A special thanks to all our Veterans. These are the TRUE HEROES. I especially want to pay homage to my step-dad, David B. Pittock, who served in the Army in Vietnam, my father-in-law Fred D. Douma, who served as an Army medic in Vietnam, and I also dedicate this post to my father, James H. Mc Coy, who served in the Air Force from 1956-60 as an airplane mechanic in the Phillipines and Libya.
With the shifting of fortunes at Texas, a little life is breathed back into the chase for the championship. Time will tell if the inevitable has been delayed, or if we’re witnesses to a different kind of history, one where the underdog steals the show a la Alan Kulwicki.
As you might imagine, the events at Texas shook things up just a bit.
THE FAB FIVE
#5- Kurt Busch (unranked last week)- Well, look who’s back. Actually, Busch never went too far away, he just got lost in all the talk about Jimmie, Jeff, Martin, Smoke and JPM. His win vaults the 2004 champion to fourth in the standings, providing a nice lift in Pat Tryson’s swan song as Busch’s crew chief.
#4- Tony Stewart (ranked 5th last week)- If you remove that 35h place performance at Talladega, you can still make the argument that Smoke has had a solid chase performance. His problem is the front runners have chosen the right to go an an insanely good run. Look for Stewart to be a factor at Phoenix.
#3- Jeff Gordon (ranked 2nd last week)- Gordon fans, were you like me when crew chief Steve Letarte announced the crew was going to take a big swing at Gordon’s car in the race Sunday? I said, “Noooooo!!!!!” This is just a fan’s opinion, but I think Letarte tries to hard, he presses. 13th is just a bummer when you saw where Gordon had Johnson’s lead down to 31 points, and Big Daddy fell all the way back to 112 out.
#2- Mark Martin (ranked 4th last week)- “Double M” overcame a mediocre car to slice a big chunk out of Johnson’s lead by finishing 4th. Martin heads into Phoenix with a full measure of confidence, and that’s a good thing. He won there in the spring and he can win again. The thing is, Martin can’t do anything about what Johnson does. All he can do is take care of his own knittin’ and hope that the bad luck that sometimes visits in threes, visits Johnson again. No sense in frettin’ about what might have been had Kez not brushed Busch’s bumper and put Martin on his lid at Talladega.
#1- Jimmie Johnson (ranked 1st last week)- Even with the disaster at Texas, Johnson still has an average finish of 9.6 over his last five races, second only to Gordon. He’s still got the power, and still the champion until someone knocks him off.
FALLING OFF THE PACE
It seems cruel to remove Juan Pablo Montoya from the top 5. He was on a great run, and has fallen prey to some nasty luck. Still, at this point, I’d have to put Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, or Matt Kenseth ahead of JPM, because lately, they’ve logged the better results.
READY TO STRIKE
In addition to the aforementioned trio, I would add Denny Hamlin. Yeah, he’s been a “Dow Joneser” in the chase, but I can’t say I’d argue with his notion that it is he who one day may knock Johnson off his perch. Let us also not forget Kyle Busch, of whom it can be argued SHOULD HAVE won the race Sunday.
DISTANT THUNDER
Props to Greg Biffle, A.J. Allmendinger, and Jeff Burton for solid runs in the Lone Star State. When you couple what Burton did with Harvick and Bowyer, you have to be thinking 2010 will be a much better season for RCR.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I echo your Veteran remarks. Thank you to all who fought for our freedoms.