Look At Me, I’ve Won Three
Monday, August 21st, 2006 4:20am EDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
[thumb:170:r:s=1:l=x]While the Cup race at Michigan ended under far less dramatic circumstances than the Busch race on Saturday, it was shaping up as a flashback of Chicago a few weeks ago. The difference this time was that Jeff Gordon was unable to close the gap in time to catch Kenseth.
In what was a dramatic day overall at Michigan, the ending was far from exciting. Another couple of laps and it might have been a little closer. The closest race to the line was for 5th, which saw Mark Martin edge Kevin Harvick in what a photo finish shot showed as by mere inches.
Matt Kenseth visited Victory Lane for the third time this season, and managed to cut his deficit to points leader Jimmie Johnson down to 58 points as Johnson finished 13th without leading a lap. Like the difference matters much at this point because in three races the difference between the entire Chase field will be less than Kenseth is behind Johnson now anyway.
On the other hand, Michigan was not without its drama. While there wasn’t any moves in or out of the top 10, there was some big time shuffling within.
First, 11th place gained 36 points on 1st. This leaves another 133 points for the “400 point” rule to come into play. Unlikely, but still barely within grasp. Especially since two of the three remaining events will be contested at short tracks. Anything could happen.
Now shuffling around in the top 10 were half of the Chase eligible drivers at this point. The top three positions did not change, and neither did 8th or 10th.
The biggest move was Jeff Burton, who dropped down 5 spots to 9th in points when his engine expired early on in the event. This ended his 16 race streak of consecutive top 15’s. Not to worry though, it was just his turn for a problem. However, he now is only a popcorn fart of 84 points ahead of 11th place Kasey Kahne. One little oops and a season that, while winless, has been one of his overall best could be leave the #31 team and Richard Childress looking at a 10 race test session for 2007.
Mark Martin and Tony “flip-flop” Stewart moved up two spots to 4th and 5th, respectively, while Jeff Gordon moved up three to 6th. Kyle Busch dropped from 5th to 7th.
Nobody in the top 10 from third on back is safe. Only 216 points separates 3rd from 11th, and and blink of 138 points is the gap from 4th to 11th. It’s close, and one slip could kill a season.
Greg Biffle is 189 points out of 10th, and while it’s still possible for him to sneak in the likelihood of it will have to see him with top 5’s through Richmond and a couple people in front of him having mediocre runs or trouble. He did post a 7th place finish at Michigan, which is a good start, but those he is chasing after also finished ahead of him. Kahne was 4th, while Junior was 6th.
Kurt Busch’s hopes of making the Chase have pretty much been squashed. His car was horrid on 4 stickers, and he ended up losing it and having a little talk with the fence with 73 laps to go. This left him with a 40th place finish. While it’s not the performance he was used to in his tenure with Roush, Blue Deuce is pretty much in a rebuilding year. Let’s not forget that Newman is also going to miss the dance and sits 4 spots behind Busch in 18th.
All in all this is setting up a nail biter at Bristol this coming Saturday night. Even more so than usual. One such event that we’ll have exclusive images from shortly after the event. While the party isn’t going along this time, the spirit of the Lounge is going to be there in full force. It looks to be like a sleepless week this week, as the excitement of the Sharpie 500 looms in the very near future.
Finally, the trip to Bristol isn’t just a simple pleasure cruise. We also have a few business related items to take care of as well. While we can’t reveal any details at this time, as this is an initial research mission, in time the light will be seen.
Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup
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