I suppose we should expect no less from Bristol. The ride around the bull ring not only produced a certain amount of paint-swapping, all the track pounding did a little something of a number on the B.D.S. Top 10 too.
A review of the rankings this week also produces another debate, one further fueled by Formula One’s decision last week. Is it about the wins? Or should the greater weight be given to consistency?
Think about that, and share your thoughts…..Meanwhile:
#10- Matt Kenseth- (last rank 4th) – Could Matt Kenseth become the Kasey Kahne of 2009? Last year, Kasey picked up a wins but missed the Chase. It’s been a rough go for the “17″ since California.
#9- Tony Stewart- (last rank 8th)- This really wasn’t Tony’s weekend. That said, his 17th place finish was still better than other luminaries such as Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
#8- Denny Hamlin- (previously unranked)- Give the man props for a 2dn place finish. Hamlin’s made a steady ascent over the last 3 races (22nd, 13th, 2nd) and he heads to the track where he won last spring.
#7- Carl Edwards- (last rank 5th)- His finish of 15th at the Tennessee track represented a bit of a fall, but his average finish of 12.0 puts Edwards ahead of Kyle Busch (12.8), Tony Stewart (13.4), Jimmie Johnson (15.2), Denny Hamlin (13.8) and Kasey Kahne (12.8).
#6- Kasey Kahne- (previously unranked)- Since finishing 29th at Daytona, Kahne has improved his finish every week (12th, 11th, 7th, 5th). Is it possible another spring hot streak lies ahead for the “9.”
#5- Jimmie Johnson- (previously ranked)- It was just a matter of time. He may not have had enough for Shrub Sunday, but he’s more than good enough for a top 5. Keep your eyes peeled, Johnson may be headed for one of those famous runs soon.
#4- Clint Bowyer- (last rank 3rd)- So far, the double-triple has avoided whatever bad luck that has befallen his RCR teammates. His finish of 13th was a bit of a slip, but Bowyer’s still averaging an 8.8.
#3- Kurt Busch- (last rank 2nd)- I give the Blue Deuce credit for this: even after getting his car busted up in that Michael Waltrip mess, Busch managed to get his car to the start/finish in 11th. You could do a lot worse.
OK ladies and gentlemen….
#1b- Kyle Busch- (last rank 6th)- When he’s good, Kyle is spectacularly good. One could make the argument Busch should be number one- tied for the Cup lead with 2 wins. An 18th in Atlanta and a 41st at Daytona are the only blemishes on Busch’s 2009 record. Imagine what what may have been were it not for the Brian Vickers/ Dale Earnhardt Jr. incident in the Great American Race.
#1a- Jeff Gordon- (last rank 1st)- You can call him “Mr. Consistency” for 2009. Wonder Boy is tied with Kyle Busch for top 5s with 3, and he leads the series with 4 top 10s. So if its all about wins for you, then Busch is your guy. If it’s about consistency, I present you Jeff Gordon.
READY TO STRIKE
Like a bad cold, David Reutimann keeps hanging around. His 12th place finish and the 10th place run of the MWR-affiliated Marcos Ambrose suggests Michael Waltrip may have more going for him as an owner than a driver…Jeff Burton is coming alive. The 8th place finish is not the win he got in spring, 2008, but this is still a nice run for him and you know there’s more to follow…Juan Pablo Montoya. Don’t look now, but JPM is loaded for bear. Just ask Jamie Mc Murray. A.J. Allmendinger merits attention as well.
FALLING OFF THE PACE
Bristol collected casualties in more ways than one. Kevin Harvick was 30th at Bristol and lost 4 places in the points…Greg Biffle fell 8 places after finishing 39th Sunday. It’s not been a good recent run for The Biff…Ah, Brian Vickers. You were starting to look so good in the top 10.
Oh well, there’s always next week.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I pray that NASCAR never goes to a system like the F1. Wow, that just makes me not want to watch Formula One even more…
I personally like the current system NASCAR uses. I think they need to award just a few more points to the winner at the end of the 1st 26. But, the current system awards winning and consistency, and I think that’s how our champion should be chosen.
If I remember correctly, that’s why NASCAR went to the “Chase” format to start with….Matt Kenseth won the championship with only one win but by being consistently in the top 10 and top 5 all season long. And every year since implementing the Chase format, it has been tweaked in one way or another.
I wish that NASCAR would just leave it alone and let whoever gets the most points under the current system win the championship. But chances are before this season ends, the rules will once again will be changed.
It would be a hoot if JG won the championship with no wins. What would NA$CAR do then? If another driver won 7 or 8 races and is beaten by a non-winner, there would be an uproar.
I think Jeff Gordon can win the championship this year. His team is very consistant. I do not think he will have to worry about winning a championship with out winning a race. He could get rid of that thought as early as this weekend at Martinsville. We all know when he wins one, the wins seem to come in bunches. I think he will give Kyle Busch all he wants for the title and I expect Carl Edwards and some of the others to pick up the pace too. Remember last year. Everyone wanted to give the title to Busch. I think this year Jeff Gordon is the man to beat and that he will finally get that 5th title.
In response to Jackie:wasn’t Matt so far ahead of everyone else before the fall New Hampshire race that even if the driver(can’t remember who it was)that was in 2nd won the last ten races Matt still would have won the champioship, and that was the reason for the chase format being implemented?Then the following year it was changed from 10 drivers to 12(maybe because D.JR. ended up in 12th,2 positions shy of the top ten).I really don’t like the chase format but giving extra points for a win was a good move(I think that was changed because Kasey Khane won a few races during the season but didn’t make the chase).
To Mike H….
I agree with you 100%. Guess I just didn’t make it clear. My main point is that no matter what the powers that be do, there will be years that the “Cup Championship” is not going to be determined at the last lap of the last race of the season. So don’t be changing the rules to try and make it happen. If anything needs to be changed, do it in the off season then stick with it the rest of the year.