Sprint Cup 2012: Race 12: The Coke 600 "The Long Run"

How 2012 is shaping up so far and a look at the Coke 600

With the All-Star Race completed, the Sprint Cup long drive is now underway leading to September’s showdown in Richmond that will determine the field for the chase. This provides a great opportunity to assess the season so far and perhaps make a feeble attempt at projecting who the real championship and chase contenders are.

For all the foibles at the start of the season, Jimmie Johnson sure looks poised to gain his sixth after missing the mark last year. Tony Stewart has had his ups and downs but has the reputation of being a late season spectacular, so that he has two wins already sure makes him look good. Roush has Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle in hot contention occupying the top of the standings while last year’s almost champ, Carl Edwards has struggled so far, but it’s hard to count him out. Denny Hamlin has two wins and is back in form while teammate, Kyle Busch is just beginning to get cranked up. Martin Truex Jr. can’t finish races but has consistently run well. He could be Michael Waltrip Racing’s first legit contender. Kevin Harvick still hasn’t really caught fire yet with two top 5’s and five top 10’s, he’s in the top ten in rather unspectacular fashion. Beyond that, the most spectacular of the rides outside the top ten has to be Brad Keselowski, who apart from some bad finishes, would surely be strongly in the top ten. His two wins could be enough to get him in a wild card spot. The only other driver outside the top ten with a win is Ryan Newman in 14^th. Somehow, his car seems to be a magnet for crashes this year. Clint Bowyer in 11^th has not looked nearly as aggressive as in past years. A driver to watch is Kasey Kahne in 15^th. His season could not have started off much worse, but in recent weeks, his team has come on strong and is bound to break into victory lane soon.  We neglected to mention, NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. who’s in 3^rd place looking more consistent than he has in years. He’s come so close so often, a win can’t be far away.

The year’s greatest disappointment has to be Jeff Gordon, buried in 24^th place far from the top ten, the #24 team must first get into the top 20 and then chalk up some wins or it will be a major black mark for one of the most famous careers in the sport.

Joey Logano is fighting to keep his spot in Joe Gibbs Racing. His season is so far looking far more promising standing in 15^th position. He’ll need to continue to improve to assure his spot in the #20 Toyota next year.

Here’s how the current top ten and winning teams place noting teams that could also be in contention.

1. Greg Biffle #19
2. Matt Kenseth #17 (-2)
3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. #3 (-14)
4. Denny Hamlin #11 (-17)
5. Jimmie Johnson #48 (-39)
6. Martin Truex, Jr. #56 (-39)
7. Tony Stewart #14 (-42)
8. Kevin Harvick #29 (-50)
9. Kyle Busch #18 (-62)
10. Carl Edwards (#99) (-74)
11. Clint Bowyer (#15) (-76)
12. Brad Keselowski (#2) (-83) WILDCARD
13. Paul Menard #27 (-103)
14. Ryan Newman #39 (-104)

So how bad is it for Jeff Gordon? Go down the standings ten places to 24^th, -170 pts. Jeff Gordon would need to win at least two of the next fifteen races to make The Chase as a wildcard.

Tonight, Richard Petty has the top two cars on the pole with Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose on the front row. Gunning for them in row two are perhaps the hottest two drivers of the year right now, Jimmie Johnson (all-star and Darlington winner) and Greg Biffle (points leader). Strong competitors fill out the top 17 entries. As always, the Coke 600 is an endurance contest. Looking at previous 1 ½ mile events so far this year is not a good barometer of the likely winner. It’s hard not to look to a Rich Hendricks or Jack Roush entry to take the checkered flag.

Coke 600 Starting Line Up:

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED
1	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	U.S. Air Force	192.940
2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	DEWALT	191.598
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's Patriotic	191.374
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	Fastenal	191.259
5	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	191.198
6	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Armed Forces Foundation	191.171
7	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Quaker State	191.130
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Ground	190.887
9	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards / Serta	190.597
10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing	190.456
11	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	190.329
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard 'An American Salute'	190.302
13	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Auto Center	190.268
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser Folds of Honor	190.201
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	190.194
16	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	190.054
17	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's Red, White & Blue	190.034
18	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies	189.987
19	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	Dollar General	189.707
20	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Fastenal	189.607
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Mobil 1	189.574
22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Wheaties	189.520
23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	189.076
24	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	188.871
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	188.363
26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Kingsford	188.344
27	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	Turn One Racing	188.324
28	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Fastenal	188.206
29	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	187.924
30	34	David Ragan	Ford	Al's Liners / Scorpion Coatings	187.656
31	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat	187.526
32	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Presbyterian Healthcare System	187.487
33	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	MDS Transport	187.259
34	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	Little Joe's Autos / Precon	187.169
35	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	186.143
36	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	SealWrap	186.111
37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Dr Pepper	186.085
38	195	Scott Speed	Ford	Jordan's Truck Sales	185.976
39	38	David Gilliland	Ford	ModSpace	185.810
40	10	Danica Patrick+	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	-
41	32	T.J. Bell+	Ford	Green Smoke	-
42	51	Kurt Busch+	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	-
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	Global Barter Corp	185.784
Did Not Qualify
-	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents	-
-	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	-
-	173	David Reutimann	Toyota	Burger King	-
-	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	-