RSS
Home
As NASCAR’s season reaches halfway here’s what we know
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
It may seem like it just started but already the 2009 NASCAR season is halfway over. As the series heads to where the year began Daytona International Speedway for this Saturday’s running of Coke Zero 400 there has been a trio of first time winners, a rejuvenated old guy, more then a few surprises and several drivers with optimistic outlooks for the second half of the season.
Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann and Joey Logano became first time winners. Both Reutimann and Logano scoring their wins in rain shortened events and Keselowski in a wild finish at Talladega. First time winners are nearly always welcomed by fellow competitors and fans no matter who they root for.
The driver leading the series in wins in the first half with 3 is someone very few expected to hold that distinction this time last year, but 50 year old Mark Martin has shown that he is a legitimate threat to win nearly ever week and after signing with Hendrick Motorsports last season may finally be in a position to win the championship that has eluded him throughout his long career.
Another surprise, at least to some, has been the performance of Tony Stewart. After announcing last year that he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to become the co-owner of his own team there were many who felt that his performance would suffer. After all with the emergence of the mega teams such as Hendrick Motorsports and Roush-Fenway Racing an owner-driver hadn’t won a race since 1998 and most didn’t expect Stewart to have much success. 
Stewart set out to prove his critics wrong and silenced them when he scored his first win as an owner-driver at Pocono. He has nine top 5 finishes so far this season and took over the point standings after Dover. Two times before he’s taken over the points lead and both times he gone on to win the championship. Add to that the fact that historically Stewart’s performance is better in the second half of the season and the best part of 2009 for Stewart may be yet to come.
After seemingly taking a year off, Jeff Gordon is right back in the hunt. Gordon is second in the points and broke a winless streak dating back to October 2007 by winning at Texas in April. He has nine top-5 finishes and as long as his back problems don’t worsen the second half of the season could bode well.
Kurt Busch is another driver who made some noise during the first half of the season. After a relatively quiet 2008, Busch is fourth in points and won at Atlanta. He has five top-5 finishes and a renewed energy.
Ryan Newman, teammate to Kurt Busch last year and now Tony Stewart’s sidekick has looked strong so far. He has eight top-10’s and one pole in 17 races and is expected by many to visit victory lane before the years is out.
For Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2009 started out as a season he’d rather forget. Problems with pit stops, accidents and equipment snafus led to sub-par finishes. Hendrick Motorsports finally replaced his crew chief and although he won’t make the Chase this year the team seems to finally be digging themselves out of the hole. The second half of 2009 has to be stronger then the first and a new leader atop the pit box there’s no reason it shouldn’t.
The first half of the season hasn’t exactly been a banner year to this point for some.
Two teams that have struggled are Roush-Fenway and Richard Childress. Matt Kenseth won the season opening Daytona 500 and the following race at California, but since then the entire team has not made much noise. Their best hope seems to be Carl Edwards. While Edwards hasn’t won a race yet this season, but he’s fifth in the standings and has eight top-10s so far.
On the other side is Richard Childress Racing. After begin constant contenders for wins and championships, the RCR teams have struggled. The decision to swap entire teams didn’t seem to help and barring a miracle there will be no RCR team in this years Chase.
Three time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson, sits third in the standings. He has won two races this year but he isn’t the dominant force the team once was. He may find a spark in the second half and he will make the Chase. But unless they can put together some of the same type of dominating runs they’ve had in the past there will not be a fourth championship at least this year for Johnson.
A big disappointment has been the TV ratings. In a year when many predicted the bad economy keeping people away from tracks would actually boost ratings, the numbers have been down.
Things to look for in the second half of the year include:
Will Tony Stewart continue on a tear? His career history shows he will, and if he doesn’t stage a Kyle Busch 2008 style meltdown, the rest of the field is in serious trouble.
Is Richard Petty Motorsports for real? After celebrating in victory lane at Sonoma with Kasey Kahn, the King hopes to do it again and again this year. But Kahne hasn’t exactly set the NASCAR world on fire so it will be interesting to see if they can sustain that momentum.
Juan Pablo Montoya may surprise everyone with a win on an oval in the second half of the season. He’s having a career season of sorts with seven top-10’s in the first half. That eclipses his previous best of six in 2007, and that was for the entire season.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
