Passing the halfway mark, it’s down to four races to go until the Chase for the Sprint Cup comes to an end. And it looks like it just may very well be none other than two-time reigning champion, Jimmie Johnson sitting pretty after Homestead.
He came into Martinsville, the leader, after two not so good finishes from previous leader, Carl Edwards. The gap between Edwards, who was in fourth, and Johnson was 168 with Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle on Johnson’s tail. The gap now is 198 points between first and fourth-place, Edwards. Burton and Biffle, who switched positions after Sunday’s race, are more than 140 points behind Johnson.
How did Johnson gain so many points to sit nicely on top of the standings? Simple, he “captured” the pole, thanks to qualifying being rained out, had the best pit stall, lead the most laps, 339 of 500, and won the race.
Throughout the race, no one really had a chance. As soon as a driver took the lead, they couldn’t hold it as long as they might have wished. A caution for a wreck or a spin would come out or Johnson would be right there and swiftly take the lead back. He has now won five times at Martinsville, including four of the last five races.
Despite finishing third, Edwards didn’t make up much ground on Johnson. He’s hoping Johnson, or the two other drivers in front of him, have mistakes. He has statistics on his side, as he’s won at both Atlanta and Texas (he’s the most recent Texas winner), and has ran fairly well at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami.
Johnson’s teammates and fellow Chasers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, along with non-chaser teammate, Casey Mears, all finished in Top 10. Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon, like Edwards, didn’t make much ground in the points. They each moved up one spot in the standings, Earnhardt Jr. to ninth and Gordon to seventh, but really are not giving their teammate a “run for his money.”
Kyle Busch continued to have bad luck being penalized two laps for intentionally bringing out the caution by stopping on the track after he, Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Raines, all cut their right front tire at the same time. The two-lap penalty put him three laps down and he couldn’t recover. In fact he lost four more over the course of the race, and finished 29th. He fell from ninth in the points to 12th.
The Chase has not been very good for this year’s start driver, maybe Atlanta, where he won in the spring, can help turn Busch’s season back around.
As for Chasers Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, they had no real problems throughout Sunday’s race and all finished in the Top 10, gaining a few points in the standings.
Matt Kenseth looked to have had another bad Chase race after getting into wreck with Joe Nemechek early on. After getting the free pass on lap 202, Kenseth got back on the lead lap and never looked like he was in contention to win.
On lap 463 he took the lead, after staying out during on of the final cautions. He maintained the lead for a few more laps, but was quickly passed by Johnson. He finished eighth and moved up a spot to 10th in the standings. Not bad for a driver whose car’s rear end was bent up and dented.
Chaser Tony Stewart seems to be taking after teammate, Busch, and having unfortunate luck during the Chase. Yes, granted he does have a win (Talladega) but the past few weeks, he can’t seem to catch a break. He finished the race four laps down in 26th, just three spots ahead of Busch, after experiencing tire issues and pitting under green a few times. Unlike Busch, though, he only lost one spot and now sits eighth in points.
It is on to Atlanta Motor Speedway — the fastest racetrack on the NASCAR circuit where Johnson could very well win the race, again, and pretty much lock his third consecutive title down or Busch can make a sweep. Atlanta is always good racing and it’s where “the fast go faster.”
Don’t miss:
From Memphis and Atlanta
- Sprint Cup qualifying, Friday night at 7 on ESPN2
- Atlanta 200 (Craftsman’s truck race), Saturday at 1 p.m. on SPEED
- Kroger On Track For The Cure 250 (Sprint Cup race), Saturday at 4 p.m. on SPEED
- Pep Boys Auto 500 (Sprint Cup race), Sunday at 1 p.m. on ABC
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