The success: When you think of the success stories so far this year, look no further than the points standings with some exceptions, first, love him or hate him, cheer for him or boo him, Kyle Busch in the Cup Series is the hottest name on the circuit for now, personally I can’t stand him, but he is the points leader with seven victories on the season including this past weekend in Chicagoland and trying to claim top dog at Joe Gibbs Racing, also giving Toyota there first Cup Series victory earlier this season at Atlanta, but you know as much as Kyle Busch has improved from 2007, so has my favorite driver and NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., while last season was a nightmare, this season has been a complete 180, Dale Jr. has been right there all season long and in most cases, carrying the Hendrick Banner, Junior has 7 top 5’s and 12 top 10’s in the first 19 races, plus a victories in the Budweiser Shootout, the first Dual race at Daytona and Dale Jr. picked up his first Hendrick Motorsports victory earlier this season at Michigan.
So who’s most improved over the 2007 season? Well, as much as Kyle Busch has shown the way several times this season including his seven victories, however my vote would be for Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Remember, while Kyle Busch not only won last season, but was in the chase, however Dale Jr. wasn’t in either category.
If Jeff Burton being third in points is big news, where have you been for the last couple of seasons, while Burton has one victory so far this season, he also has consistanty as he is 3rd in points. Last season’s champion, after a tough start to the season, Jimmie Johnson is getting right back into this one with one victory coming back at Phoenix earlier this year and is 5th in points.
Surprises: As much as the three success stories at the top of the points standings are making headlines, so is the penalties with Robby Gordon making history by getting his Daytona penalty reduced to $150k fine, but that was nothing compared to Carl Edwards win in Las Vegas, to get dock 100 driver and owner points and no 10 point bonus in the chase for a oil lid cover being found off after the race, following that, NASCAR got even madder as they handed down a penalty of 150 driver and owner points, suspending the crew and car chief for six race to both Haas CNC racing car, the #66 and #70, what a penalty for something under the rear wing, if that wasn’t enough, NASCAR also handed the same 150/150 penalty to the #1 Martin Truex Jr. at Daytona for not fitting the roof templates, that took them out of the chase. Like I said, the penalties made headlines and some predict 200/200 point penalties and the suspending of the crew and car chief, plus engineer as well…that’s costly in this points fight or just to stay in the top 35.
Surprise’s don’t just have to be penalties, it also covers rebounding and when it comes to drivers, look no further than Kasey Kahne, who after getting voted in to the All-Star race, won the All-Star, following that up with a victory in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Pocono 500 and he is 11th in points, while Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth got off to a bad start, they are now moving up the standings slowly. But when you talk about surprises, you can’t forget about Patrick Carpentier in qualifying, the man who gets it down when it counts.
However the biggest shocker wasn’t Kyle Busch, Dale Jr., DEI or even some of the races, it is the COT for its safety, first at Las Vegas with Jeff Gordon hitting the inside wall on the back straightaway, but even worse, Michael McDowell at Texas, no words could describe that one, just a picture which was taking by Foxsports.com/Larry Papke - Associated Press.The struggles, damn, at one point in this season, even Kyle Busch and Dale Jr. struggled for a couple of races, but I’m talking more of nowhere to be found or just hanging on even if they are 12th in point. I’ve been very surprised with Penske Racing so far this season, after winning the Daytona 500, none of them have been around much with the exception of Kurt Busch winning at a rain-shortened race in New Hampshire and now with Ryan Newman and Penske announcing that they will part ways at the end of the 2008 season, where does Penske Racing go from here including filling the #12 Alltel Dodge seat next season? Another one would be Ganassi Racing which is now a two-car team following the shut-down of the #40 car and laying off 70 workers, looking at it, I would be very surprised if Ganassi Racing was in business in 2010, I know it’s a weird thing to say, but Ganassi has championship teams in the IRL and in the Grand-Am Rolex Series including at least two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories, but in the Cup Series, they only have one victory in recent year and that came last season at Sonoma.
Third is the top 35 rule, which for several teams who have missed races this season, now find themselves so far behind the 8 ball of getting back in, it’s no big thing to see who’s in and who’s out with the exception of the #66 Haas CNC Racing car, who is -13 points out, other than them, no one else is in striking distance and every week, they have to qualify on time or go home including the #84, #96 and the #10, what a rule that needs a change.
After 19 races, I ask you ponder these two questions:
What are the top 5 best races so far this season? (In no particular order)1. Phoenix would be the first, night racing, combined with a late race drama over fuel, 2. Bristol still is Bristol even with two groves, 3. Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (not the boring All-Star Race) 4. Daytona 500 5. Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington – Despite Kyle Busch winning.
What about the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond, well read my description and come to your own conclusion: Denny Hamlin dominates most of the race, however, Hamlin had a slow leak in one of the tires, giving up the lead in a three-wide pass in the middle of turns 1-2 with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking the lead. Hamlin stops on track, bring out the caution flag and of course Hamlin gets back going. In the closing laps, Busch closes in on Dale Jr., side-by-side going into turn 3, Busch losses it and hits Dale Jr. sending him into the wall, basically ending his day, while Clint Bowyer flashes by the wreck, taking the lead and cruising to victory lane. Pure emotions – Kyle Busch becomes one of the most hated drivers in NASCAR, the bad boy and he loves it.
What are the top 5 most improved racetracks so far this season due to the COT? (In no particular order)1. New Hampshire Motor Speedway 2. Talladega Superspeedway, 3. Phoenix International Raceway, 4. Infineon Raceway 5. Darlington Raceway – The Darlington races before the COT were interesting to watch, but with the addition of the COT, it’s a little bit better simply because when a driver hits the wall (Darlington strip), a driver can keep races and possibly win the race. The only downside is the sideways look of some of the cars.
- Racedriven
