2005 RACE TO THE CHASE:  JULY HIGHS & LOWS

 

TONY STEWART took honors for the month of July, scoring 681 points in four races and gained 110 points on JIMMIE JOHNSON in first place.  RUSTY WALLACE was second strongest for the second month in a row, running up 604 points and climbing from sixth to a comfortable fourth in the standings. DALE EARNHARDT JR. (555 pts., 5^th best) got himself back in contention after being only 29^th best in the month of June.

 

Among contenders, MICHAEL WALTRIP (295 pts., 33^rd place) had a devastating month and ELLIOTT SADLER (318 pts.) lost six positions back to ninth place. If he continues at anywhere near this pace, he will have the lead soon and the 400-point Wild Card hopefuls will be watching his total, not Johnson’s.

 

Now, we come to the Dog Days of August:  Indy, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol.  It looks like 15 drivers are still very much in contention, and the 400-point Wild Card is still a distinct possibility.

 

 

THE HEAT INDEX

(Last 5 Races)

RED HOT                                                                 ICE COLD

1—Tony Stewart                  871                                          1—Scott Riggs                      356

2—Rusty Wallace                 769                                          2—Travis Kvapil                   359

3—Kurt Busch                      724                                          3—Michael Waltrip               392

4—Ricky Rudd                      673                                          4—Sterling Marlin                394

5—Dale Jarrett                     657                                          5—Jeff Green                       409

6—Ryan Newman                 651                                          6—Scott Wimmer                423

7—Jeremy Mayfield            638                                          7—Kyle Petty                        434

8—Matt Kenseth                  637                                          8—Ken Schrader                  437

9—Jimmie Johnson            626                                          8—Kasey Kahne                   437

10—Bobby Labonte             598                                          10—Kyle Busch                    440

                                                                                                10—Dave Blaney                   440

                                                                                               

 

THE TURNAROUNDS

(Position in Race to the Chase Versus Last Year at this time)

GOOD TURNS                                                                                         BAD TURNS

Rank-Driver                           05            04            Diff.                         Rank-Driver                           05            04            Diff.

1—Greg Biffle                       3              23            +20                          1—Bobby Labonte               23            9              -14

2—Rusty Wallace                 4              20            +16                          2—Jeff Gordon                     15            2              -13

3—Carl Edwards                  12            25            +13                          2—Matt Kenseth                  17            4              -13

4—Joe Nemechek               16            24            +8                            4—Earnhardt Jr.                   14            3              -11

4—Jeff Burton                      17            25            +8                            5—Kasey Kahne                   21            12            -9

                                                                                                                5—Casey Mears                  25            16            -9

 

 

TREND PROJECTION

(Projecting standings after race #25 with Richmond remaining, based on last five races)

Rank-Driver (Current)         Pts          Out          Out          Out

                                                                1^st            10^th          11^th         

1—Tony Stewart (2)            3604        --             +677        +745

2—Jimmie Johnson (1)      3425        -179         +498        +566

3—Rusty Wallace (4)            3386        -218         +459        +527

4—Greg Biffle (3)                3300        -304         +373        +441

5—Kurt Busch (5)                 3261        -343         +334        +402

6—Ryan Newman (6)           3158        -446         +231        +299

7—Mark Martin (7)               3076        -528         +149        +217

8—Jeremy Mayfield (8)      3032        -572         +105        +173

9—Dale Jarrett (10)              3029        -575         +102        +170

10—Jamie McMurray (11)  2927        -677         --             +68

 

11—Elliott Sadler (9)            2859        -745         -68           --

12—Dale Earnhardt Jr. (14) 2854        -750         -73           -5

13—Carl Edwards (12)        2806        -798         -121         -53

14—Matt Kenseth (17)        2796        -808         -131         -63

15—Kevin Harvick (13)        2795        -809         -132         -64

16—Jeff Gordon (15)           2749        -855         -178         -110

17—Joe Nemechek (16)     2710        -894         -217         -149

 

 

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE
After Race #20 of 26:  Pocono  #2

Races Left to the Chase:  6 (23%)

 

05/LW/04                                Season  Out of     Out of     Out of     LastRce Gain        Last 5     Finishes                                Top         Top                Bottom   Bonus-

Driver                     Pts.         1^st            10^th          11^th          Fin/Pts    11^th          Pts/Gain 1—2—3                   5s            10s          10s          Penalty Pts

 

1/1/1-Johnson       2799        --            +427        +436        12/127     -3             626/E       2—2—2                   8              13            2              65-25

2/3/5-Stewart        2733        -66           +361        +370        7/146       +16          871/+4     3—3—1                   8              12            0              75-0

3/2/23-Biffle           2712        -87           +340        +349        17/117     -13           588/-1      5—0—1                   7              11            2              85-0

4/4/20-RWallace     2617        -182         +245        +254        2/175       +45          769/+4     0—1—0                   5              11            1              30-0

5/5/7-KBusch         2537        -262         +165        +174        1/190       +60          724/+4     2—2—3                   7              11            4              65-0

6/6/8-Newman       2507        -292         +135        +144        5/160       +30          651/+1     0—0—1                   5              10            2              60-0

7/7/13-Martin         2490        -309         +118        +127        3/170       +40          586/-2      0—0—4                   6              10            1              30-0

8/8/11-Mayfield     2394        -405         +22          +31          18/109     -21           638/+5     0—0—0                   2              4              0              25-0

9/9/6-Sadler           2391        -408         +19          +28          16/115     -15           468/-6      0—1—0                   1              9              2              30-0

10/10/14-Jarrett    2372        -427         --             +9            15/118     -12           657/+5     0—0—0                   3              5              1              10-0

                                                                                                                Gain

                                                                                                                10th

11/11/15-McMurry2363        -436         -9             --             11/130     +12          564/E       0—1—0                   4              7              1              5-0

12/12/25-Edwards 2360        -439         -12           -3             4/160       +42          446/-8      2—0—1                   6              8              3              25-0

13/14/10-Harvick  2299        -500         -73           -64           6/150       +32          496/-3      1—0—0                   3              6              1              35-25

14/13/3-ErnhrdtJr 2262        -537         -110         -101         32/67       -51           592/+3     1—0—2                   5              8              2              15-0

15/15/2-JGordon  2258        -541         -114         -105         13/124     +6            491/-3      3—1—0                   5              7              3              50-0

16/18/24-Nemchk  2169        -630         -203         -194         22/102     -16           541/+3     0—1—1                   1              4              2              40-0

17/16/4-Kenseth   2159        -640         -213         -204         36/55       -63           637/+4     0—1—0                   2              6              3              40-0

18/17/25-JBurton  2137        -662         -235         -226         37/52       -66           449/-2      0—0—1                   1              2              2              5-0

19/20/17-Waltrip    2122        -677         -250         -241         26/85       -33           392/-5      0—1—1                   3              7              6              40-0

20/19/19-KyBusch 2092        -707         -280         -271         39/46       -72           440/-2      0—2—0                   5              7              5              20-25

21/21/12-Kahne     2037        -762         -335         -326         27/82       -36           437/-1      1—1—1                   5              5              6              35-0

22/22/21-Vickers  2037        -762         -335         -326         14/121     +3            553/E       0—1—0                   3              5              6              40-0

23/23/9-BLabonte 1996        -803         -376         -367         8/142       +24          598/+3     0—1—1                   2              5              6              15-0

24/24/28-Rudd       1908        -891         -464         -455         10/134     +16          673/+9     0—1—0                   1              5              4              10-0

25/27/16-Mears     1850        -949         -522         -513         20/103     -15           442/E       0—1—0                   1              3              4              15-0

26/25/18-Marlin     1833        -966         -539         -530         28/79       -39           394/-2      0—0—0                   1              3              6              25-0

27/26/30-Riggs      1812        -987         -560         -551         33/64       -54           356/-4      0—0—0                   1              3              3              10-0

28/29/28-Blaney     1800        -999         -572         -563         21/100     -18           440/E       0—0—0                   0              1              4              10-0

29/28/32-Schrader1799        -1000       -573         -564         31/70       -48           437/-2      0—0—0                   0              3              5              30-0

30/31/27-Bliss        1795        -1004       -577         -568         9/138       +20          448/-1      0—0—0                   0              1              7              0-0

31/30/31-Petty       1748        -1051       -624         -615         30/73       -45           434/E       0—0—0                   0              1              3              45-0

32/32/34-JGreen  1742        -1057       -630         -621         19/106     -12           409/-2      0—0—0                   0              0              3              15-0

33/33/30-Kvapil      1672        -1127       -700         -691         38/49       -69           359/-1      0—0—0                   0              1              3              10-0

34/34/26-Wimmer 1627        -1172       -745         -736         25/88       -30           423/E       0—0—0                   0              0              4              20-0

35/35/36-MWallace1521        -1278       -851         -842         29/81       -37           365/E       0—0—0                   0              1              5              30-0

 

 

LEADER PACE

(The likelihood of the 400-point Wild Card will be determined by the pace set by the leader after 26 races. Here is the pace after 19 races)

 

2005                                        2004                                        *2003                                                       *2002

1 J Johnson          2799        1 J Johnson      3040            1 M Kenseth    2977                             1 S Marlin              2779

10 D Jarrett           -427         10 K Harvick      -620             10 J Burton      -622                              10 M Kenseth       -344

7 teams within 400 pts       3 teams within 400              3 teams within 400                              11 teams within 400

5 teams with 156 of 10^th      5 teams within 156 of 10th 6 teams with 156 of 10^th                      2 teams within 156 of 10th

 

JULY PERFORMANCE  (4 Races:  Daytona #2, Chicago, New Hampshire #1, Pocono #2)

Driver                                     Pts            Start of Month       Month Finish                     Spots Gained/Lost

1—Tony Stewart                  681                          4                              2                                              +2

2—Rusty Wallace                 604                          6                              4                                              +2

3—Jimmie Johnson            571                          2                              1                                              +1

4—Kurt Busch                      559                          8                              5                                              +3

5—Dale Earnhardt Jr.          555                          18                            14                                            +4

6—Ryan Newman                 513                          7                              6                                              +1

7—Matt Kenseth                  507                          20                            17                                            +3

8—Dale Jarrett                     502                          12                            10                                            +2

9—Ricky Rudd                      498                          30                            24                                            +6

10—Jeremy Mayfield          492                          11                            8                                              +3

10—Brian Vickers                492                          23                            22                                            +1

12—Bobby Labonte             489                          26                            23                                            +3

13—Mark Martin                  468                          5                              7                                              -2

14—Greg Biffle                     462                          1                              3                                              -2

15—Joe Nemechek             447                          17                            16                                            +1

16—Kevin Harvick                444                          13                            13                                            E

17—Jamie McMurray          440                          10                            11                                            -1

18—Jeff Gordon                   422                          14                            15                                            -1

19—Mike Bliss                     402                          33                            30                                            +3

20—Carl Edwards                397                          9                              12                                            -3

20—Kyle Busch                    397                          19                            20                                            -1

20—Kasey Kahne                 397                          21                            21                                            E

23—Ken Schrader                379                          28                            29                                            -1

24—Jeff Burton                    376                          16                            18                                            -2

25—Mike Wallace                 365                          35                            35                                            E

26—Kyle Petty                      347                          32                            31                                            +1

27—Casey Mears                339                          25                            25                                            E

28—Scott Wimmer              335                          34                            34                                            E

29—Dave Blaney                   334                          27                            28                                            -1

30—Jeff Green                     333                          31                            32                                            -1

31—Elliott Sadler                  318                          3                              9                                              -6

32—Sterling Marlin              309                          24                            26                                            -2

33—Michael Waltrip             295                          15                            19                                            -4

34—Scott Riggs                    265                          22                            27                                            -5

35—Travis Kvapil                 259                          29                            33                                            -4

 

JUNE PERFORMANCE (4 Races:  Dover #1, Pocono #1, Michigan #1, Infineon)

Driver                                     Pts.            Start of Month       Month Finish                    Spots Gained/Lost

1—Mark Martiin                   599                          12                            5                                              +7

2—Rusty Wallace                 584                          11                            6                                              +5

3—Greg Biffle                       574                          2                              1                                              +1

4—Tony Stewart                  564                          6                              4                                              +2

5—Kurt Busch                      537                          10                            8                                              +2

6—Michael Waltrip               532                          18                            15                                            +3

7—Elliott Sadler                    531                          3                              3                                              E

8—Kyle Busch                      516                          22                            19                                            +3

9—Carl Edwards                  504                          8                              9                                              -1

10—Matt Kenseth                503                          23                            20                                            +3

11—Joe Nemechek             496                          19                            17                                            +2

12—Jeremy Mayfield          485                          13                            11                                            +2

13—Jimmie Johnson          481                          1                              2                                              -1

14—Jamie McMurray          472                          9                              10                                            -1

15—Ryan Newman               464                          4                              7                                              -3

15—Dale Jarrett                   464                          14                            12                                            +2

17—Jeff Burton                    436                          17                            16                                            +1

18—Brian Vickers                431                          27                            23                                            +4

19—Travis Kvapil                 409                          33                            29                                            +4

20—Casey Mears                408                          28                            25                                            +3
21—Kevin Harvick                370                          7                              13                                            -6

22—Scott Riggs                    367                          21                            22                                            -1

23—Bobby Labonte             364                          24                            26                                            -2

24—Ricky Rudd                    361                          32                            30                                            +2

25—Dave Blaney                   328                          25                            27                                            -2

25—Scott Wimmer              328                          35                            34                                            +1

27—Jeff Gordon                   320                          5                              14                                            -9

28—Jeff Green                     316                          31                            31                                            E

29—Dale Earnhardt Jr.        310                          15                            18                                            -3

29—Sterling Marlin              310                          20                            24                                            -4

31—Kyle Petty                      306                          30                            32                                            -2

32—Ken Schrader                297                          26                            28                                            -2

33—Kasey Kahne                 289                          16                            21                                            -5

34—Mike Bliss                     295                          29                            33                                            -4

35—Mike Wallace                *188                          34                            35                                            -1

* Wallace missed the Infineon race

 

MAY PERFORMANCE (4 Races:  Talladega, Darlington, Richmond, Charlotte)

Driver                                     Pts.             Start of Month       Month Finish                   Spots Gained/Lost

1—Greg Biffle                       624                          3                              2                              +1

2—Tony Stewart                  575                          14                            6                              +8

3—Kasey Kahne                   541                          20                            16                            +4

4—Jamie McMurray            539                          15                            9                              +6

5—Ryan Newman                 536                          7                              4                              +3

6—Kevin Harvick                  534                          11                            7                              +4

7—Elliott Sadler                    533                          5                              3                              +2

8—Bobby Labonte               528                          34                            24                            +10

9—Jeremy Mayfield            513                          16                            13                            +3

10—Jeff Gordon                   489                          4                              5                              -1

11—Jimmie Johnson          487                          1                              1                              E

12—Carl Edwards                480                          8                              8                              E

13—Ken Schrader                472                          32                            26                            +6

14—Rusty Wallace               469                          10                            11                            -1

15—Dale Jarrett                   459                          13                            14                            -1

16—Dale Earnhardt Jr.        450                          12                            15                            -3

17—Jeff Burton                    446                          17                            17                            E

18—Joe Nemechek             433                          24                            19                            +5

19—Michael Waltrip             429                          18                            18                            E

20—Mark Martin                  426                          6                              12                            -6

21—Jeff Green                     406                          29                            31                            +2

22—Matt Kenseth                401                          28                            23                            +5

23—Ricky Rudd                    390                          31                            32                            -1

24—Kyle Busch                    387                          25                            22                            +3

25—Mike Wallace                 371                          36                            34                            +2

26—Kurt Busch                    354                          2                              10                            -8

27—Dave Blaney                   340                          21                            25                            -4

28—Travis Kvapil                 336                          30                            33                            -3

29—Scott Wimmer              334                          33                            35                            -2

30—Scott Riggs                    333                          19                            21                            -2

31—Mike Bliss                     331                          27                            29                            -2

32—Brian Vickers                319                          23                            27                            -4

33—Casey Mears                312                          26                            28                            -2

34—Kyle Petty                      299                          22                            30                            -8

35—Sterling Marlin              246                          9                              20                            -11

 

 

 

APRIL PERFORMANCE  (4 Races:  Bristol, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix)

Driver                                     Pts.              Start of Month       Month Finish                  Spots Gained/Lost

1—Earnhardt Jr.                   582                          26                            12                            +14

2—Jimmie Johnson            580                          1                              1                              E

3—Jeff Gordon                     563                          12                            4                              +8

4—Sterling Marlin                530                          16                            9                              +7

5—Elliott Sadler                    527                          8                              5                              +3

6—Michael Waltrip               514                          27                            18                            +9

7—Kurt Busch                      510                          4                              2                              +2

8—Jeremy Mayfield            494                          21                            16                            +5

9—Dale Jarrett                     491                          15                            13                            +2

10—Rusty Wallace               483                          9                              10                            -1

11—Kevin Harvick                482                          11                            11                            E

12—Ryan Newman               479                          6                              7                              -1

13—Jeff Burton                    462                          20                            17                            +3

14—Kasey Kahne                 461                          28                            20                            +8

15—Mark Martin                  458                          5                              6                              -1

16—Greg Biffle                     454                          2                              3                              -1

17—Joe Nemechek             444                          29                            24                            +5

18—Jamie McMurray          437                          10                            15                            -5

18—Ricky Rudd                    437                          39                            31                            +8

20—Kyle Petty                      417                          24                            22                            +2

21—Scott Riggs                    415                          18                            19                            -1

22—Brian Vickers                406                          22                            23                            -1

22—Matt Kenseth                406                          31                            28                            +3

24—Tony Stewart                399                          7                              14                            -7

25—Carl Edwards                386                          3                              8                              -5

26—Kyle Busch                    372                          19                            25                            -6

27—Bobby Labonte             365                          37                            34                            +3

28—Casey Mears                357                          17                            26                            -9

29—Travis Kvapil                 344                          32                            30                            +2

30—Dave Blaney                   340                          14                            21                            -7

31—Ken Schrader                338                          33                            32                            +1

32—Mike Bliss                     307                          13                            27                            -14

32—Jeff Green                     307                          23                            29                            -6

32—Jason Leffler                307                          34                            35                            -1

35—Scott Wimmer              261                          25                            33                            -8