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Charting the Chasers after Lowe's: Boom, boom out go the lights
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The elder statesman of the Chase field, Jeff Burton was victorious Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The normally placid fuel-strategy long-run racing was nowhere to be found; in fact, it was a pretty wild race.
Some of the Chase field had an evening for the ages, while others had a night they will want to forget.
Jimmie Johnson was grateful to survive the end and leave with only a minor ding in his points lead. For Cale Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Junior and Matt Kenseth they will no doubt be looking forward to Martinsville and ready to put Lowe’s behind them.
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Here’s a rundown of the top 12 in the Chase after race number five
1. Jimmie Johnson 5878. Johnson ran well, ran strong and looked to be in a position to score another win Saturday night at the house he used to dominate at. Johnson and eventual winner Burton staged a great battle in the closing laps with Johnson fading in the final laps to slip and slide his way to a sixth place finish. He had a smile on his face when he got out of the car, as well he should. Johnson is still in the catbirds seat and only lost three points off the lead he held when the night started. But Johnson best beware, one bad race, one DNF could spell disaster for his championship hopes.
2. Jeff Burton 5809 –69 +2. If you are going to wait to score your second win of the season until late in the year, the fifth race of the Chase isn’t a bad place to do it. Burton and his Richard Childress Racing team gambled on fuel strategy and it paid off handsomely. Burton also gained two spots in the points and is knocking on Johnson’s door. He’s the real deal and is coming alive at just the right time.
3. Greg Biffle 5792 –86. Biffle also looked strong and is right on the threshold should Johnson falter. During the last pit stop, Biffle and Gordon opted for four tires while Burton got fuel only and Johnson got two tires. Burton won, Johnson was sixth while Biffle was seventh and Gordon eighth. Whether Biffle could have affected the outcome had the team pitted and only took two tires or fuel only is arguable, but taking greater risks could have paid off in greater rewards.
4. Carl Edwards 5710 –168 -2. If anyone ever wanted to argue that bad Karma is a tangible thing they need only to look at Carl Edwards Saturday night. Edwards was allegedly the aggressor in a tussle with Kevin Harvick in the garage area Thursday only days after he took out a pack of cars at Talladega. Saturday night Edwards suffered ignition woes finished 33rd and fell to fourth in the points. He’s not out of contention but going forward will have to hope for bad Karma for those in front of him.
5. Clint Bowyer 5693 –185. Bowyer ran as high as fifth before fading to 12th in the final laps Saturday night. The young driver is learning what it takes to put a championship winning run together, just not one for this year.
6. Kevin Harvick 5671 –207. Kevin Harvick didn’t lead a lap, never found the right handling on his Chevy and came home in 13th. Unless the top five implode and Harvick and his team can find their groove Harvick is out of the running for this year.
7. Tony Stewart 5650 –228. Stewart led 42 laps Saturday night at one point stretching out his lead to nearly five seconds. His Joe Gibbs Racing team had built a brand new racecar for the weekend, and was so confident in it that they didn’t even bring a back up. True they were in Charlotte near their shop and a back up was only a few miles away but the confidence boost for the driver must have been enormous. Too bad Stewart couldn’t maintain that boost until the end Saturday night. He faded at the end and held on for an 11th place finish.
8. Jeff Gordon 5633 –245. Gordon is still winless in 2008. He looked to have a shot for a bit Saturday night, an amazing feat considering that his Chevy slammed the wall hard, twice, and he lost a lap getting it repaired. He finished eighth but perhaps the desperation of wanting to avoid going winless in the top tier series for the first time since his rookie year in 1993 is forcing him to take chances; Chances that will leave him winless and without a fifth crown.
9. Kyle Busch 5552 –326. It’s too little too late for the driver who seemed to be a shoo-in not all that long ago. Busch finished fourth and led 14 laps Saturday night. He moved up two spots in the standings and can be grateful that he may just not finish dead last in the points after all.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5524 –354. He’s NASCAR’s most popular driver, has the talent and the equipment to win it all, he just can’t catch a break. Earnhardt Junior’s Chevy lost a tire on lap 103 sending him careening into the wall. The team was able to piece the car back together enough to send him back out 45 laps later, but he would end the night in 36th. The only bright spot perhaps was that Earnhardt held on to his 10th place in the standings. All a day after he turned 34 years old. Some birthday that turned out to be.
11. Matt Kenseth 5518 –360. For the third week in a row Kenseth finished a race in the garage area after being swept up in an incident that wasn’t of his making. On lap 194 Kenseth’s Ford was wrecked when Paul Menard squeezed Bill Elliott and Tony Raines into the wall. Travis Kvapil reacted behind the trio and crashed into Kenseth. Kenseth finished the race in the garage in 41st, lost two spots in the points and is now 11th and ready to put the entire last month behind him.
12. Denny Hamlin 5498 –380. Hamlin finished a quiet 16th Saturday night. Unfortunately for Hamlin this is the time of the year when he needs to be making some noise. Hopefully he can dig himself out of the basement and finish somewhere other than 12th in the points.
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