After a mad dash back across the USA, the NASCAR group arrived in Richmond for the final race before the Chase starts. Qualifying wasn't washed out so we had a battle royale going on for the last spot in my Chase. Martin Truex Jr had the inside running by dint of scoring that solitary point last week which broke the tie we had for 12th but it wasn't enough to lock him in as both Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart scored points this week.
It's an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row with Jimmie Johnson securing his first pole of the season while Jeff Gordon assured that he'd get the bonus points for leading the title as it heads into the final 10 races.
Jimmie will start where he left off last time at Richmond...in front
Strange thing that was his first pole actually since Jimmie is noted to be a reasonably strong qualifier...and equally as strange is that there is just one RCR car in the top 15 so, despite being quite good in race trim, they're pretty much #### in qualifying. Juan Montoya hangs on to make the Chase in his rookie season, a sterling effort from the Columbian.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Standings after round 26
And there we go, Tony misses out just like last year in the race Chase. If you have a problem with your driver missing out...tough, take it up with NASCAR for being wusses and having 3 qualifying sessions that were rained out which ruined a few drivers' chances. It's not my problem they can't reschedule.
Jeff Gordon sees his nine point lead over Ryan Newman cut to six as the Chase begins
Jeff Gordon will be hoping he can carry on the form he had over the first 26 races while the other 11 are all eager to be crowned the inaugural Qualifying King.
Tony seems to be a far better racer than qualifier anyway....I thought Jr was the same but he's right up there so guess that chucks that idea out the window *shrugs*
I think it is the fact Tony sets the car up for racing in traffic rather than to get a pole. Not a bad idea in most cases especially in tracke where you can't touch the car after qualifying ( impound racecs).
Quite possibly. It helps, of course, that it doesn't really matter where you start in the field unlike in F1 where starting at the front usually locks you in for a good result, lol
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
