2005 RACE TO THE CHASE:  ALL EYES ON JUNIOR

 

A little more than one-tenth of The Race to the Chase is in the books, so it’s not too early to be looking at marquee teams in trouble in the early going. No driver came from farther back than 21^st last year after the third race to make The Chase – RYAN NEWMAN did it by squeaking in at Richmond. This year, three of last year’s Chasers are beyond 21^st --  26^th JEREMY MAYFIELD, 27^th DALE EARNHARDT JR.,  and 28^th MATT KENSETH.  All eyes will be on Junior at Atlanta as he won the spring race there last year. A strong run could put the #8 team back on the long road back to the Top 10.

 

 Several teams behind that group have to worry about getting in the top 35 standings over the next two races, or they could be left to making the field on speed.  MICHAEL WALTRIP has only a two-point lead over JASON LEFFLER for35^th, followed by BOBBY LABONTE in 37^th  at eight points back, KASEY KAHNE in 38^th only 12 points back and RICKY RUDD is 48 points back in 39^th.  Remember, only the top 35 in points are guaranteed a spot in the race after Race #5. 

 

THE HEAT INDEX

(Last 5 races, counting last 2 of 2004 and first 3 of 2005)

RED HOT                                                                 ICE COLD

1—Jimmie Johnson            855                                          1—Mike Wallace                   337

2—Kurt Busch                      825                                          2—Michael Waltrip                               382

3—Jeff Gordon                     758                                          2—Kyle Petty                        382

4—Greg Biffle                       714                                          4—Ken Schrader                  389

5—Mark Martin                    684                                          5—Kasey Kahne                   398

6—Tony Stewart                  683                                          6—Ricky Rudd                      436

7—Carl Edwards                  675                                          7—Brian Vickers                  448

8—Jamie McMurray            656                                          8—Jeremy Mayfield            450

9—Rusty Wallace                 651                                          9—Bobby Hamilton Jr.        461

10—Kevin Harvick                                595                                          10—Bobby Labonte             468

                                                                                               

 

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—Carl Edwards (99 car)    5              31            +26                          1—Kasey Kahne                   38            8              -30

2—Greg Biffle                       3              27            +24                          2—Matt Kenseth                  28            1              -27          

3—Jimmie Johnson            2              19            +17                          3—Bobby Labonte                               37            11            -26

3—Jeff Burton (31 car)        20            37            +17                          4—Earnhardt Jr.                   27            7              -20

5—Jeff Green                       19            35            +16                          5—Ricky Rudd                      39            25            -14          

6—Ryan Newman                                 8              21            +13                          6—Scott Wimmer                                29            16            -13

7—Dale Jarrett                     11            22            +11                          7—Jremy Mayfield                              26            14            -12

7—Mark Martin                    9              20            +11                          8—Joe Nemechek                               24            13            -11

9—Scott Riggs                      22            32            +10                          9—Elliott Sadler                    13            3              -10

9—Kyle Petty                        27            37            +10                          10—Jamie McMurray          14            9              -5

                                                                                                                10—Casey Mears                                15            10            -5

 

 

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE
After Race #3 of 26:  Las Vegas

Races Left to the Chase:  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          1—2—3                   5s            10s          10s       Penalty Pts

 

1/1/5-Ku Busch      510          --            +141        +153        3/170       +61          825          0—1—2                   3              3              0              10-0

2/2/19-Johnson     500          -10           +131        +143        1/190       +56          855          1—1—0                   3              3              0              20-25

3/5/27-Biffle           428          -82           +59          +71          6/155       +46          714          1—0—0                   1              2              0              10-0

4/10/4-J Gordon    418          -92           +49          +61          4/160       +51          758          1—0—0                   2              2              0              5-0

5/4/31-Edwards     408          -102         +39          +51          14/121     +12          675          0—0—0                   1              1              0              5-0

6/7/2-Stewart        402          -108         +33          +45          9/138       +25          683          0—0—0                   0              2              0              10-0

7/8/12-RWallace     395          -115         +26          +38          12/127     +18          651          0—0—0                   0              2              0              0-0

8/12/21-Newman   389          -121         +20          +32          10/139     +34          524          0—0—0                   0              2              0              10-0

9/3/20-Martin         374          -136         +5            +17          30/73       -36           684          0—0—0                   0              2              0              5-0

10/13/6-Harvick     369          -141         --             +12          5/155       +21          570          0—0—0                   1              2              0              10-25

                                                                                                                Gain

                                                                                                                10th

11/11/22-DJarrett  357          -153         -12           --             18/109     -2             500          0—0—0                   0              0              0              0-0

12/15/15-Bliss        351          -159         -18           -6             16/115     +4            528          0—0—0                   0              0              0              0-0

13/6/3-ESadler       348          -162         -21           -9             29/76       -35           503          0—0—0                   0              1              0              0-0

14/17/9-McMurray                345          -165         -24           -12           15/118     +7            656          0—0—0                   1              1              0              0-0

15/28/10-Mears     328          -182         -41           -29           7/146       +35          498          0—0—0                   0              1              0              0-0

16/16/26-Petty       324          -186         -45           -33           25/93       -18           382          0—0—0                   0              0              0              15-0

17/9/18-Marlin       323          -187         -46           -34           35/63       -48           570          0—0—0                   0              1              1              5-0

18/27/24-Blaney     311          -199         -58           -46           13/129     +18          NA           0—0—0                   0              0              1              5-0

19/21/35-JGreen   301          -209         -68           -56           23/99       -12           474          0—0—0                   0              0              0              10-0

20/23/37-JBurton  299          -211         -70           -58           17/112     +1            478          0—0—0                   0              0              0              5-0

21/18/32-Riggs      294          -216         -75           -63           31/70       -41           500          0—0—0                   1              1              0              0-0

22/32/17-KyBusch 293          -217         -76           -64           2/170       +24          NA           0—1—0                   1              1              1              5-25

23/30/29-Ham Jr.   291          -219         -78           -66           11/130     +19          461          0—0—0                   0              0              1              0-0

24/24/13-Nemchek               291          -219         -78           -66           19/106     -5             520          0—0—0                   0              0              1              15-0

25/22/23-Kvapil      287          -223         -82           -70           26/90       -21           NA           0—0—0                   0              0              1              5-0

26/26/14-Mayfield 286          -224         -83           -71           20/103     -8             450          0—0—0                   0              0              0              10-0

27/14/7-Earnhardt 274          -236         -95           -83           42/37       -74           498          0—0—1                   1              1              1              5-0

28/36/1-Kenseth   269          -241         -100         -88           8/142       +31          483          0—0—0                   0              1              1              5-0

29/25/16-Wimmer 266          -244         -103         -91           27/82       -29           487          0—0—0                   0              0              0              5-0

30/20/28-Vickers  239          -271         -130         -118         43/34       -77           448          0—0—0                   0              0              1              5-0

31/29/36-Schrader                228          -282         -141         -129         34/61       -50           389          0—0—0                   0              0              2              0-0

32/33/40-Andretti  225          -285         -144         -132         28/79       -32           NA           0—0—0                   0              0              0              0-0

33/35/30-MWallace                224          -286         -145         -133         24/96       -15           337          0—0—0                   0              0              1              5-0

34/19/NA-Lepage  208          -302         -161         -149         NA           -116         NA           0—0—0                   0              1              0              0-0

35/39/38-Waltrip    206          -304         -163         -151         21/100     -64           382          0—0—0                   0              0              2              5-0

36/35/NA-Leffler   204          -306         -165         -153         22/97       -14           NA           0—0—0                   0              0              2              0-0

37/31/11-BLabonte               198          -312         -171         -159         41/40       -71           468          0—0—0                   0              0              2              0-0

38/34/8-Kahne       194          -316         -175         -163         38/54       -57           398          0—0—0                   0              0              2              5-0

39/38/25-Rudd       158          -352         -211         -199         37/52       -59           436          0—0—0                   0              0              2              0-0