#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr powered past Jimmie Johnson on lap 252 and led the final 51 circuits to capture today’s Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Havoline at Phoenix International Raceway. It was the second win for Little E this season (he captured Talladega in April), the 9th of his career (5 plates and 4 non-plates), and the 15th for DEI. Jr. is now tied for 47th on the all-time win list….and to say that crew looked happy in Victory Lane would be an understatement! #97-Kurt Busch (4th) had his best finish and first Top-5 since he won at Bristol in August. #17-Matt Kenseth (6th….and more about him later) had his best finish since he was 4th at Bristol in August. #99-Jeff Burton (8th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Richmond in September. #22-Scott Wimmer (9th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was a 17th at Talladega in October of 2002. He also gives us 41 drivers to score a Top-10 this season….last year’s number was 42. #6-Mark Martin (10th) had his best finish and first Top-10 since he was 10th at Watkins Glen in August. #40-Sterling Marlin (11th) had his best finish since he was 10th at Pocono in July. #25-Brian Vickers (13th) had his career-best (albeit short) finish today. His previous best was 33rd at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last month. #14-Larry Foyt (28th) tied his career-best finish today. He also finished 28th at Dover in June. STREAKIN…. Jeff Gordon has 7 Top-10’s in a row. Jimmie Johnson has 5 Top-10’s in a row. Ryan Newman has 8 Top-10’s in the last 9 races. Dale Earnhardt Jr has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races. This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week (for the second week in a row) is Matt Kenseth (+31), followed by Tony Raines (+22). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Casey Mears (-33), followed by Rusty Wallace (-28), Jeremy Mayfield (-27), Joe Nemechek (-21), and Ward Burton (-21). Kenseth has now clinched no worse than a tie in the Op of the year category….this was #5. We’ve had seven drivers score 100 or more bonus points this season. I don’t know if thats a record or not, but it’s certainly waaaay above average. It’s the most we’ve had that I can find in my stats going back to 1996. We had six drivers hit the century mark in 1999 and five in 2000. Other than those years, the norm is four. Matt Kenseth has done everything but clinch his first Championship. His lead is now 228 (he lost 30 points off his margin), and his Magic Number vs Dale Earnhardt Jr is 30th. If Matt finishes 7th or better next week, he clinches (no matter what Jr does). Kevin Harvick’s problems the last two races have certainly been costly. He was 2nd coming out of Martinsville but he’s fallen to 6th over the last two weeks. Kurt Busch (11th to 9th) and Michael Waltrip (14th to 12th) made multi-position moves upward this week. The aforementioned Mr. Harvick (3rd to 6th) dropped three spots.( StockCarFans.Com Winstoncup Newsletter )(11-2-2003)
