed, and the green flag waved for the start of lap 322. Jeff Burton paced Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Jimmie Johnson back into action. Burton could not hold his lead as Hamlin took the lead and Kyle Busch pulled into second. The #48 car began its push to the front, first overtaking Junior, then passing Kyle Busch on lap 332. As the white flag flew for lap 333, Hamlin maintained his lead looking like a sure winner but with each stretch, Johnson closed in tighter and tighter. Going into turns three and four, one could almost sense another Johnson miracle, but Hamlin, injured leg and all, held on to win, his second in three races.
The results:
1. Denny Hamlin, #11, Toyota
2. Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
3. Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota
4. Kurt Busch, #2, Dodge
5. Kasey Kahne, #9, Ford
6. Mark Martin, #5, Chevy
7. Kevin Harvick, #29, Chevy
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr., #88, Chevy
9. Martin Truex Jr., #56, Toyota
10. Greg Biffle, #16, Ford
11. Ryan Newman, #39, Chevy
12. Jeff Burton, #31, Chevy
The big wreck pushed several competitive rides down to positions 30 to 36 where Jaime McMurray placed ahead of the misery train of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jun Montoya, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer all just ahead of the fellow whose engine explosion set forth the conditions that led to bedlam, David Reutimann in 37th. Only Brian Vickers whose mishaps early in the race separated these competitors from the quitters at the end of the line.
While the top five in the points standings remains the same as last week, on closer examination, Jimmie Johnson is the big winner once again now widening his points lead over second place, Matt Kenseth to 108 points. While Jeff Gordon remains in fifth place, he is now 220 points behind. Other winners in the points battle include the Busch brothers with Kyle Busch gaining six positions to end in 6th place while brother, Kurt, gained five positions to nail down 9th. Teammates, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Mark Martin gained three positions putting Earnhardt in 7th and Martin into the elite in 10th. Kasey Kahne, still buried deep in the standings, moved toward respectability gaining four positions to 22nd place.
The chase for the Promised Land is red hot given less than 100 points separate Jeff Gordon 200 points out of first from last week’s winner, Ryan Newman in 16th, 316 points out of the top. Wins take on more significance since the latest revision to the Chase formula, thus victory lane is in search of more competitors. In eight races, there have been five different winners, with Jimmie Johnson with 3, Denny Hamlin with 2, then Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, and Jaime McMurray having single wins.
As we look toward who might be running for the championship besides Jimmie Johnson, one of the best tickets to success, consistency, wracking up top 5’s, show us the results so far this year are quite revealing. Only 12 drivers have two or more top 5’s. Only five have three or more. Here’s the kicker, beyond that, none have four, but Jimmie Johnson has FIVE!!!
Drivers with 3 tops 5’s: Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin
Drivers with 2 top 5’s: Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya
Repeat top ten finishes also tell part of the story as Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth have been in the top ten for six out of eight races. Greg Biffle only missed the top ten once.
Why all the attention to the numbers this week? Because next week’s race at Talladega marks the one quarter mark for the 2010 season. If we can identify the most consistent teams, we’ll know who will be in the big show after Richmond in September.
What happened to Jeff Gordon this week demonstrates the value of getting the five points for leading a lap and five more for leading the most laps.
We look forward to Talladega with much nervous anticipation. The spring Alabama getaway is notorious for jumbling up the standings as drivers can be in the wrong train at the end and lose many positions, then there’s always the specter of the dreaded “big one” that takes out several top competitors almost every trip to the great “injun” burying ground. The hopes and dreams of many a racer are buried with the deceased native-Americans. Rules and equipment changes will make this year’s event even more ominous.
In the meantime, congratulations to Denny Hamlin. This was one hard fought win.
No comments:
Post a Comment