Kurt Busch kinda “stunk it up” today at Pocono Raceway as he was easily the dominant car in the Pennsylvania 507.5. After leading 110 of the first 121 circuits, and falling back after a poor pit stop, Busch took the lead for the final time on lap 183 to record his second victory of the season (he won at Phoenix in April). This was win #13 for Busch in NEXTEL Cup (he’s tied for 45th on the all-time win list with Dick Rathman and Tim Richmond) and was worth $261,275 from the almost $4.8M in posted awards. Till we came here last month Roush Racing had never won on this triangle, now they’ve got a sweep. This was win #83 for Cactus Jack.
We did better with tires today, but if you were keeping score at home, I counted 3 Left Fronts, 2 Right Fronts, and 2 Left Rears. Everything is relative, after all.
Rusty Wallace (2nd) had his best finish since he won at Martinsville in April of 2004.
Ryan Newman (5th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Lowe’s in May.
Kevin Harvick (6th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Richmond in May.
Mike Bliss (9th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Richmond last September. His Top-10 gives us 38 drivers at that level this season….last year we had 39.
STREAKIN….Tony Stewart has 6 Top-10’s in a row.
Kurt Busch has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
Rusty Wallace has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
The Rookie Report: A new name at the top this week as Mike Garvey (34th) is the highest finishing freshman. He was followed by Travis Kvapil (38th) and Kyle Busch (39th).
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week is Carl Edwards (+37), followed by Mike Bliss (+25), Elliott Sadler (+23), and Casey Mears (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper is a lonely Jeff Burton (-20). These are the first awards for both Edwards and Burton in a quiet “Shaft” this week.
P. J. Jones led today for the first time since he led a lap here in June of 2004. He’s the 45th driver to lead a lap this season…..last year we had 50 of ’em.
We’ve got a new second place driver in the points this week as Tony Stewart is now 66 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. The Top-10 are still the only drivers eligible for the “Chase”, and we lopped another two drivers off the possible list as everybody from 38th on down is now mathematically eliminated. Joe Nemechek (18th to 16th) and Casey Mears (27th to 25th) were the only drivers to move multiple positions this week (in the Top-40). No driver fell more than a single spot.(Stock Car Fans)(7-24-2005)
