Side-by-side battles are starting to shake out all throughout the driver standings. While the racing on an event-by-event basis might be a bit up and down, there’s no doubt that the chase picture is far from set in stone.
Up front, you’ve got Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon nose to nose. Right on their heels, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are ready to strike. Beyond these four, the fighting is fierce all the way back to 16th.
It’s very curious when you consider this:
The current top 10 (in order): Stewart, Gordon, Johnson,Kurt Busch, Edwards, Hamlin, Newman, Kyle Busch, Biffle, Kenseth.
The top seeds for the chase (if it started today): Kyle Busch, Martin, Johnson, Kenseth, Stewart, Gordon, Kurt Busch. Those would be your top 7 of 12.
Very strange days indeed.
#10- Kasey Kahne (ranked 9th last week)- Give him props. Richard Petty’s new golden boy follows a win with a solid finish. In the real life standings, “Kahnester” trails 12th place Juan Pablo Montoya by one point, 11th place Mark Martin by four, and 10th place Matt Kenseth by six. That’s tight.
#9- Kyle Busch (unranked last week)- Not only does winning pay better, it also has a
way of offsetting cold spells. That 7th at New Hampshire a run of four straight sub-10th place finishes. It’s wild to think that the driver who would be a co-number one seed is just 71 points ahead of 13th. The good news for the Shrub Club is the JGR Toyotas have the horses for the plate tracks.
#8- Ryan Newman (ranked 8th last week)- It’s a bummer for Rocket to think that HE just missed winning at New Hampshire by a few sips of gas. As the June weather has heated up, Newman’s gone cool after a brilliant string of races. Newman will hope to recapture the mojo this week that won him a race in last year’s Daytona 500.
#7- Greg Biffle (ranked 7th last week)- Like the Matterhorn at Disneyland, Biffle’s season has been one wild roller coaster ride. He’ll be up for a while, then follow with a string of rough performances. While much attention is paid to how far off RCR’s teams are, the Roush Gang hasn’t quite matched their output from 2008 either. The Biff has a little cushion over NASCAR’s “Mendoza Line”, but not by a ton.
#6- Mark Martin (ranked 6th last week)- Since his improbable win at Michigan, Martin hasn’t had the best of luck. He’s 11th in the points, but he’s got three and four-wide competition in his pack.
#5- Carl Edwards (ranked 4th last week)- I can’t say this has been the season I envisioned for NASCAR’s most famous “cousin” and somehow I don’t think this is what he had in mind either. Edwards is well inside the chase picture, but he’s nowhere near relevance in terms of challenging Smoke and Gordo.
#4- Kurt Busch (ranked 5th last week)- Running well in front of the drivers behind him, the Blue Deuce was just that close to winning at New Hampshire and he’s just a win away from really giving the guys at the front a battle. He’s got the horses to run at the birthplace of speed, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the win he needed there.
#3 Jimmie Johnson (ranked 2nd last week)- The defending champion is experiencing a little of what Kyle Busch was fighting recently in the Nationwide Series. His car was good enough to lead tons of laps, but something would always do him in at the end. You can never count out Johnson, but there’s no doubt the “48″ is quite as consistent sa Stewart and Gordon.
#2- Jeff Gordon (ranked 3rd last week)- It’s a heckuva a battle the Rainbow Warrior is waging with Tony Stewart for the points lead. Week after week, the former champs contend for wins. I need not tell you numerous Gordon fans feel cheated by the outcome of Sunday’s race. They thought it was his.
#1- (by a nose) Tony Stewart (ranked 1st last week)- Smoke continues his amazing run through the 2009 schedule with another top 5 at New Hampshire. Let’s not forget his record for success in the July event at Daytona. Stewart leads Cup competition in top 5s (well, actually he’s tied with Gordon) and top 10s with 13. The next several weeks may change things, but right now, the “14″ is having a run very similar to what Matt Kenseth has in his championship run of 2003.
FALLING OFF THE PACE
Denny Hamlin….I’m not sure quite how he’s doing it, but Hamlin is actually 6th in the points. He’s just so close to winning some weeks, and then there’s those other weeks.
READY TO STRIKE
In spite of some real ups and downs, Matt Kenseth keeps hanging tough. The trouble for Matty is he’s in a vulnerable spot with the likes of Kahne, Martin, Biffle, Reutimann, and Montoya around him…I’d be a little more excited about Juan Pablo Montoya if he had at least ONE top 5, but to his credit, he’s not falling off and his 7 top 10s puts JPM ahead of Kahne, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kenseth…David Reutimann got a nice 4th place run thanks to strategy. He just needs to find some consistency in a hurry.
DISTANT THUNDER
Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton have moments, but they’re really the only hope RCR has left for this year. Bowyer’s improved a little lately, but has to up his numbers quickly. Burton’s 31st place run at New Hampshire hurt his hopes big time.
PHOTO CREDITS- Top left by liontattoo. Three wide photo by Infinity Foto. Side by side photo by SoundsGood. To see more of their photo streams, visit flickr.com, or click on the hyperlinks.
