Despite a weekend of dreadfully boring racing this weekend at the Monster Mile, NASCAR has continued to reward us with the winning exploits of Kyle Busch. Busch dominated the last half of the Best Buy 400, and a quick pit-stop by the #18 crew sent Kyle on his way to a four second-win, and truthfully, it wasn't THAT close. Kudos to NASCAR for NOT throwing a debris caution, which would have been expected by many savvy NASCAR viewers.
Kyle's win is his fourth of the season in Sprint Cup, leading the series, but what I find immensely more fascinating is that it was his TENTH win of the season. Perspective? How's this list of the top winning seasons (on all levels of NASCAR) since 1982, the first year of the Busch Series.
YEAR CUP NWS CTS TOTAL Kevin Harvick 2006 5 9 0 14 Jeff Gordon 1998 13 0 0 13 Darrell Waltrip 1982 12 1 0 13 Dale Earnhardt 1987 11 1 0 12 Mark Martin 1993 5 7 0 12 Bill Elliott 1985 11 0 0 11 Dale Earnhardt 1990 9 2 0 11 Jimmie Johnson 2007 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1997 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1996 10 0 0 10 Rusty Wallace 1993 10 0 0 10 Harry Gant 1991 5 5 0 10 Dale Earnhardt 1986 5 5 0 10 Mark Martin 1997 4 6 0 10 Sam Ard 1983 0 10 0 10 Kyle Busch 2008 4 4 2 10
That's where Kyle sits on JUNE 2ND! Props to FOX for bringing up during their broadcast: this is one of THE most dominating streaks in NASCAR, ever. And the best thing? Kyle's running Texas, Nashville, AND Pocono next week.
Kyle's win extends his JJD points-lead over race runner-up Edwards. Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds third despite being collected in Elliott Sadler's lap 19 crash. (Is it me, or does Sadler seem to get into a lot of rookie-ish incidents for a veteran? And nice call my FOX blowing by Jeremy Mayfield's presence in the #40, racing Sadler hard on the outside 20 laps into a 400-lap race. Gee, why would Mayfield do THAT? And I suppose you could toss the fact that Gilliland was on the bottom and make a big soap opera out of it, too.) Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle gained spots with top-five finishes after Sadler's crash crippled many top-ten cars.
SPRINT CUP (DRIVERS) Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 171 1 2 Carl Edwards 127 2 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 99 3 4 Jeff Gordon 92 6 5 Jeff Burton 90 5 6 Denny Hamlin 86 4 7 Greg Biffle 85 10 8 Jimmie Johnson 84 7 9 Tony Stewart 73 8 10 Clint Bowyer 72 9 11 Ryan Newman 55 11 Matt Kenseth 55 14 13 Kasey Kahne 53 12 14 Kevin Harvick 50 13 15 Mark Martin 34 15 16 David Ragan 33 16 Martin Truex Jr. 33 17 18 Kurt Busch 23 18 19 Travis Kvapil 21 20 20 Brian Vickers 20 19
Joe Gibbs Racing strengthened its hold on the top-spot in the team standings with Kyle's win, but Roush Fenway Racing finished 2-3-4, with Greg Biffle winning the pole and leading the most laps, and they bumped Hendrick Motorsports from second-place, a big change from how things were a year ago. Some lower-ranked teams had good days at Dover as well, with Dave Blaney equalling his best finish of the year for Bill Davis racing in ninth, Travis Kvapil with yet another solid run finishing 11th, and Juam Pablo Montoya, he of the revolving door of crew chiefs, finishing 12th after starting 35th.
SPRINT CUP (TEAMS) Rank Points 1 Joe Gibbs Racing 223 2 Roush Fenway Racing 186 3 Hendrick Motorsports 183 4 Richard Childress Racing 132 5 Penske Racing 60 6 Dale Earnhardt Inc. 58 7 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 55 8 Chip Ganassi Racing 31 9 Yates Racing 26 10 Red Bull Racing Team 21 11 Bill Davis Racing 11 12 Michael Waltrip Racing 9 13 Robby Gordon Motorsports 8 Petty Enterprises 8 15 Haas CNC Racing 2 16 Front Row Motorsports 1 Furniture Row Racing 1 Hall of Fame Racing 1
Surprisingly, NO teams would have been knocked out of the top-35 this week. However, a couple of big-time teams need a good week at Pocono after getting caught up in the early melee at Dover, as Tony Stewart is 24th and Kevin Harvick is 25th in owners points over the last five races. Paul Menard would need a good run at Pocono as well, as he loses a 14th-place result from Talladega next week.
JJD's IMPROVED TOP-35 RULE (including Haas CNC penalties) 31 Reed Sorenson 410 - 43rd* 32 Elliott Sadler 415 - 29th 33 Michael Waltrip 391 - 27th 34 Paul Menard 388 - 14th 35 A.J. Allmendinger 366 - 30th 36 Michael McDowell 352 - 26th 37 Dario Franchitti 334 - 28th 38 J.J. Yeley 319 - 45th 39 Joe Nemechek 317 - 25th 40 Scott Riggs 308 - 16th *Result at Talladega, which is dropped after the race at Pocono. A higher finish = more points to replace to stay in top-35.
Denny Hamlin won the Heluva Good! 200, and I'd like to be all fired up because yet another Joe Gibbs Racing Cup-driver won a Nationwide Series race, making it ten Nationwide wins for the trio (which, while patently ridiculous, is just a replay of Hendrick Motorsports' dominance in Cup last year), but look at some of the names that are consistently in the top-ten in this series. David Stremme and Brad Keselowski are non-Cup drivers on non-Cup teams (officially, anyway), yet they scored top-tens AGAIN this week, with Stremme third and BK seventh. Add to the mixed "Sliced Bread" Joey Logano's debut NWS start, resulting in a sixth-place finish, and I'd say Nashville is looking pretty interesting next week. NATIONWIDE SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 151 1 2 Clint Bowyer 121 2 3 Carl Edwards 98 4 4 Tony Stewart 97 3 5 Denny Hamlin 88 6 6 Kevin Harvick 80 5 7 David Stremme 72 8 8 David Reutimann 67 9 9 Brad Keselowski 66 7 10 David Ragan 49 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 49 10 12 Jeff Burton 46 12 13 Mike Bliss 42 13 14 Greg Biffle 40 18 15 Jason Leffler 38 14 Scott Wimmer 38 15 17 Brian Vickers 35 16 18 Matt Kenseth 33 17 19 Kasey Kahne 27 19 20 Steve Wallace 25 20
Joey Logano's sixth-place finish in his maiden NWS start actually further extends the #20 team's points-lead over Clint Bowyer and the #2 RCR Chevy, who finished ninth. Carl Edwards' runner-up finish moved the #60 team up from fifth to third, and depsite running only six out of fourteen races, the #18 moves up to fourth with Denny Hamlin's win.
NATIONWIDE SERIES (TEAMS) Rank Car# Owner Points 1 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 186 Drivers: T. Stewart (6 starts), D. Hamlin (4), Ky. Busch (3), J. Logano (1) 2 2 Richard Childress Racing 121 Driver: C. Bowyer (14 starts) 3 60 Roush Fenway Racing 98 Driver: C. Edwards (14 starts) 4 18 Joe Gibbs Racing 90 Driver: Ky. Busch (5 starts), D. Hamlin (1) 5 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. 85 Drivers: K. Harvick (11 starts), C. Gale (2), R. Hornaday (1) 6 29 Richard Childress Racing 84 Drivers: J. Burton (7 starts), S. Wimmer (7) 7 32 Braun Racing 78 Drivers: Ky. Busch(6 starts), D. Hamlin (3), B. Vickers (3), J. Buescher (1), M. Jourdain (1) 8 64 Rusty Wallace Inc. 72 Driver: D. Stremme (13 starts), M. Papis (1) 9 99 Michael Waltrip Racing 67 Driver: D. Reutimann (14 starts) 10 88 JR Motorsports 66 Driver: B. Keselowski (14 starts) 11 5 JR Motorsports 63 Drivers: D. Earnhardt Jr. (5 starts), L. Cassill (4), M. Martin (2), M. Truex Jr. (1), A. Fernandez (1), J. Johnson (1) 12 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 53 Drivers: K. Kahne (7 starts), P. Carpentier (3), C. Miller (3), E. Sadler (1) 13 6 Roush Fenway Racing 49 Driver: D. Ragan (13 starts) 16 Roush Fenway Racing 53 Drivers: G. Biffle (6 starts), J. McMurray (3), C. Braun (2) 15 17 Roush Fenway Racing 42 Drivers: M. Kenseth (4 starts), J. McMurray (1), E. Darnell (1)
NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS RESET ELIMINATING SPRINT CUP RACE WINNERS Rank Points 1 David Reutimann 2166 2 Brad Keselowski 2110 3 David Ragan 2087 4 Mike Bliss 2057 5 Jason Leffler 1928 6 David Stremme 1922 7 Mike Wallace 1907 8 Steve Wallace 1834 9 Jason Keller 1816 10 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 1751 11 Marcos Ambrose 1749 12 Kelly Bires 1737 13 Brad Coleman 1624 14 Kenny Wallace 1528 15 Kevin Lepage 1373
OFFICIAL JACK INGRAM CUP PRESENTED BY JJD STANDINGS Rank Points 1 David Reutimann 150 2 Brad Keselowski 140 3 David Ragan 139 4 David Stremme 133 5 Mike Bliss 114 6 Jason Leffler 95 7 Scott Wimmer 70 8 Steve Wallace 67 9 Mike Wallace 60 10 Kelly Bires 53 11 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 51 Marcos Ambrose 51 13 Jason Keller 49 14 Dario Franchitti 47 15 Patrick Carpentier 35
For the third week in a row, a previously winless driver went to Victory Lane in the Craftsman Truck Series, as Scott Speed won the AAA Insurance 200 by over three seconds. Speed joins previous winners Matt Crafton and Donny Lia as newcomers to the NASCAR wins list. Series veteran Jack Sprague was second, and he moves from 12th to seventh in JJD points, while Ron Hornaday's third-place finish gives him the points-lead back from Kyle Busch, who had transmission trouble while dominating and had to settle for 27th.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Ron Hornaday 79 2 2 Kyle Busch 73 1 3 Todd Bodine 62 3 4 Matt Crafton 60 5 5 Johnny Benson 55 4 6 Mike Skinner 52 6 7 Jack Sprague 50 12 8 David Starr 48 9 9 Rick Crawford 45 7 10 Chad McCumbee 42 7
What did all three race winners have in common this weekend? All were in Toyotas, and the sweep of the weekend extends Toyota's points-lead to 55 over Chevrolet, whose weekend peaked Friday with a second-place finish in Trucks, and Ford actually outscored Chevrolet for the weekend.
MANUFACTURERS Rank Points LW 1 Toyota 637 1
2 Chevrolet 582 2
3 Ford 454 3
4 Dodge 237 4
Yes, it was good to have a race that did not have a caution and G-W-C at the end, finally.
The truck races are getting some good press with the first time winners, although I 'could' have dnne without the toenail radio transmissions. Sheesh, Mr. Formula One couldn't even remember he was driving a truck and not a car. Ha!
I wonder how many people actual read or care about your points system JJD? Man, I dont mean to be rude, but your making up your own points system, which means that you can make up any rule you want.Am I right? You should probably try a little harder to let it go. Whats gone is gone. I mean Im like most people, I just read the first paragraph and skipped the rest. Its all in vein. It doesnt mean anything. Maybe I am wrong (because I havnt read any of these updated points things) but are you just not happy with the current points system? and you decided to make your own?
JJD- I find it amazing that Kurt is 18th in your points...which should help him more than the current points and he is still completely out of it. Sad state of affairs over there. Your point about Kyle against the winning seasons of the past is incredible. The kid is completely dominant, and we thought we were watching dominance last year with JJ. God help us all if Sliced Bread makes bigger waves than this! Good stuff as usual
Man, I dont mean to be rude, but your making up your own points system, which means that you can make up any rule you want.Am I right?
I don't do that. I've never changed anything except my Chase, when I made changes to reflect NASCAR's Chase changes.
At the risk of being extremely trite, should I just accept things even though I don't like them? The whole beginning of what became my blog was a post I made somewhere else ####ing about the points system, that SouthernCindi saw and asked me to post here. I've never changed my main focus of this blog - that the points system is flawed and NASCAR doesn't think long-term. Why does Elliott Sadler deserve three more points than Denny Hamlin yesterday? Both guys went out of the race at the EXACT same time, right. That kind of thing drives me nuts.
I find it amazing that Kurt is 18th in your points.
Kurt's the second-lowest on the list with a top-two finish, only Montoya has had a top-two finish that was as much an aberration to the rest of their seasons. (Interestingly, they both got them at plate races, too.) Four finishes of 33rd or worse will do a guy in.
JJD, I know that I am late to this blog, so you don't have to answer my question. I was wondering if you think Montoya will stay where he is or try to move to another team. Last year there was so much "hate" for Montoya. This year it seems to be directed at Kyle B. What happened to all of those people?LOL
DANG! My question is whether you think Montoya stays or goes. Okay, I've rambled enough.
I would like to see Montoya in better equipment. Just don't think Ganassi has top-notch resources. Would like to see him in Toyota or Chevy. He has the talent to be very good, not the refinement yet.
My question is whether you think Montoya stays or goes.
I have to think he stays unless Tony's seat at JGR opens up. Anything else would be a fairly lateral move, unless he went to the fourth RCR car, but that car won't be locked in the field, and you would think at some point the Dodge camp will figure out their problems because they have all been pretty bad all year.
Personally, I hope he stays so we can get more of those wildly uncharismatic Wrigley's commercials.
I agree, JJD. But do you think Ganassi is a top-notch Dodge operation? What if Newman moved and opened up a spot at Penske? Just don't think Chip will ever be NASCAR elite and I like Sorenson.
I agree, JJD. But do you think Ganassi is a top-notch Dodge operation? What if Newman moved and opened up a spot at Penske? Just don't think Chip will ever be NASCAR elite and I like Sorenson.
I would reflexively tend to agree, but remember - Sterling Marlin was well on his way to winning the championship in the #40 until he got hurt. All of those Dodge owners have had success with Dodge (Ryan Newman won 8 races in a season for Penske and Kasey Kahne won six for GEM), so I've got the think they have an issue with the car.
Yep, Sterling was deserving that year. Just feel that Ganassi's talent matching resource skill seems to decline each year. I think that GEM and Penske will eventually bring Dodge back into the fray. If Kahne and Newman can make the Chase, they will be formidable.
JJD and Moseby, I would like to see Montoya stay where he is and I would like to see Dodge improve. That is the fun in this sport---seeing the different manufacturers battling one another. Maybe the Pettys would improve also?
I'd rather the Nextel Cup champion be decided over the entire season, but I think if you are going to have a Chase for the Nextel Cup, you should break out the twelve guys and have them scored separately, so I'm tracking the points both ways.
I also strongly advocate a NCAA football playoff, so there will be some posts about that showing up here, although I have written this blog for over a year and haven't gone there yet.
I can be reached via e-mail or AIM at jayjaydean at gmail dot com.
