There are certain events on the Sprint Cup calendar that people circle as wild card races. Talladega, Bristol, Martinsville. Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California is one of those. Some good teams had some bad runs. And a few underdogs were smiling at the end of the day.
#10 Denny Hamlin (unranked last week) Hamlin has been lurking. He has his eye on a checkered flag, making the chase, and running well every single week. He is very close to accomplishing all three. His fifth place finish in wine country was good enough to get him into the top ten rankings.
#9 Kasey Kahne (unranked last week) This team has gained momentum and got the win it wanted so badly. The nine bunch is only out of the chase by a few markers. I don’t think this is the last we have seen of this team in victory lane.
#8 Ryan Newman (ranked 8th last week) One half of the surprising Stewart Haas Racing team has climbed out of his big hole that they dug for themselves at Daytona. It has gotten to the point that it would not be a surprise for this team to win a race anytime soon. He crossed the checkered flag seventeenth Sunday and that keeps his bump-drafts ranking status quo in eighth.
#7 Greg Biffle (ranked 6th last week) The unpredictability of the Infineon road course shook up the standings a little bit. Here is one who was ranked a little higher a week ago. Biffle looked like he was heading to a strong finish during parts of the race but only produced a sub-par twenty-eighth placement at the end. This group is good, but turning left and right can upset any apple cart.
#6 Mark Martin (ranked 4th last week) He is having a great season but the results have been hot and cold. We all know how good the driver is, how good the team is, and how well they race each week. But inconsistency and a Sonoma thirty-fifth spot drop “The Kid” out of the top five rankings.
#5 Kurt Busch (ranked 7th last week) A fifteenth place finish was not indicative of how strong he ran before the crash into the tire barriers. His Penske team had a car capable of winning and his season is much improved from one year ago. He moves up two positions.
#4 Carl Edwards (ranked 5th last week) Up one spot after crossing under the checkered flag thirteenth this past Sunday. It wasn’t so much his great day, but Martin’s poor day that caused the leapfrog. Plus I can not overlook the Nationwide victory Saturday evening. His attitude is up. That is bad news for others.
#3 Jeff Gordon (ranked 2nd last week) He didn’t show much flash during the Infineon race but he showed the result with a ninth. But a just slightly better performance by his Hendrick shop mate moved the four-time champ down one notch.
#2 Jimmie Johnson (ranked 3rd last week) Johnson scored his career best Sonoma finish with a fourth place. After flexing so much muscle during the previous Michigan race and scoring a top five on the Northern California road course he moves up to the second position.
#1 Tony Stewart (ranked 1st last week) I didn’t even come close to predicting Stewart’s strength this year. Leading the championship standings, a race victory, and a strong second place finish last Sunday at Sonoma keep him in the top spot.
Ready to strike
It is hard to believe there is a top ten list without Kyle Busch. “The Show” has earned a lot of attention but the finishes have not been there of late. I would still wager for him to stand tall when the chase starts though…Check out Juan Pablo Montoya currently sitting in a chase position. He could take Chip Ganassi to his first ever dance into the ten-race playoff…Matt Kenseth also disappeared from our top ten rankings this week. He is one I also believe will be posing for a group photo after Richmond.
Distant Thunder
David Reutimann simply will not fall off the radar…How about Marcos Ambrose last Sunday? In the top twenty in points and getting better every single week. Watch closely. This team could make some larger headlines before 2009 in completed…Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s on track performance is improving. Slowly but surely the eighty-eight is running better. I am not looking for a complete explosion of dominance but I think the worst is behind them.
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