2008 CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP

After Race #1 of 10:  New Hampshire

Races Left in the Chase:  9

Dover                                     Atlanta  

Kansas                                   Texas

Talladega                               Phoenix

Charlotte                               Homestead

Martinsville

 

                                     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         

1/2-Edwards (+30)                5220/170   +1          3/170       829          6—4—1     0—0—1                 12-1         20-1         2-0

2/3-Johnson (+40)                5220/180   -1           2/180       746          4—4—1     0—1—0                 10-1         15-1         1-0

3/9-Biffle (+50)                       5190/190   -30         1/190       781          1—2—2     1—0—0                 9-1           12-1         3-0

4/4-DaleJr (+20)                     5170/160   -50         5/160       648          1—1—1     0—0—0                 9-1           14-1         2-0

5/7-Burton (+20)                    5170/160   -50         4/160       433          1—0—1     0—0—0                 5-1           13-1         2-0

6/6-Hamlin (-2)                      5148/138   -72         9/138       684          1—0—7     0—0—0                 9-0           15-1         4-0

7/8-Stewart (+7)                    5147/147   -73         8/147       708          0—4—1     0—0—0                 9-0           14-1         4-0

8/1-KyBusch (-74)                 5146/66     -74         34/66       690          8—3—2     0—0—0                 15-0         17-0         4-1

9/5-Bowyer (-13)                   5137/127   -83         12/127     633          1—1—1     0—0—0                 4-0           12-0         2-0

10/11-Harvick (-6)                 5134/134   -86         10/134     750          0—1—1     0—0—0                 6-0           13-1         3-0

11/10-JGordon (-19)             5121/121 -99           14/121     598          0—1—3     0—0—0                 9-0           12-0         4-0

12/12-Kenseth (-97)             5043/43  -177          40/43       548          0—0—2     0—0—0                 6-0           15-0         7-1

 

NOTES

 

ท          ENCOURAGEMENT FOR KENSETH:  Matt Kenseth’s 40^th at Loudon plunged him 97 points further back from the lead in The Chase, now 177 points out in all. In 2006, eventual champ Jimmie Johnson opened 139 down in 9^th place in the 10-driver Chase. The winless Kenseth and his #17 team will have to go on a huge tear to be a factor in this year’s Chase.

ท          DOVER PERFECT PLACE FOR ROWDY COMEBACK:  Kyle Busch has been fast from the first time he laid eyes on Dover Downs. He has five top 5s in seven starts, including a win in this year’s June race and two second-place finishes in 2005. A podium finish would put him back on track in the 08 Chase.

ท          GORDON UNDER THE GUN:  Jeff Gordon had a much better finish in mind for N.H. than the 14^th he got, and now goes to Dover in 11^th place, 99 points down and in bad need for a strong finish, like the fifth he collected at Dover in June.

ท          BIG ONE FOR TONY:  Tony Stewart opened the Chase with an 8^th place run, but Dover is a big challenge as he hasn’t carded a top 5 there since 2004.

ท          ROUSH LEADERS SHOULD BE STOUT AT DOVER:  Carl Edwards opened the Chase with a rock solid 3^rd and his last four Dover finishes are 2—3—1—2.  Greg Biffle made a great pass late on Jimmie Johnson and charged to his first win of the year at Loudon and his last four Dover finishes are 5—6—2—3.

 

CHASE COMPARISON CHARTS

 

                                      Out of

2007                        Pts/1^st

1-JJOHNSON          5210/+1

2-JGordon             5210/-1

3-TStewart            5200/-1

4-CBowyer            5195/-16

5-KyBusch             5175/-36

6-MTruex               5170/-41

7-MKenseth          5156/-55

8-CEdwards          5147/-64

9-DHamlin              5128/-83

10-KHarvick           5122/-89

11-JBurton            5119/-92

12-KuBusch           5108/-103

 

                                      Out of                                              Out of                                              Out of

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

1-KHarvick             5230/+35                 1-TSTEWART         5230/+20                 1-Dale Jr                5210/--

2-DHamlin              5195/-35                  2-GBiffle                5210/-20                  2-KUBUSCH            5210/--

3-MKenseth          5189/-41                  3-RNewman          5190/-40                  3-JGordon             5201/-9

4-JGordon             5180/-50                  4-RWallace             5190/-40                  4-MKenseth          5200/-10

5-JBurton              5166/-64                  5-MKenseth          5180/-50                  5-JJohnson           5180/-30

6-MMartin              5155/-75                 6-JJohnson           5177/-53                 6-ESadler               5172/-38

7-Dale Jr                5149/-81                  7-MMartin              5176/-54                  7-MMartin              5139/-71

8-KKahne               5120/110                8-JMayfield           5135/-95                  8-TStewart            5086/-124

9-JJOHNSON          5091/-139                9-CEdwards          5121/-109                9-RNewman          5074/-136

10-KyBusch           5084/-146                10-KuBusch           5088/-142                10-JMayfield         5068/-142