2008 CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP

After Race #6 of 10:  Martinsvile #2

Races Left in the Chase:  4 (40%)

Atlanta                   Phoenix

Texas                     Homestead

 

                     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-Johnson (+80)6073/1033  --          1/195       853          6—4—1     2—1—0                 13-4         20-6         1-0

2/3-Biffle (-63)       5924/924   -149       12/132     734          2—2—3     2—0—1                 11-3         15-4         3-0

3/2-Burton (-83)    5921/911   -152       17/112     751          2—0—1     1—0—0                 7-3           17-5         2-0

4/4-Edwards (-30) 5875/825   -198       3/165       655          4—5—2     0—1—3                 15-4         23-4         2-0

5/5-Bowyer (-61)   5827/817   -246       10/134     690          1—1—1     0—0—0                 5-1           15-3         2-0

6/6-Harvick (-49)   5817/817   -256       7/146       683          0—1—1     0—0—0                 6-0           16-4         3-0

7/8-JGordon (-30) 5798/798   -275       4/165       677          0—1—3     0—0—0                 11-2         16-4         5-1

8/7-Stewart (-110)5735/735   -338       26/85       588          1—4—1     1—0—0                 10-1         15-2         5-1

9/10-DaleJr (-25)   5694/684   -379       2/170       524          1—2—1     0—1—0                 10-2         15-2         3-1

10/11-Kensth (-48)5665/665   -408       8/147       622          0—1—2     0—1—0                 8-2           18-3         8-2

11/12-Hamlin (-40)5653/643   -420       5/155       505          1—0—7     0—0—0                 10-1         16-2         6-2

12/9-KyBsh (-119) 5628/548   -445       29/76       482          8—3—2     0—0—0                 16-1         18-1         5-2

 

NOTES

ท          WILL JOHNSON BE THE FIRST TO CLINCH A RACE EARLY?  In the very first Chase in 2004, Kurt Busch  built his lead to 96 points as he went to Atlanta for race #7. At Atlanta, Busch blew an engine and Jimmie Johnson (entering the race down 207) won the race, and the Chase was on, although Busch ended up edging Johnson by 8 points. Johnson’s convincing win at Martinsville gives him a Chase record 149 point lead over Greg Biffle with four races to go. If Johnson gains just 13 more points on second over the next three races, he need only start the Homestead race to ice his third straight title.

ท          MORE ON JOHNSON DOMINANCE IN THE CHASE:  Johnson used  a second at Lowes in race #5 as a springboard to his first title in 2006. Counting the last six races of ’06, the 07 Chase and the first six races of the ’08 chase, consider these stats:

n        Top 10 finishes in 20 of 22 races

n        No finish worse than 14^th

n        15 Top Five finishes in 22 races

n        14 Podium finishes (1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd)

n        7 wins in 22 races

ท          EDWARDS BACK IN IF JOHNSON FALTERS:  Carl Edwards posted a career best 3^rd at Martinsville and still lost 30 points to the leader. However, he gained ground on Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton and is still in striking distance if Johnson and the #48 have some uncharacteristic trouble.

ท          GIVE A CALL TO DALE JR:   Although he’s essentially out of the title hunt, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a strong showing with a second at M’ville and gained some margin on a spot at the NY banquet.

ท          THE RACE FOR THE STAGE:  Matt Kenseth took 10^th place from Denny Hamlin and how has a 12-point lead on Hamlin in 11^th. Kyle Busch fell all the way from 9^th to last, now 37 points out of Kenseth.

 

2008 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH     DO    KS     TA     LO     MA     AT     TX     PH     HO

1—J Johnson         2         5       1        9        6         1

2—G Biffle                1         1       3      24        7       12

3—J Burton             4          9       7        4        1       17

4—C Edwards         3         3       2      29      33         3

5—C Bowyer         12         8      12        5      12       10

6—K Harvick          10         6        6      20      13         7

7—J Gordon          14          7       4       38       8         4

8—T Stewart            8       11      40        1      11        26

9—Dale Jr                5       24       13      28     36         2

10—M Kenseth      40         2        5       26     41         8

11—D Hamlin           9       38      11      39      16        5

12—Ky Busch         34      43      28      15       4         29

 

 

CHASE COMPARISON CHARTS

                                      Out of              

2007 (After 6)         Pts//1^st                                   2007 Final

1-JGordon             6055/+53                                 1-JJOHNSON          6723/+77

2-JJOHNSON          6002/-53                                  2-JGordon             6646/-77

3-CBowyer            5940/-115                                3-C Bowyer           6377/-346

4-TStewart            5806/-249                                4-M Kenseth         6298/-425

5-C Edwards         5770/-285                                5-Ky Busch            6293/-430

6-Ky Busch            5765/-290                                6-T Stewart           6242/-481

7-K Harvick            5686/-369                                7-Ku Busch            6231/-492

8-D Hamlin             5681/-374                                8-J Burton             6231/-492

9-J Burton             5646/-409                                9-C Edwards         6222/-501

10-Ku Busch          5635/-420                                10-K Harvick          6199/-524

11-M Truex            5608/-447                                11-M Truex            6164/-559

12-M Kenseth       5593/-462                                12-D Hamliin          6143/-580

 

 

2007 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH     DO    KS     TA     LO     MA     AT     TX     PH     HO

1—J Johnson         6       14       3        2      14         1        1        1     1        7

2—J Gordon            2        11       5        1        1         3        7        7      10      4

3—C Bowyer            1       12       2       11        2        9        6      19      11     39

4—M Kenseth         7       35      35      26      34        5        4        2        3       1

5—Ky Busch           4          5      41      36        3        4       20       4        8      20

6—T Stewart             3         9     39        8         7       13      30     11        4     30

7—Ku Busch           25       29     11       7        26       31       8       8        12      2

8—J Burton             18        7      36      43       4        12        5       6         9       8

9—C Edwards         12         1     37       14       5        11       2      26       42       5

10—K Harvick         17       20      6        20       33     10       15     10       6     19

11—M Truex            5        13      38       42     17       19      31      3         7       6

12—D Hamlin         15       38      29        4      20        6       24      29      16      3

 

                                      Out of

2006 (After 6)        Pts/1^st                                     2006 Final

1-M Kenseth         5848/+36                                 1-JJOHNSON          6475/+56

2-K Harvick            5812/-36                                  2-M Kenseth         6419/-56

3-J JOHNSON         5807/-41                                  3-D Hamlin             6407/-68

4-D Hamlin             5801/-47                                  4-K Harvick            6397/-78

5-J Burton             5800/-48                                  5-Dale Jr                6328/-147

6-Dale Jr                5754/-94                                  6-J Gordon            6256/-219

7-M Martin             5752/-96                                  7-J Burton             6228/-247

8-K Kahne              5749/-99                                  8-K Kahne              6183/-292

9-J Gordon            5707/-141                                9-M Martin             6168/-307

10-Ky Busch          5677/-171                                10-Ky Busch          6027/-448

 

2006 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH    DO    KS    TA    LO    MA    AT    TX    PH    HO

1—J Johnson         39     13     14     24        2        1      2       2       2       9

2—M Kenseth         10     10     23       4      14      11      4     12     13       6

3—D Hamlin             4        9    18      21      28        2      8     10       3      3

4—K Harvick            1      32    15        6      18        9    31       3       1      5

5—Dale Jr               13      21    10     23        4       22      3       6       9    19

6—J Gordon             3        3    39     36       24       5      6        9       4    24

7—J Burton              7        1       5     27        3       42    13    38      10   14

8—K Kahne             16      38    33       2        1        7     38    33       7       4

9—M Martin             11      14      3       8      30      24     36    22       6     18

10—Ky Busch         38      40      7      11       6      18     27      4      38    38

 

                                      Out of

2005 (After 6)        Pts/1^st                                     2005 Final

1-T STEWART        5957/+15                                 1-T Stewart           6533/+35

2-J Johnson          5942/-15                                  2-G Biffle                6498/-35

3-R Newman         5894/-63                                  3-C Edwards         6498/-35

4-G Biffle                5874/-83                                  4-M Martin             6428/-105

5-C Edwards         5808/-149                                5-J Johnson          6406/-127

6-R Wallace            5791/-166                                6-R Newman         6359/-174

7-M Martin             5787/-170                                7-M Kenseth         6352/-181

8-Ku Busch            5785/-172                                8-R Wallace            6140/-393

9-M Kenseth         5785/-172                                9-J Mayfield          6073/-460

10-J Mayfield        5741/-216                                10-Ku Busch          5974/-559

 

2005 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH    DO    TA    KA    LO    MA    AT    TX    PH    HO

1—T Stewart             2     18       2       4     25        2       9       6      4     15

2—G Biffle                4     13      27      2       3      20       7      20      2      1

3—C Edwards         19      9        5      3      10     26       1        1      6      4

4—M Martin             7      4      41      1       5      34       3        2     14     2

5—J Johnson           8       1      31      6       1        3      16       5      7     40

6—R Newman           1       5       4     23       7      10      23     25    12     7

7—M Kenseth           3      35      3       5      26     12       5        3    32     3

8—R Wallace            6       3      25      7      24     19      37      22   29     13

9—J Mayfield          16       7     14     16     11      28      38     35   24      10

10—Ku Busch         35     23       8     14      2        6       36     10    NA   NA

 

                                     Out of

2004 (After 6)        Pts/1^st                                     2004 Final

1-KU BUSCH           6015/+96                                 1-Ku Busch            6506/+8

2-J Gordon            5919/-96                                  2-J Johnson          6498/-8

3-Dale Jr                5890/-125                                3-J Gordon            6490/-16

4-J Johnson          5808/-207                                4-M Martin             6399/-107

5-M Martin             5791/-224                                5-Dale Jr                6368/-138

6-T Stewart           5769/-246                                6-T Stewart           6326/-180

7-E Sadler              5760/-255                                7-R Newman         6180/-326

8-M Kenseth         5755/-260                                8-M Kenseth         6069/-437

9-R Newman         5749/-266                                9-E Sadler              6024/-482

10-J Mayfield        5651/-364                                10-J Mayfield        6000/-506

 

2004 CHASE FINISHES

                                NH    DO    TA    KA    LO    MA    AT    PH    DA    HO

1—Ku Busch           1      5        5       6       4        5     42     10       6       5

2—J Johnson         11     10      37    32       1        1      1       6        1       2

3—J Gordon             7      3       19    13       2        9     34      3        3       3

4—M Martin            13      2       15    20      13      12     2      15       2      11

5—Dale Jr                3       9        1      9        3       33    33      1       11     23

6—T Stewart         39      6        6     14      10      15      9      8       17       4

7—R Newman        33      1        16    33     14        3     17     2       34      30

8—M Kenseth          2     32       14    17     11      16     41     36     20      19

9—E Sadler             8      20       22     4       7       32     36     38     23      34

10—J Mayfield       35      7        38     5      30       6      26     21     19      35

 

Eventual champion in ALL CAPS