Sprint Cup 2011: Race 11: Kenseth Wins, Jimmie Johnson wound up too "tired"

For those who’ve grown tired of Jimmie Johnson dominating Sprint Cup racing, the FedEx 400 from Dover, Delaware had to start off with very ominous signs. The five time champ started from the pole and looked hell-bent on dominating the field leading the most laps. Everything the 48 team did looked so calculated, so self-assured, so right on the money. Who’d ever guess that late in the race, a Chad Knaus decision to change four tires would put the #48 far enough back in the pack that there would be a real battle for the finish and #48 would not be involved. The race came down to Matt Kenseth holding off the ancient mariner, Mark Martin, for Kenseth’s second win of the season.

We can’t withhold our outrage that the number of freeloading scumbags is now up to six loathsome leeches on the field with Robbie Gordon’s #7 car officially joining the ranks of the lowlife losers off doing something else while Scott Wimmer parks his car. The sport now has a new scum bucket, the upstart Inception Motorsports entry, driven by David Stremme, they join the usual pack of self-pitying parasites that NASCAR is content to allow make a farce of representing the highest level of racing: Joe (time to go) Nemechek, J.J. Yeley, Mike Skinner, and Michael McDowell. We’ll provide the dollars and cents and our appeal to rattle NASCAR on the infectious scum in a later posting.

TOP 15 Finishes:
1- Matt Kenseth, (#17) Ford
2- Mark Martin, (#5) Chevrolet
3- Marcos Ambrose, (#9) Ford
4- Kyle Busch, (#18) Toyota
5- Brian Vickers, (#83) Toyota
6- Clint Bowyer, (#33) Chevrolet
7- Carl Edwards, (#99) Ford
8- Martin Truex Jr., (#56) Toyota
9- Jimmie Johnson, (#48) Chevrolet
10- Kevin Harvick, (#29) Chevrolet
11- Jeff Burton, (#31) Chevrolet
12- Dale Earnhardt Jr., (#88) Chevrolet
13- Brad Keselowski, (#2) Dodge
14- Kurt Busch, (#22) Dodge
15- David Reutimann, (#00) Toyota

TOP 15 Points Standings
1- Carl Edwards, 416 pts.
2- Jimmie Johnson, 392 pts. (-24)
3- Kyle Busch, 379 pts. (-37)
4- Dale Earnhardt Jr., 364 pts. (-42)
5- Kevin Harvick, 362 pts. (-54)
6- Matt Kenseth, (+4) 342 pts. (-74)
7- Ryan Newman (-1) 340 pts. (-76)
8- Clint Bowyer (+1) 336 pts. (-80)
9- Kurt Busch (-1) 336 pts. (-80)
10- Tony Stewart (-3) 328 pts. (-88)
11- Mark Martin (+3) 324 pts. (-92)
12- Greg Biffle, 311 pts. (-105)
13- Denny Hamlin (+3) 304 pts. (-112)
14- Jeff Gordon (+3) 299 pts. (-117)
15- Juan Montoya (-2) 296 pts. (-120)

The biggest loser on the day was A.J. Allmendinger whose 37th place finish, one ahead of the freeloader express, dropped out of the top 15 falling five positions to 16th. No other driver lost more than three positions. Other masters of misfortune were last week’s winner, Regan Smith who finished in 34th and Kasey Kahne whose season was starting to build momentum mired in 36th. More mistakes have been the order of the day in the #14 camp led by Tony Stewart who finished 29th.

Winners (Victories in 2011)
1- Kyle Busch (2)
2- Kevin Harvick (2)
3- Matt Kenseth (2)
4- Carl Edwards
5- Jimmie Johnson
6- Jeff Gordon
7- Regan Smith
8- Trevor Bayne

It’s on to Charlotte and a couple of weeks of home cooking for most of the field. Next Saturday night is the All-Star race preceded by a shootout to determine which cars advance into the elite field. It would be most ironic if the slugs show up and start and park under those circumstances.

Soon, the chase for the chase picture will start to clarify. The guys with two wins are in, so are Edwards and Johnson. The rest of the field is wide open.


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