2008 RACE TO THE CHASE

After Race #17 of 26:  New Hampshire #1

Races Left to the Chase:  9

 

                                                Out of     LstRace                Lst 5       Finishes                Top         Top         Bottom

08/LW/07              Pts          13^th         Fin/Pts   Gain        Pts          1—2—3                 5s           10s         10s-MR

1/1/10-KyBusch   2496       +495       25/88      -23          636/E      5—1—2                 10           11           2

2/2/5-JBurton       2432       +431       12/127   +16         666/E      1—0—1                 4              10           0

3/3/12-Dale Jr      2352       +351       24/96      -15          616/E      1—1—1                 7              11           2

4/4/7-C Edwards 2262       +261       17/112   +1           724/+2   3—2—0                 6              12           2

5/5/4-J Johnson  2220       +219       9/138      +27         717/+4   1—2—0                 4              8              1

6/6/1-J Gordon     2171       +170       11/130   +19         695/+4   0—1—3                 7              8              3

7/8/2-D Hamlin     2150       +149       8/142      +31         554/-3    1—0—3                 5              9              2

8/7/17-G Biffle      2119       +118       21/100   -11          636/+3   0—1—2                 5              7              2

9/11/6-T Stewart 2042       +41         13/134   +23         510/-1    0—1—1                 5              8              4

10/9/26-Kahne     2031       +30         30/73      -38          577/+2   2—1—0                 3              8              1

11/10/11-Bowyer2021       +20         22/97      -14          439/-6    1—1—1                 4              8              2

12/13/8-Harvick   2016       +15         14/126   +15         502/-5    0—1—0                 2              5              2

                                                Out of

                                                12^th

13/12/3-Kenseth 2001       -15          18/109   -15          738/+3   0—0—1                 3              10           4

14/17/9-Truex      1945       -71          4/160      +36         654/+1   0—0—0                 2              5              3

15/16/13-Newmn1905       -111        15/118   -6            536/-1    1—0—0                 2              6              3

16/15/39-Vickers1903       -113        16/115   -9            694/+4   0—1—0                 3              4              2

17/14/23-Ragan   1888       -128        40/43      -81          484/-4    0—0—0                 2              4              2

18/22/15-KuBsh  1794       -222        1/190      +66         602/+3   1—1—0                 2              3              3

19/18/NA-Kvapil   1731       -285        36/55      -69          485/E      0—0—0                 0              3              2

20/19/19-JPM      1705       -311        32/67      -57          454/-3    0—0—0                 1              1              2

 

 

CHASE SEEDING

 

1   Kyle Busch                      5050      

2   Carl Edwards                 5020       -30

3   Kasey Kahne                  5020       -30

4  Jimmie Johnson            5010       -40

5   Dale Jr                             5010       -40

6  Clint Bowyer                    5010       -40

7   Denny Hamlin                 5010       -40

8   Jeff Burton                      5010       -40

9   Jeff Gordon                     5000       -50

10 Greg Biffle                       5000       -50

11 Tony Stewart                 5000       -50

12 Kevin Harvick                 5000       -50

 

 

NOTES

ท          THROW A BLANKET OVER ‘EM FROM 9^TH TO 13TH:  Only 56 points separate 9^th place Tony Stewart, 10^th place Kasey Kahne, 11^th place Clint Bowyer, 12^th place Kevin Harvick and 13^th place Matt Kenseth.  Harvick finished four spots ahead of Kenseth at Loudon and unseated him from the final “bubble spot” in the T12.

ท          “GO TIME” FOR KURT?  Call it a fluke win on fuel mileage and weather forecasting, but 04 Chase champ Kurt Busch can use the victory at N.H. as a springboard to another comeback to make the 08 Chase. He catapulted four positions forward to 18^th and now sits 222 out of 12^th place.  This time last season, he was 236 points out, but was in 15^th place.  So, he’s got six cars to pass instead of three. Don’t count out the #2 car yet.

ท          VICKERS LOOKS FOR REAL:  Even though the pit rotation and weather cost the #83 a top five finish, the former Nationwide Series champ is THE turnaround story of the 08 season so far, at 23 positions better in the standings than this time last year. This team is running good enough to stalk the T12 with 113 points to make up over the next nine races.

ท          BAD BREAK FOR RAGAN, JPM HAS BRAIN FADE:  David Ragan had the misfortune of getting caught up in the McMurray/Dale Jr. mishap and it cost him big in The Race to The Chase, dropping 81 points to 12^th place.  Juan Pablo Montoya’s extra-curricular move on Kyle Busch cost him a two-lap penalty and precious points he can’t afford to lose if he wants to stay in contention for The Chase.

 

RACE TO THE CHASE COMPARISON CHARTS

                                      Out of                                              Out of                                              Out of

2007                       Pts/13^th                 2006                       Pts/11^th                 2005                       Pts/11th

1-JGORDON       2613/+755               1-J JOHNSON      2501/+459            1-J JOHNSON      2378/+349

2-D HAMLIN          2457/+599            2-M KENSETH      2493/+451            2-G BIFFLE            2305/+276

3-M KENSETH      2248/+390            3-DALE JR            2234/+192            3-T STEWART      2242/+213

4-J JOHNSON      2232/+374            4-K KAHNE            2209/+167            4-E Sadler             2178/+149

5-J BURTON         2230/+372            5-T Stewart          2202/+160            5-R WALLACE      2173/+144

6-T STEWART      2185/+327            6-M MARTIN         2177/+135            6-R NEWMAN       2115/+86

7-C EDWARDS     2148/+290            7-J BURTON         2152/+110            7-J McMurray      2093/+64

8-K HARVICK        2106/+248            8-KY BUSCH         2095/+53               8-M MARTIN         2068/+39

9-M TRUEX           2033/+175            9-K HARVICK        2088/+46               9-KU BUSCH         2030/+1

10-KY BUSCH       2015/+157            10-D HAMLIN        2048/+6                 10-D Jarrett         2030/+1

11-C BOWYER     1986/+128                                            Out of 10^th                                            Out of 10^th

12-Dale Jr             1985/+127            11-G Biffle             2042/-6                  11-J MAYFIELD    2029/-1

                                Out of 12^th            12-J GORDON      2034/-14                12-C EDWARDS   2027/-3

13-R Newman      1858/-127             13-Ku Busch        1945/-103             13-J Gordon         1982/-48

14-J McMurray    1801/-184             14-C Edwards      1923/-125             14-K Harvick        1946/-84

15-KU BUSCH      1749/-236             15-C Mears          1903/-145             15-J Burton          1891/-139

16-JJ Yeley          1701/-284             16-J McMurray    1875/-173             16-Dale Jr             1872/-158

17-G Biffle             1686/-299             17-R Newman      1860/-188             17-M Waltrip        1870/-160

18-B Labonte       1680/-305             18-C Bowyer        1799/-249             18-J Nemchek     1840/-190

19-J Montoya       1662/-323             19-E Sadler          1794/-254             19-M KENSETH    1790/-240

20-M Martin          1662/-323             20-B Vickers        1733/-315             20-Ky Busch        1765/-265

 

 

                                Out of

2004                       Pts/11^th

1-J JOHNSON      2545/+561

2-DALE JR            2518/+534

3-J GORDON        2313/+329

4-T STEWART      2203/+219

5-M KENSETH      2189/+205

6-B Labonte         2164/+180

7-KU BUSCH         2153/+169

8-E SADLER          2152/+168

9-R NEWMAN       2112/+128

10-K Harvick        2095/+111

                                Out of 10^th

11-K Kahne          1984/-111

12-J MAYFIELD    1948/-147

13-J McMurray    1944/-151

14-M MARTIN       1939/-156

15-D Jarrett         1918/-177

16-C Mears          1880/-215

17-R Wallace       1835/-260

18-M Waltrip        1822/-273

19-B Vickers        1792/-303

20-S Marlin           1790/-305

 

 

 

Names in ALL CAPS made the Chase in that year