THIS WEEKLY REPORT IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF DAVID POOLE

 

2009 RACE TO THE CHASE

Final Standings after Race #26 of 26:  Richmond #2

 

                                                Out         Last        Gain/Loss                                             Top         Top         Bot

09/LW/LY                 Pts       of 13^th    Race      13^th         Lst 5       W—2—3               5s           10s         10s

1/1/6-STEWART   3806       +611       17/112   -26          633/E     3—4—3                 13           18           1

2/2/10-JGORDON 3627     +432       3/170      +32         638/+1   1—6—1                 12           18           2

3/3/3-JOHNSON  3534       +339       11/130   -8            543/-1    3—3—1                 9              15           3

4/4/9-HAMLIN       3491       +296       1/195      +57         778/+1   2—2—2                 9              14           3

 

5/7/19-KuBusch   3322       +127       2/170      +32         467/-1    1—1—2                 7              14           3

6/10/27-Martin      3291       +96         4/165      +27         669/+4   4—2—0                 9              14           5

7/6/13-Kahne       3280       +85         12/127   -11          638/E     2—0—1                 5              10           1

8/5/2-EDWARDS 3280       +85         15/118   -20          615/-2    0—1—2                 7              11           1

9/9/16-Newman   3271       +76         10/134   -4            645/E     0—1—1                 5              12           1

10/8/21-Montoya  3251       +56         19/106   -32          635/-2    0—1—1                 2              12           0

11/11/8-BIFFLE    3249       +54         13/124   -14          686/+1   0—0—2                 8              12           2

12/13/15-Vickers 3203       +8           7/146      +20         744/+2   1—0—0                 4              13           2

                                                Out of

                                                12^th

13/14/1-KYBSCH 3195       -8            5/155      +29         733/E     4—0—1                 7              9              3

14/12/11-KENSTH 3165    -38          25/88      -38          601/-3    2—0—2                 4              9              1

15/16/12-BOWYER 3059   -144        6/150      +24         611/E     0—1—1                 4              11           2

16/15/25-Reutmn3048       -155        20/103   -23          606/E     1—0—1                 5              8              1

18/18/5-BURTON2738       -465        18/109   -17          437/-1    0—0—2                 2              6              4

21/20/4-DALEJR  2628       -575        21/100   -26          524/+2   0—1—1                 2              5              5

22/23/7-HARVICK 2613     -590        9/138      +12         545/E     0—2—0                 3              5              7

2008  Chase participants in ALL CAPS

 

CHASE SEEDING

 

1—Mark Martin                     5040

2—Tony Stewart                  5030       -10

3—Jimmie Johnson           5030       -10

4—Denny Hamlin                5020       -20

5—Kasey Kahne                 5020       -20

6—Jeff Gordon                     5010       -30

7—Kurt Busch                      5010       -30

8—Brian Vickers                  5010       -30

9—Carl Edwards                 5000       -40

10—Ryan Newman            5000       -40

11—Juan Montoya              5000       -40

12—Greg Biffle                    5000       -40

 

CHASE FIELD BY OWNERS

 

Stewart Haas Racing         2 of 2  (100%)

Hendrick                                3 of 4      (75%)

Red Bull Racing                  1 of 2      (50%)

Ganassi Earnhardt             1 of 2      (50%)

Roush                                    2 of 5      (40%)

Gibbs                                     1 of 3      (33%)

Penske                                  1 of 3      (33%)

Petty                                       1 of 4      (25%)

 

CHASE FIELD BY MANUFACTURERS

 

Chevrolet               6

Toyota                    2

Ford                        2

Dodge                    2

 

THE 09 RACE TO THE CHASE BY HALVES

 

(First 13 Races)                                                   (Second 13 Races)

1   Tony Stewart                   1853                       1   Tony Stewart                   1953

2   Jeff Gordon                      1807                       2   Denny Hamlin                 1861

3   Jimmie Johnson            1789                       3   Jeff Gordon                      1820

4   Kurt Busch                       1762                       4   Kasey Kahne                  1779

5   Ryan Newman                1680                       5   Juan Montoya                  1776

6   Kyle Busch                      1634                       6   Brian Vickers                   1767

7   Denny Hamlin                 1630                       7   Jimmie Johnson            1745

8   Matt Kenseth                   1625                       8   Mark Martin                      1724

9   Greg Biffle                        1618                       9   Carl Edwards                  1698

10 Jeff Burton                       1587                       10 Greg Biffle                       1631

11 Carl Edwards                 1582                       11 Clint Bowyer                    1610

12 Mark Martin                      1567                       12 Ryan Newman               1591

13 David Reutimann           1536                       13 Kyle Busch                      1561

14 Kasey Kahne                  1501                       14 Kurt Busch                      1560

15 Juan Pablo Montoya      1475                       15 Matt Kenseth                   1540

16 Clint Bowyer                    1449                       16 David Reutimann           1512

17 Brian Vickers                  1436                       17 Marcos Ambrose           1511

18 Dale Jr                             1352                       18 Joey Logano                   1444

19 Martin Truex Jr                1338                       19 Kevin Harvick                  1352

20 Marcos Ambrose           1319                       20 Casey Mears                  1333

21 Casey Mears                  1306                       21 Dale Jr                             1276

22 Jamie McMurray             1289                       22 Jamie McMurray             1275

23 Joey Logano                   1263                       23 AJ Allmendinger             1253

24 Kevin Harvick                  1261                       24 Sam Hornish                  1197

25 Reed Sorenson             1259                       25 Jeff Burton                       1151

 

 

NOTES:

 

·          CLOSEST “BUBBLE” RACE IN CHASE HISTORY:  Matt Kenseth never could get his #17 car right at Richmond, and that opened the door for his two Chasers, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch. While he never challenged for the win, Busch brought home a fifth, but the shocker was Vickers, who stayed within range of Busch in the critical final laps and fought off Sam Hornish and Kevin Harvick to finish a RIR career-best seventh and storm into his first Chase. The eight-point margin was the closest in the six-year history of the format, eclipsing the 15-point margin Ryan Newman held over Jamie McMurray for the final spot in 2004. Had Vickers lost two positions in the final laps, he would have lost on the tie-breaker to Busch, who had four wins to Vickers’ one.

·          GIVE A CALL TO DENNY HAMLIN:  Watch out for Denny Hamlin in Chase VI. He goes to New Hampshire having won Richmond for the first time, and having scored the second most points in the last 13 races. As the only Joe Gibbs entry to make the Chase, all resources at JGR should be available to the #11 Fed Ex Toyota. Denny has made every Chase in his four full seasons.

·          BIG TURNOVER IN CHASE VI:  Six spots turned over from the 08 to the 09 Chase. Out were Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth (first Chase miss in six years), Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick. In:  Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers.  Montoya and Vickers are making the Chase for the first time in their careers, same for their teams, Ganassi/Earnhardt and Red Bull Racing. Perhaps a sign that the “new car” has leveled the playing field and created opportunities for other teams to compete.

·          DO THE FIRST 26 RACES PREDICT ANYTHING ABOUT THE CHASE? Only once, Kurt Busch (7^th) in the inaugural ’04 Chase, has the champion come from further than fourth place in points scored during  the first 26. Based on that stat, only Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin would have a shot at the title. Twice in five years has the driver with the most wins in the first 26 races won the title, so add Mark Martin, who leads the Chase field with four wins. So, unless we see a repeat of 2004, the champion will come from this group of five.

RACE TO THE CHASE COMPARISON CHARTS

                                      Out of                                                      out of                                                     out of

2008                       pts/13^th                   2007                       pts/13^th                   2006                       pts/11th 

1- KY BUSCH       3878/+831            1-JGORDON        3849/+895            1-M KENSETH     3785/+482

2-C EDWARDS    3671/+624            2-T STEWART      3537/+583            2-J JOHNSON      3728/+425

3-J JOHNSON      3576/+529            3-D HAMLIN          3490/+536            3-K HARVICK       3481/+178

4-DALE JR            3488/+441            4-J JOHNSON      3439/+485            4-KY BUSCH        3424/+121

5-J BURTON        3384/+337            5-M KENSETH     3430/+476            5-D HAMLIN          3348/+45

6-T STEWART      3285/+238            6-C EDWARDS    3372/+418            6-DALE JR            3338/+35

7-K HARVICK       3283/+236            7-J BURTON        3328/+374            7-M MARTIN          3336/+33

8- G BIFFLE          3280/+233            8-KY BUSCH        3302/+348            8-J BURTON        3322/+19

9-D HAMLIN          3235/+188            9-C BOWYER       3179+225             9-J GORDON       3321/+18

10-J GORDON     3221/+174            10-KU BUSCH     3160/+206            10-K KAHNE         3319/+16

11-M KENSETH   3132/+85               11-M TRUEX         3160/+206                           

12-C BOWYER     3116/+69               12-K HARVICK     3155/+201

 

13-K Kahne          3047/-69                13-Dale Jr             2954/-201             11-T Stewart         3303/-16

14-D Ragan          3039/-77                                               

                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                               

2005                                                       2004

1-T STEWART      3716/+727            1-J GORDON       3602/+431

2-G BIFFLE           3531/+542            2-J JOHNSON      3542/+371

3-R WALLACE      3412/+423            3-DALE JR            3541/+370

4-J JOHNSON      3400/+411            4-T STEWART      3410/+239

5-KU BUSCH       3304/+315            5-M KENSETH     3337/+166

6-M MARTIN          3273/+284            6-E SADLER         3316/+145

7-J MAYFIELD      3228/+239            7-KU BUSCH       3309/+138

8-C EDWARDS    3114/+125            8-M MARTIN          3213/+42

9-M KENSETH     3114/+125            9-J MAYFIELD      3193/+22

10-R NEWMAN    3055/+66               10-R NEWMAN    3186/+15

 

11-E Sadler          2989/-66                11-J McMurray      3171/-15

12-J Gordon         2972/-83                12-K Kahne          3158/-28

13-J McMurray      2972/-83                13-B Labonte       3137/-49

14-K Harvick         2937/-118             14-K Harvick         3129/-57

15-K Harvick         2798/-131             15-D Jarrett           3100/-86               

16-J Nemechek   2794/-135            

 

Eventual champion in italics

Underline denotes last driver with more than one-race margin over 13^th place. Until 2007, the most points you could lose to another driver if you started the race was 156. With the extra five points for winning instituted in 2007, you can now lose 161.