We had a Roush parade a couple races back at Kansas….today was the sequel. I said last week that Carl Edwards was backflipping himself into our hearts….today he’s moved on down to the spleen! Carl Edwards led a Roush sweep today/tonight at Texas Motor Speedway and won the Dickes 500 by daylight (er…darkness) over teammate Mark Martin with Matt Kenseth finishing third. He’s now gone back to back (he won last week in Atlanta) and captured his 4th win of the season and career. He’s also the 10th different winner in 10 races at Bruton’s “Palace on the Prairie”. Edwards moves up to 68th on the all-time win list (talk about a rapid rise, huh?), this was win #88 for Roush Racing, and it was worth a sizeable $440,550 from the over $6.8M in posted awards. Hard to fault the strategy of pitting late and zooming by ’em on the restart with 11 to go. With the way Edwards was passing cars late tonight, it looked like a done deal.
Casey Mears (4th) tied his career-best finish today. He was 4th when we were here in April as well as at Watkins Glen in August of 2004.
Denny Hamlin (7th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 8th at Lowe’s & Martinsville last month.
Martin Truex Jr (15th) had his best finish since he was 7th at Lowe’s in May (only 4 races).
STREAKIN….Carl Edwards has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races.
Tony Stewart has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
Mark Martin has 4 Top-5’s in the last 5 races.
Jimmie Johnson has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Casey Mears (+31), followed by Carl Edwards (+29), Jamie McMurray (+29), and Jeff Green (+24). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Joe Nemechek (-33), followed by Jeremy Mayfield (-30), Kasey Kahne (-27), Ryan Newman (-24), and Bill Elliott (-23). All three Evernham Dodges at the bottom of the “Shaft” today.
Jimmie Johnson shaved five points off Tony Stewart’s lead in the “Chase” this week. The margin is now 38. Jeremy Mayfield is mathematically eliminated and all Tony has to do is start one of the final races (I think he’ll probably show up) and Rusty Wallace is out as well. Realistically, we’re still only a three man race, with Carl Edwards replacing Greg Biffle as the third wheel. In “Classic” Points, no driver advanced (or fell) more than one spot in the Top-30.(Stock Car Fans)(11-6-2005)
