2005 RACE TO THE CHASE OFF AND RUNNING

 

JEFF GORDON serves notice with his third Daytona 500 win with a clutch performance down the stretch …  MARK MARTIN improves from last year’s 43^rd place finish to a strong sixth. Look for this team to avoid the hole it dug early last year and be solidly in The Chase all season long  …   RUSTY WALLACE improves from last season’s 29^th to a 10^th place finish. This team  must break quickly, and it looks ready to do that  …     Last year’s Chaser that had the worst race was MATT KENSETH, who finished 42^nd. The #17 team will look to turn that around quickly at California and Las Vegas, as you don’t want to fall too far behind too quickly.  MARK MARTIN proved last year you can overcome a bad opening race, finishing 43^rd at Daytona, but rallying to make The Chase on the final day at Richmond last year.

 

NEXT TWO ARE VERY IMPORTANT:   No time to push the panic button with only 3.8% of The Race to the Chase done, but the next two at California and Las Vegas are important races for teams looking to become contenders. Last year, no team came further back than 21^st (RYAN NEWMAN) after Las Vegas to make The Chase, and only four Chasers weren’t already in the Top 10 after Vegas last year: JEREMY MAYFIELD (14^th), JIMMIE JOHNSON (19^th), MARK MARTIN (20^th), RYAN NEWMAN (21^st).

 

NEW FEATURES IN OUR REPORT THIS YEAR:  Standings position after the same race number last year, to give a comparison on the driver’s performance vs. last year, and a ranking of total bonus points earned. Everyone is much more conscious of bonus points this year, understanding a spot in The Chase could come down to 5 bonus points in any race.

 

 

 

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE
After Race #1 of 26:  Daytona 1

Races Left to the Chase:  25

 

05/04 POS.              Season  Out of     Out of     Out of     LastRce Gain        Last 5     Season  Season  Season  Top         Top         Bottom

Driver                     Pts.         1^st            10^th          11^th          Fin/Pts    11^th          Pts/PPR  Wins       2nds       3rds        5s            10s          10s

 

1/7-J Gordon         185          +15          +51          +55          1/185       NA           NA           1              0              0              1              1              0

2/16-Ku Busch       170          -15           +36          +40          2/170       NA           NA           0              1              0              1              1              0

3/1-Earnhardt Jr.  170          -15           +36          +40          3/170       NA           NA           0              0              1              1              1              0

4/34-S Riggs          160          -25           +26          +30          4/160       NA           NA           0              0              0              1              1              0

5/5-JJohnson        160          -25           +26          +30          5/160       NA           NA           0              0              0              1              1              0

6/2-T Stewart        156          -29           +22          +26          7/156       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              1              0

7/43-M Martin        150          -35           +16          +20          6/150       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              1              0

8/37-S Marlin         142          -43           +8            +12          8/142       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              1              0

9/32-Kevin Lepage               138          -47           +4            +8            9/138       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              1              0

10/29-R Wallace     134          -51           --             +4            10/134     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              1              0

 

11/8-E Sadler         130          -55           -4             --             11/130     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

12/6-J Nemechek 129          -56           -5             -1             13/129     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

13/NA-C Edwards 127          -58           -7             -3             12/127     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

14/15-D Blaney      121          -64           -13           -9             14/121     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

15/10-D Jarrett      118          -67           -16           -12           15/118     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

16/21-K Petty         117          -68           -17           -13           17/117     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

17/33-J Green       115          -70           -19           -15           16/115     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

18/NA-M Bliss       109          -76           -25           -21           18/109     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

19/31-R Newman  108          -77           -26           -22           20/108     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

20/NA-T Kvapil       106          -79           -28           -24           19/106     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

 

21/39-B Vickers    100          -85           -34           -30           21/100     NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

22/25-J Mayfield   99            -86           -35           -31           23/99       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

23/41-K Kahne       97            -88           -37           -33           22/97       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

24/18-R Rudd         91            -94           -43           -39           24/91       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

25/13-G Biffle         88            -97           -46           -42           25/88       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

26/14-C Mears      85            -100         -49           -45           26/85       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

27/4-K Harvick       84            -101         -50           -46           28/84       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

28/NA-B Said          82            -103         -52           -48           27/82       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

29/42-J Burton      81            -104         -53           -49           29/81       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

30/22-M Skinner   73            -112         -61           -57           30/73       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

 

31/12-J Andretti    70            -115         -64           -60           31/70       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

32/3-S Wimmer     69            -116         -65           -61           33/69       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

33/36-JMcMurray 67            -118         -67           -63           32/67       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              0

34/NA-M Truex      61            -124         -73           -69           34/61       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

35/NA-Hamlton Jr.                58            -127         -76           -72           35/58       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

36/38-M Waltrip     57            -128         -77           -73           37/57       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

37/NA-J Leffler     55            -130         -79           -75           36/55       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

38/NA-Ky Busch    49            -136         -85           -79           38/49       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

39/40-K Schrader  46            -139         -88           -82           39/46       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

40/NA-K Wallace    43            -142         -91           -85           40/43       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

41/NA-M Wallace   40            -145         -94           -88           41/40       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

42/9-M Kenseth    37            -148         -97           -91           42/37       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

43/11-B Labonte   34            -151         -100         -104         43/34       NA           NA           0              0              0              0              0              1

 

 

2005 BONUS POINTS EARNED

 

1—Tony Stewart                  10

2—Jeff Gordon                     5

2—Dale Earnhardt Jr.          5

2—Jimmie Johnson            5

2—Joe Nemechek                               5

2—Kyle Petty                        5

2—Ryan Newman                 5

2—Jeremy Mayfield            5

2—Kevin Harvick                  5

2—Jeff Burton                      5

2—Scott Wimmer                                5

2—Michael Waltrip                               5