Stewart Captures Victory While Johnson Captures Championship Lead – November 6th Edition of SCI
The next stop on the Nextel Cup schedule is Texas Motor Speedway
Folks, I’m just as dizzy as when little Johnny stole a kiss from Sally in the backseat of his daddy’s car. The action heading into the final two races of the year is nothing short of spectacular. This year’s tight competition in the new Chase for the Championship format has NASCAR president Mike Helton looking like the illegitimate son of Albert Einstein.
Week after week, the Chase has taken on a different face. At first we all thought that Jeff Burton was going to run away and the Hendrick pilots were just observers. Now, with just two races to go, Jimmie Johnson has stormed from 10th after leaving New Hampshire to regain the lead he held for much of the year.
Next week Jimmie Johnson is expected to increase his lead over second place Matt Kenseth at Phoenix International Raceway. In 6 starts at Phoenix, Johnson has an average finish of 8th. Also expect the following drivers to do well next week:
Jeff Gordon – Average Finish 9th
Mark Martin – Average Finish 10th
Tony Stewart – Average Finish 11th
Jeff Burton – Average Finish 12th
Next week’s schedule:
Nextel Cup: @Phoenix International Raceway.
11/10/06 – 03:10pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil Qualifying
11/11/06 – 12:05 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil Practice
11/12/06 – 01:30pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil
Busch Series: @Phoenix International Raceway.
11/10/06 – 04:00pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200 Practice
11/11/06 – 10:05 am NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200 Qualifying
11/11/06 – 1:40 PM NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ARIZONA.TRAVEL 200
Craftsman Truck Series: @Phoenix International Raceway. 09/11/06 – 17:30 NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150 Practice
10/11/06 – 10:15 am NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150 Qualifying
11/10/06 – 06:15 pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Casino Arizona 150
Smoke heats up Texas!
It’s not a disgrace not to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Well, that is if you win 3 of the last 8 races of the year. And that is exactly what Tony Stewart has done this year.
Tony has dominated the last 6 races since Kansas, winning 3 and posting an average finish of 7th. Since Kansas, Stewart has led more laps than any other driver, and has been one of the best drivers since he started the Chase for the Championship despite not being a contender.
Using the same car he won in Atlanta, Tony smoked the field in Texas. Don’t expect the #20 team to change too much. They will most likely wash and wax the same car and send it to Phoenix next week to try to do it 3 in a row. With nothing to lose but pride, Tony Stewart will continue to play in the final two races at Phoenix and Homestead. His average finish on both tracks is 10th.
Jimmie Johnson Reclaims Series Lead
Jimmie Johnson has followed the blueprint set by Matt Kenseth to help him overtake Kenseth and lead the Nextel Cup Series points standings with just 2 races remaining. Kenseth earned the Mr. Consistency tag by racing aggressive enough to finish in the top 10 instead of pushing his car to the limit to win races (if you want to see that, just look at his teammate Carl Edwards).
This is the same approach that Jimmie Johnson has taken in the last 5 races. In every race, with the exception of Talladega, where Johnson was prepared to settle for second until teammate Brian Vickers tore him apart on the final lap, Johnson finished in the top 5. During those 5 races, Johnson had a chance to contend for the win, but settled for a sure top-5 finish.
You can tell this is boring, right? Not quite! The points battle between Johnson and Kenseth is one of the closest in NASCAR history with just two races remaining. Only 17 points separate the two drivers. Those 17 points will keep you and me glued to your seat for the remaining two Sundays of the 2006 Nextel Cup season.
Summary of Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
Tony Stewart spent most of his afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway watching the rest of the field of drivers through his rearview mirror. Stewart, and his car, were bested only by the pace car in the Dickies 500. It seems the former champion has decided that since he’s a spectator in this year’s Chase for the Championship, he might as well watch how it plays out from the best seat in the house, victory lane.
While Stewart stole the show in Texas, the championship contenders, for the most part, did well. Six of the top ten finishers were Chase drivers. Jimmie Johnson was the best of those six by finishing second and capturing the series points lead.
The other drivers in the championship behaved as follows:
1. (Lead) Jimmie Johnson is back in a familiar spot, first, after finishing second in the Dickies 500. The championship leader had a strong car for much of the day, but not strong enough in Tony Stewart.
2. (-17 points) Matt Kenseth battled adversity for most of the day. His car handled poorly throughout the race, and even spun late in the race trying to avoid Scot Riggs’ crash. But, showing championship bravado of his own, Kenseth fought and fought to finish 12th and minimize the number of points awarded to Johnson.
3. (-78 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr showed his toughness yesterday. All day Jr was sick and fought the urge to throw up out the side window. But Earnhardt Jr held strong, even after hitting the wall midway through the race, and held on to finish sixth.
4. (-80 points) Denny Hamlin is still in the championship picture after finishing 10th at Texas. The rookie is showing a lot of poise and looks like he will be a contender for years to come.
5. (-105 points) Kevin Harvick bounced back from a finish last week at Atlanta to finish third at Texas. Kevin was trying to be the first NASCAR driver to sweep the Busch and Cup Series at Texas after winning the O’Reilly Challenge on Saturday.
6. (-157 points) Jeff Gordon is proving that a champion never gives up. Leaving Lowe’s Motor Speedway just three weeks ago, Gordon was in 10th place. Now, he sits in sixth place with a long shot to win the championship after finishing ninth at Texas.
7. (-146 points) Jeff Burton’s season is falling apart. The championship contender suffered another setback after he crashed early in the race. His team took more than 30 minutes to repair the damage caused by the accident. Burton finished the race in 38th place; his second-place finish 38th or lowest in the Chase.
8. (-233 points) Kyle Busch had his first brilliant day in the Chase for the Championship this year. Busch finished fourth after gambling on taking 2 tires on the last pit stop of the day.
9. (-253 points) Mark Martin can also go ahead and fold. It’s not that Mark no longer has the talent to compete, because he does. It’s just that it’s hard to watch one of NASCAR’s most beloved drivers get hit week after week in a series of unfortunate accidents caused by others. Yesterday Martin finished 22nd and won it all!
10. (-290 points) Kasey Kahne is doing everything he can to endear himself to all NASCAR fans. Kahne clearly had second place because he even blew an engine with a few laps to go. He finished in 33rd place.