2008 CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP

After Race #5 of 10:  Charlotte #2

Races Left in the Chase:  5 (50%)

Martinsville           Phoenix

Atlanta                   Homestead

Texas

 

Season/Chase  Out of         Lst Rce  Lst 5       Overall     Chase                  Top         Top         Bottom

Pos./LW                 Pts             1^st         Fin/Pts    Pts/         W—2—3   W—2—3               5s            10s          10s         

1/1-JGordon (+59)5880/840   --           1/190       840          6—5—2     2—1—0                 19-4         25-4         1-0

2/2-Johnson (-59) 5812/752   -68         14/131     752          6—2—5     0—1—1                 16-2         19-3         5-0

3/3-Bowyer (-15)   5802/802   -78         2/175       802          1—2—1     1—2—0                 5-3           15-3         3-0

 

4/4-Stewart (-44)  5682/652   -198       7/146       652          3—3—2     0—0—1                 10-1         22-4         5-1

5/6-Edwards (-35) 5640/620   -240       5/155       620          3—1—2     1—0—0                 9-2           13-2         3-1

6/8-KyBsch (-20)   5600/590   -280       3/170       590          1—2—2     0—0—1                 9-3           17-3         5-2

7/7-KuBsch (-100) 5565/548   -315       26/90       548          2—0—2     0—0—0                 5-0           11-1         2-0

8/5-Harvick (-126) 5552/542   -328       33/64       542          1—1—0     0—0—0                 4-0           12-1         3-0

9/9-Hamlin (-87)    5531/521   -349       20/103     521          1—2—5     0—0—0                 11-1         16-1         3-1

10/12-Burton (-30)5514/504   -366       4/160       504          1—1—2     0—0—0                 8-1           14-2         5-2

11/10-Truex (-78)  5502/492   -378       17/112     492          1—2—1     0—0—0                 6-1           11-1         5-2

12/11-Kenth (-124)5438/428   -442       34/66       428          1—2—1     0—0—0                 8-0           17-1         6-3          

                               

 

NOTES

 

ท          BOWYER LOOKS TO STAY CLOSE AT MARTINSVILLE:  The odds are pretty good that Sunday’s race at Martinsville will boil down to a Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson battle. The two teammates have won five of the last seven at M’ville. Clint Bowyer has finishes of 22—23—11 in three starts, so a top five would be huge and keep him within one race of the lead.

ท          THE PUSH FOR THE PODIUM:  Jeff Burton moved into stage spot #10 with his fourth at Lowe’s. He leads Martin Truex by +12, and Matt Kenseth by +76.

ท          DOWN TO 4 OR 5?  Carl Edwards will have to get scorching hot to get back into Chase contention from fifth place and 240 points out, and Martinsville presents an uphill challenge as “Flip” doesn’t have a top 10 in six starts. Tony Stewart has to still be considered a contender with the races coming up, but he must put five straight top 10s or better together. It’s hard to count sixth place on back as being in reasonable contention at this point.

 

 

2007 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH     DO    KS     TA     LO     MA     AT     TX     PH     HO

1—J Gordon          2       11        5        1        1

2—J Johnson       6       14        3        2      14

3—C Bowyer         1       12        2      11        2

4—T Stewart         3         9      39        8        7

5—C Edwards       12         1      37      14        5

6—Ky Busch          4         5      41      36        3

7—Ku Busch         25       29      11        7      26

8—K Harvick         17       20        6       20     33

9—D Hamlin          15       38      29         4     20

10—J Burton         18         7      36       43       4

11—M Truex            5       13      38       42     17

12—M Kenseth     7       35      35       26     34

 

 

CHASE COMPARISON CHARTS

                                      Out of                                              Out of                                              Out of

2006                        Pts/1st                   2005                        Pts/1st                   2004                        Pts/1st

1-JBURTON            5763/+45                 1-TSTEWART         5777/--                    1-KUBUSCH            5850/+24

2-MKENSETH          5718/-45                  2-JJOHNSON          5777/--                    2-DALE JR              5826/-24

3-KHARVICK          5674/-89                  3-GBIFFLE              5766/-11                  3-JGORDON            5776/-74

4-MMARTIN           5661/-102                4-RNEWMAN          5760/-17                  4-ESADLER             5693/-157

5-DALE JR              5657/-106                5-MMARTIN           5726/-51                  5-MMARTIN           5664/-186

6-DHAMLIN            5626/-137                6-CEDWARDS         5723/-54                 6-TSTEWART         5646/-204

7-JJOHNSON          5617/-146                7-RWALLACE        5685/-92                  7-MKENSETH          5635/-215

8-KKAHNE               5603/-160                8-JMAYFIELD         5662/-115                8-JJOHNSON          5623/-227

9-KYBUSCH            5568/-195                9-MKENSETH          5653/-124                9-RNEWMAN          5579/-271

10-JGORDON          5547/-216                10-KUBUSCH          5635/-142                10-JMAYFIELD       5501/-349