After dominating here last time out, Martin Truex Jr was one of the hot picks to take pole but it was a Chaser, Jimmie Johnson, who stuck his #48 Lowes Chevy on pole (and getting the bonus point for doing so) with Juan Montoya lining up beside him...could be some fireworks at the start of the race but we'll see. Montoya has slowly been making progress recently and the last time he started this far up the grid he managed to get a top five (at Indianapolis).
I'm starting to run out of pictures for Jimmie...not that he cares about that of course
Anyway, due to Jeff Gordon's rather poor showing, we have a lead change in the standings this week as Johnson takes charge and has a four point gap over Kurt Busch.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 2
The best non-chaser was Truex so he gets the ten points this week but won't be credited with a pole position. Since Clint Bowyer wasn't able to repeat his Loudon form, Truex now has a ten point lead over the rest for 13th overall. Scott Riggs made a jump from 23rd to 17th due to being the second best non-chase driver. Two drivers got off the mark this weekend; AJ Allmendinger and David Reutimann.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest after round 28
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 39 points 14 - Clint Bowyer, 29 points (2 poles) 15 - Tony Stewart, 28 points 16 - Greg Biffle, 25 points 17 - Scott Riggs, 23 points 18 - Kevin Harvick, 21 points =19 - Dave Blaney, 20 points (1 pole) =19 - Reed Sorenson, 20 points (1 pole) 21 - Bobby Labonte, 19 points 22 - David Gilliland, 18 points (1 pole) =23 - Mark Martin, 16 points =23 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points =25 - Casey Mears, 14 points (1 pole) =25 - JJ Yeley, 14 points (1 pole) =27 - Jeff Burton, 13 points =27 - David Stremme, 13 points 29 - Robby Gordon, 8 points 30 - Matt Kenseth, 7 points =31 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =31 - David Ragan, 6 points =31 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =31 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =35 - Boris Said, 5 points =35 - Johnny Sauter, 5 points 37 - Joe Nemechek, 4 points =38 - AJ Allmendinger, 2 points =38 - Bill Elliot, 2 points 40 - David Reutimann, 1 point
So for the first time since I've been keeping track of this, Jeff Gordon has relinquished his lead. However, this shouldn't be cause for alarm as he hasn't really had a bad run of performance this season so he'll probably bounce back with pole next week.
Righto, NHIS kicks off round one of the Chase for the Plate with Jeff Gordon looking to extend his points lead over the other 11 drivers. Now, first things first; my Chase format.
Similar to what JJD is using, but mine will focus purely on qualifying since I'm not doing a race one this season. Now, I have tallied up the top 12 drivers' performances and have given them 2 points for each pole position they scored during the opening 26 races (the exception being the 3 rainouts we had). Jeff gets an additional 2 points for being top of the pile after last week.
Why am I dishing them out in 2 points you ask? Because that's the gap between first (10) and second (8).
The other thing I'm doing is to cut out the Chase guys from the rest...so I'll have two points systems going and will give a Chaser and additional point if they manage to start the race from pole instead of just being the fastest Chase driver. So yes, two points standings, both using the same system (F1), but assume Jeff Gordon starts one of these ten races from pole, he gets 11 points. But if, say Kevin Harvick lines up next to him, he gets 10 points for the 'Best of the Rest' title.
Clear as mud? Meh, you'll soon pick it up since you're all clever so let's get on with qualy 1 of 10 and 27 of 36.
Clint Bowyer took great offence to the fact that he missed the Qualifying Chase by sticking his #07 Jack Daniels chevy on pole, denying any of the Chasers that bonus point. It was Clint's second pole of the season, and also keeps him as the only RCR driver to score a pole. Starting alongside Clint will be Martin Truex Jr who got bumped out of the Chase last week by Carl Edwards.
Clint takes his second pole of the season
The best Chaser is Kurt Busch who will start in third and gets the 10 points for being the best of the 12. Jeff keeps his lead but Ryan Newman has closed the gap from six points to one. Jimmie Johnson also jumps up the order by dint of being the second fastest Chase driver while Kasey Kahne went the other way and drops from third to sixth in the standings. Ironically, his teammate, Elliot Sadler, made the biggest move going from twelfth (equal ninth if you want to get picky) to fifth.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 1
To the rest then, where Clint and Martin make the jumps from 15th and 14th to equal 13th...had Clint made the Chase, he'd now be sitting pretty in third place, one point behind Ryan but he didn't so the best he can hope for is to stay where he is in 13th.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest after round 27
=13 - Clint Bowyer, 29 points (2 poles) =13 - Martin Truex Jr, 29 points 15 - Tony Stewart, 28 points 16 - Greg Biffle, 21 points =17 - Dave Blaney, 20 points (1 pole) =17 - Reed Sorenson, 20 points (1 pole) 19 - David Gilliland, 18 points (1 pole) =20 - Kevin Harvick, 16 points =20 - Mark Martin, 16 points =20 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points 23 - Scott Riggs, 15 points =24 - Casey Mears, 14 points (1 pole) =24 - JJ Yeley, 14 points (1 pole) =24 - Bobby Labonte, 14 points =27 - Jeff Burton, 13 points =27 - David Stremme, 13 points 29 - Robby Gordon, 8 points =30 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =30 - David Ragan, 6 points =30 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =30 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =34 - Boris Said, 5 points =34 - Johnny Sauter, 5 points =36 - Matt Kenseth, 4 points =36 - Joe Nemechek, 4 points 38 - Bill Elliot, 2 points
Well, well, the battle for 13th appears to be just as hot as the one for the overall lead. Jeff stays out front and can thank the sole point he scored this week...could be the difference after Miami.
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.
You've hired the best Engineers, Designers and have a killer pitcrew.
You've got sponsors lined up down the road, all wanting to be a part of your new team...but now comes the hard part; who are you going to pay the big bucks to deliver the result on the track?
To figure that out, you'll have to see who's been hot lately and who hasn't. Not as easy a choice as you may think since you're trying to headhunt the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the one guy who you would want driving the car if your life depended on it right now.
A month ago, the guy at the top of your list was Lewis Hamilton. The rookie F1 driver had won the Canadian and US races and was sitting pretty with the Championship lead. Six weeks ago, it was Martin Truex Jr...that guy won his first Cup race at Dover and has since been a factor in pretty much every race. Two months ago, another name; Dario Franchitti. He'd just won the Indianapolis 500 and leapt to the top in the IRL standings. Prior to that it was Jeff Gordon...see how hard this choice has become?
Well, you can cross all those names off since I'm going to tell you who the hottest driver going around is...hands down. He's been riding a huge crest this past month and I have to wonder what this guy has to do to get the recognition he deserves.
Give up? Have no idea who could possibly blow those guys out of the water with his performances?
I'll give you a hint; he's from New Zealand.
Yep, that's right...the best driver in the world right now is none other than Scott Dixon.
Scott piloting his #9 Ganassi Honda IRL beast
You disagree with that? Let me give you some statistics then.
Scott just won his third straight race in the IRL series and has closed the gap to Franchitti from 60 points to 24 in that time. He finished second in the Indy 500 (behind Dario) and probably would have won the race had it not been cut short due to the weather. He won the IRL title in 2003 (in his first season I might add) and is the youngest winner of an internationally recognised 'top level' motorsport event (cars anyway...no idea about bikes) after he won his third ever CART (now Champ Car World Series) race at Nazareth when he was just 20 years old.
You want more proof? He's won the last three IRL races at Watkins Glen...big deal you might say. After all, he's from a country where road courses are the norm. That's all well and good but he won the 2005 race with Toyota power. So what? Toyota had the least powerful engine (by as much as 50 horsepower) yet Scott still whipped everyone...mighty impressive I think you'd agree.
Scott has nine wins in his IRL career...his last 3 have come in the last 3 races
I can see that you're slowly starting to believe me so let me give even more information. He also finished runnerup to Sam Hornish Jr in last years IRL Championship, outscoring his more highly fancied teammate, Dan Wheldon. And his record doesn't stop at open-wheelers either. Last year, Scott teamed up with Wheldon and Casey Mears to win the Daytona 24 hour race.
And he's no slouch with a roof over his head either
He may not have the high profile that a lot of drivers have...but he also doesn't have the baggage those guys carry either. He'll give it 100% every time he steps behind the wheel and anything less than first will see him work that little bit harder next time...that's the kind of driver I want. Oh yeah, and he's only just turned 27...so plenty of years left in his career.
Ok, I can see that you're nodding your head now so my work here is done...Scott Dixon is now at the top of that list.
Mind you, you'll have a fight on your hands to nick him off Chip...but Scott will more than pay you back.
Ok so after a washout last week, which saw no points awarded at all, we finally had some qualifying to talk about. After a season dominated by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, it is rather refreshing to see that for the fourth race in a row (excluding Daytona) we have our fourth first-time pole man for this year; Casey Mears.
Casey earned his first pole with HMS, and joined Jeff Gordon as the second HMS car to start from pole.
Because of that, HMS join JGR as the only teams to have two drivers land a pole this year. Casey seems to be hitting his straps with his new team after clinching his first career win in the Coke 600 a few weeks ago. He'll line up beside Martin Truex Jr, who continues his red-hot form, with Ryan Newman back in third. Championship leader, Gordon, will start on row six so Ryan managed to eat into his lead by six points.
After Chicagoland, the table looks like this:
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Standings after round 19
Casey was the man on the move this week, going from equal last to outright 22nd. The other guy who gained was Truex Jr, popping up into the top 10 for the first time this year.
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.
