Didn’t you just get the feeling it would happen soon enough? Since finishing 15th in the Coca- Cola 600, Tony Stewart has finished outside the top ten only twice before kicking the door down at the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Smoke has always been known for heating up with the temperatures, but it’s just as we get ready for the cooler nights and autumn leaves that the two-time champion picks up his first win of the 2010 campaign.
The race was a bit of a sleepy affair at the outset, with Stewart and Denny Hamlin providing the only real excitement in the first 80 laps or so. Heck, we didn’t see a caution until we were over a third into the race. After teammate Joey Logano experienced engine trouble earlier in the race, the “11” car of Hamlin gave up the ghost to card a 43rd place finish. Hamlin says he’ll focus on the bright side, that he had the horse to ride until the engine failure came along, not an unusual occurrence at a track where they’re known to rev it up pretty hard. Paul Menard had engine trouble prematurely end what has been a promising night, as did Scott Speed, whose car caught on fire.
I remember thinking about mid-way through the race that we hadn’t seen anything in the way of tire trouble until points leader Kevin Harvick had a left front blow his fender to smithereens. David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne also saw their Goodyears give way as the night wore on.
The Busch brothers had a long night. Kyle was flagged for speeding on pit road and had problems with a vibration, putting him deep in the field. Given that, it’s pretty remarkable he steered clear of chaos and piloted the “18” to a fifth place finish. Kurt’s “Blue Deuce” was a real mess for the elder brother and crew chief Steve Addington, but a gutsy pit call and perseverance aided the Miller Lite Dodge to sixth, earning him my “Rocky Balboa Award” for the race.
The pair also clinched Chase spots with their performances. The top ten drivers are all in. Greg Biffle is on ice for another week after a wreck ruined his chances at contending in this race. Clint Bowyer hangs on to 12th after making a top ten run. While Ryan Newman ran eighth, he was one spot behind the driver he needed to catch as Bowyer nursed his car to seventh. Jamie McMurray fought through his car and track issues to a respectable top fifteen finish- which really does him no favors. By finishing 21st Mark Martin was unable to do anything to benefit his bid for the top twelve. Kasey Kahne led several laps, and engaged in a nice three-way battle with Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson for a while, and he even sat 13th in the points for a bit. The blown tire finished off his shot at progress on the night.
Speaking of Kahne, he and Ryan Newman had a little, uh, discussion after race’s end. Isn’t it funny how some guys who aren’t ordinarily thought of as the pugilistic types will get into one deal with another, and then it seems another incident follows quickly? Maybe there’s something to that business of things happening in threes. Nah.
With all the craziness afoot, it was Stewart maintaining staying power, and how about the work by his pit crew? I’m not sure what the final outcome was, but something like four out of his first five stop were all in the 12-second range.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the “48” crew. By their standards, they had a couple of slower stops, and for a time, it looked as though they struggled on adjustments. They don’t miss many though, and Johnson looked like the Jimmie of old with a third place finish, and numerous occasions looked like a threat to win. With that said, you still wonder if on a night like this, he wouldn’t have won in years past.
When it comes to a return to form, Crazy Cousin Carl looked like HE might end a winless skein of his own. Edwards ran out front and up front most of the night, and the confidence is evident.
Elsewhere, Jeff Burton offered a study in perseverance to wheel his ride to fourth, and Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose added a little foreign intrigue to the top ten. I would have loved to have seen a little camera shot of Johnson flipping Montoya the bird on a mid-race pass. Local boys Reed Sorenson and David Ragan took 14th and 19th respectively. The “Grand Old Man” of Georgia, 1988 champion Bill Elliott took his historic #21 Wood Bros. ride to a finish of 23rd.
For Stewart, this is career win number 38 for the 2002 and 2005 champion, and when he gets rolling, don’t be surprised if there’s more in store. He and crew chief Darian Grubb will be the first to say they haven’t always had the car the way they wanted it, but they’ve patiently made their way through the schedule, and they sure look like a force to reckon, especially in a year when you can’t associate the word “dominant” with any one driver, not even the leaders in wins (Hamlin, Johnson), nor the leaders in points (Harvick, Jeff Gordon).
There were some hot laps out on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 17 drivers topped 185 miles per hour in their qualifying laps, striving to live up to the track’s slogan, where they say it’s “Real Racing. Real Fast.”
Of the 102 races run at AMS, 80 have been won from the top ten on the starting grid. Don’t tell that to Spring, 2010 winner Kurt Busch- he started 11th, and ironically, he’s there again and I don’t think he really cares.
In fact, Clint Bowyer have no small amount of motivation to run well with a spot in the Chase at stake. While he starts 14th, Bowyer ran top five in each of the practice sessions. A race winner? Not likely. He just mainly needs to steer clear of trouble. As for Jamie Mac, he starts 12th, and true to his up and down form, he was solid in the early session and a pedestrian 31st in Happy Hour. The dude’s got a mountain to climb, so hopefully for his sake, he’ll pick up speed early and parlay that into a good run. I wouldn’t go writing off Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon or even David Reutimann for that matter.
At the top of the grid, you’ve got a feeling Denny Hamlin thinks he’s due after foundering his through much of the summer. He’s streaky, so a good day could have major implications for the “11′” as he jockeys for top dog seeding. Alongside Hamlin is a driver with longshot odds to usurp Bowyer’s 12th place standing. On any given day, Ryan Newman can be a racy fellow, but his pole winning ways at the “A-T-L” have failed to produce race-winning ways.
There are three drivers who are of particular interest to me. When you talk about streaky, nobody gets on a roll quite like Kyle Busch. Unless he’s taken out by mechanical failure, tire issues or a melee of someone else’s making, you’ve got to think he’ll be at or near the front all day.
Juan Pablo Montoya has not only picked up a little momentum lately, he’s also been a firecracker at Atlanta. The fourth row ain’t bad place to start. for him, it’s just a matter of keeping his cool and not over driving his piece.
Carl Edwards is a nice mix of momentum and history. He joins Bobby Labonte (6), Bill Elliott (5), Jeff Gordon (4), Jimmie Johnson (3), Kurt Busch (3), Kasey Kahne (2), Mark Martin (2) and Tony Stewart (2) as a multiple race winner at AMS. Edwards has trio of wins, including that thriller between he and Johnson back in 2005.
To be sure, Stewart and Kahne will be on hand to make things interesting, but Edwards is my man for this race. Roush Fenway seems to have a lot of its issues ironed out, with Biffle and Edwards showing the most promise of late, and it seems Matt Kenseth is beginning to re-discover a higher gear. Heck, Georgia’s own David Ragan starts top ten.
Newman and Montoya will offer up some fireworks, Kyle could be a Killer, Smoke could find his stroke, but this observer is going with Carl Edwards in this week’s “Fearless Forecast.”
If you ask me….
It’s a cinch. Clint Bowyer just pretty much needs to show up to clinch that number twelve spot for the championship.
His organization- Richard Childress Racing- has equipped with good cars and good people. As crew chiefs go, it’s this observer’s humble opinion Todd Berrier is underrated. Then you have the skills of Bowyer.
I’d love to see Jamie Mac make the Chase. Mark Martin is a personal favorite. On the other hand, McMurray has to be as monumentally good, coupled with Bowyer being monumentally bad. That’s quite a combination. Could that happen over a two race stretch? Sure it could….but I doubt it. It would require a consistency on the part of McMurray that just hasn’t been there.
As for Martin, it just doesn’t seem like he has last year’s mojo. I’d love to see it happen, but I just don’t think it will.
Moving right along….
The more I think about it, the more I think Kasey Kahne’s one year move to Red Bull could be a real coup for both driver and organization. Think of the combination, regardless of whether Kahne is paired with Brian Vickers, or Scott Speed, and has anyone ruled out a three car team? Methinks Dietrich Mateschitz has the scratch.
It’s not the most ideal situation, considering that there’s no luxury of time to build a team for Kahne. By the same token, I’m just being honest in saying Kahne comes to a better team than he’s leaving at Richard Petty Motorsports, and Kahne brings enough prowess and quality experience to help Team Red Bull climb another notch. If you think about it, his teammate(s) could be the biggest beneficiaries of Kahne’s presence.
And then….
Some have suggested that there may be some chicanery involved in Jimmie Johnson’s recent struggles; that he might be sandbagging it a little to set him up for a Chase run. Really?
One can overstate the present condition of the “48” team that has not produced their usual results of late. After all, there’s been a number of recent races where Johnson looked like a genuine threat to win, before bad luck kicked in and dumped him.
The bottom line is Johnson may not be nearly as bad as some of his detractors would like to think. Yet, I just don’t think there’s anything in his wiring that allows him to back off. People like to talk smack and say their struggling team is “using psychology” and toying with the opponent. You know, the old “rope a dope” strategy a la Muhammad Ali.
In the real world, competitors just don’t do this- especially not racers. Johnson’s had some bad luck lately, and let’s be honest J.J. fans, he’s bobbled the ball a time or two as well.
When it’s all said and done, his challenges are real, the bad finishes are real, but the defending champion’s talent is real and so is his drive. He’s not messing around out there, but make no mistake- Jimmie Johnson isn’t finished yet.
