In an area known for its lush landscaping and lovely azaleas, how fitting is it that the Sprint Cup driver known as “Shrub” should have won the Saturday Night shootout at the Richmond International Raceway, the Health Calhoun 400. Where most races may have seen drivers dominate at times and more than half the races up to Saturday night had green/white/checker finishes, this race appeared to have had a clearly dominant car early on, but Jeff Gordon had other ideas taking charge in the second half. Kyle Busch took the checkered flag and the recipient of being awarded five additional bonus points for leading the most laps. Not to be lost in this was that Kyle Busch also was the race’s pole sitter.
Spirits have to be running higher at Joe Gibbs Racing. First, Denny Hamlin won two out three races; now the #18 is in winning form. Despite the occasional setback, Joey Logano continues to grow but on this night it was all Kyle’s race, with Hamlin finishing 11th and Logano 16th.
The race gods perhaps are starting to weigh in on “start and park” efforts. For once, neither Prism cars qualified. Joe Nemechek qualified 11th but quickly started to surrender positions. None the less, a cut tire caused the #87 to wreck before they could meekly surrender. It’s hard to knock Joe Nemechek, a fellow who lost his brother to the race track, who was a Richmond winner in 2003, but there’s a time for honesty, and Joe honestly does not belong in Sprint Cup any longer. Rather than spreading meager resources across Sprint Cup and Nationwide, perhaps the potential is there to be a modestly successful Nationwide team. Accepting reality and dropping back to a lesser series gave drivers like Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, and Johnny Benson truck championship.
The Ford camp surely needs to be concerned. They qualified miserably. Only Carl Edward finished in the top 10, actually 5th while teammate, Matt Kenseth finished 13th and the highest Richard Petty Racing finish was 17th. Look at it this way, Ford occupied qualifying positions 15, 21, 22, 24, 28, 32, 33, and 35th among its top two teams while the Front Row team posted lower spots. Translate that to finishing spots, the numbers were 5, 13, 17, 21, 22, 24, 27, and 38th while the Front Row gang finished spread between 29th and 37th. We’d be interested in knowing why the Blue Oval powers are so reluctant to embrace the new Ford engine. In 2010, it’s been Chevy’s year apart from three wins from JGR and one cameo from Dodge.
Oh, we mustn’t neglect to mention, the Richmond finish knocked Jimmie Johnson out of first place. He wrecked on the last lap but still was able to whimper into a 10th place finish. Whatever they have working for them, surely there are 42 other competitors who’d like to spray a little bit of that on their rides. It was a good evening for two Childress competitors with Kevin Harvick taking a slight points lead with his 3rd place finish and teammate, Jeff Burton was right behind in 4th. Clint Bowyer held some ground with a 12th place finish.
Looking at the standings, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the big loser being bounced out of “The Chase” field falling five positions to 13th only four points behind Clint Bowyer. Teammate, Mark Martin, dropped four positions to 10th. Gains in the standings were more modest, but Jeff Gordon used success at Richmond to help counter bad results recently moving up four spots to 6th. Jeff Burton pulled up to 9th spot up three positions.
Despite Ford struggles, give the Roush team credit for having some kind of survival gear in the standings with Matt Kenseth in 4th, Greg Biffle (down two spots) in 5th, and Carl Edwards sneaking into the top 12 in 11th. Fortune is not nearly as friendly for Richard Petty Racing with Paul Menard, their top ride in 20th. However, they can be encouraged the A.J. Allmendinger is right behind him up three spots to 21st and Kasey Kahne follows in 22nd. Roush’s 4th entry, David Ragan is next in 23rd. Elliot Sadler continues to flounder in 30th position.
While there’s no question Jimmie Johnson remains the driver for the team to beat despite losing his top spot, it’s still difficult to assess what other drivers could give the #48 team a fight for the championship. Clearly, the #29 Richard Childress Chevy piloted by Kevin Harvick has been the most consistent. Despite having one win, his four top fives and seven top tens are second only to Johnson. Denny Hamlin has two wins, but only three total top 10’s. Things could be shaping up for Kyle Busch, who now has a win, two top fives, and five top tens – good enough for 3rd. Kenseth and Biffle are in the top five despite hardly being a factor late in races but consistency is their key. Kenseth has three top fives, six top tens while Biffle shows two top fives and seven top tens.
Two tracks that can really shake up the standings lie ahead with Saturday night action at Darlington and Dover, moved ahead of the Charlotte races, now slotted for early May. For most of the first half of the year, each week brings a substantially different track configuration requiring the garage techs to work week to week on getting the right setup for competition. Consider the extent to which outside Martinsville and Talladega, the last ten races are mostly 1 to 1 ½ mile tracks. The stretch they face now makes it more difficult for one driver and his team to get into a sustained groove.
While it’s premature to say who will be in the chase, it’s time for some teams to start showing some signs of life if they want to have a productive season past their next trip to Richmond. Down as low as 18th place is with 100 points of making the “The Chase.” Within the top 12, there’s much room for movement as 81 points separate 5th from 12th. With these numbers to contend with, surely the competition will heat up with the weather and in was hot in Richmond this weekend.
Spirits have to be running higher at Joe Gibbs Racing. First, Denny Hamlin won two out three races; now the #18 is in winning form. Despite the occasional setback, Joey Logano continues to grow but on this night it was all Kyle’s race, with Hamlin finishing 11th and Logano 16th.
The race gods perhaps are starting to weigh in on “start and park” efforts. For once, neither Prism cars qualified. Joe Nemechek qualified 11th but quickly started to surrender positions. None the less, a cut tire caused the #87 to wreck before they could meekly surrender. It’s hard to knock Joe Nemechek, a fellow who lost his brother to the race track, who was a Richmond winner in 2003, but there’s a time for honesty, and Joe honestly does not belong in Sprint Cup any longer. Rather than spreading meager resources across Sprint Cup and Nationwide, perhaps the potential is there to be a modestly successful Nationwide team. Accepting reality and dropping back to a lesser series gave drivers like Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, and Johnny Benson truck championship.
The Ford camp surely needs to be concerned. They qualified miserably. Only Carl Edward finished in the top 10, actually 5th while teammate, Matt Kenseth finished 13th and the highest Richard Petty Racing finish was 17th. Look at it this way, Ford occupied qualifying positions 15, 21, 22, 24, 28, 32, 33, and 35th among its top two teams while the Front Row team posted lower spots. Translate that to finishing spots, the numbers were 5, 13, 17, 21, 22, 24, 27, and 38th while the Front Row gang finished spread between 29th and 37th. We’d be interested in knowing why the Blue Oval powers are so reluctant to embrace the new Ford engine. In 2010, it’s been Chevy’s year apart from three wins from JGR and one cameo from Dodge.
Oh, we mustn’t neglect to mention, the Richmond finish knocked Jimmie Johnson out of first place. He wrecked on the last lap but still was able to whimper into a 10th place finish. Whatever they have working for them, surely there are 42 other competitors who’d like to spray a little bit of that on their rides. It was a good evening for two Childress competitors with Kevin Harvick taking a slight points lead with his 3rd place finish and teammate, Jeff Burton was right behind in 4th. Clint Bowyer held some ground with a 12th place finish.
Looking at the standings, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the big loser being bounced out of “The Chase” field falling five positions to 13th only four points behind Clint Bowyer. Teammate, Mark Martin, dropped four positions to 10th. Gains in the standings were more modest, but Jeff Gordon used success at Richmond to help counter bad results recently moving up four spots to 6th. Jeff Burton pulled up to 9th spot up three positions.
Despite Ford struggles, give the Roush team credit for having some kind of survival gear in the standings with Matt Kenseth in 4th, Greg Biffle (down two spots) in 5th, and Carl Edwards sneaking into the top 12 in 11th. Fortune is not nearly as friendly for Richard Petty Racing with Paul Menard, their top ride in 20th. However, they can be encouraged the A.J. Allmendinger is right behind him up three spots to 21st and Kasey Kahne follows in 22nd. Roush’s 4th entry, David Ragan is next in 23rd. Elliot Sadler continues to flounder in 30th position.
While there’s no question Jimmie Johnson remains the driver for the team to beat despite losing his top spot, it’s still difficult to assess what other drivers could give the #48 team a fight for the championship. Clearly, the #29 Richard Childress Chevy piloted by Kevin Harvick has been the most consistent. Despite having one win, his four top fives and seven top tens are second only to Johnson. Denny Hamlin has two wins, but only three total top 10’s. Things could be shaping up for Kyle Busch, who now has a win, two top fives, and five top tens – good enough for 3rd. Kenseth and Biffle are in the top five despite hardly being a factor late in races but consistency is their key. Kenseth has three top fives, six top tens while Biffle shows two top fives and seven top tens.
Two tracks that can really shake up the standings lie ahead with Saturday night action at Darlington and Dover, moved ahead of the Charlotte races, now slotted for early May. For most of the first half of the year, each week brings a substantially different track configuration requiring the garage techs to work week to week on getting the right setup for competition. Consider the extent to which outside Martinsville and Talladega, the last ten races are mostly 1 to 1 ½ mile tracks. The stretch they face now makes it more difficult for one driver and his team to get into a sustained groove.
While it’s premature to say who will be in the chase, it’s time for some teams to start showing some signs of life if they want to have a productive season past their next trip to Richmond. Down as low as 18th place is with 100 points of making the “The Chase.” Within the top 12, there’s much room for movement as 81 points separate 5th from 12th. With these numbers to contend with, surely the competition will heat up with the weather and in was hot in Richmond this weekend.
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