411 Raceday Review/Preview for 6-17-07 Pocono into Michigan
Posted by Greg Kentz on 06.17.2007
Back after a short absence, and with a short column!
The Pocono 500
A dull, rain delayed Sunday race ended with Jeff Gordon being awarded the win, just seconds before pole-sitter Ryan Newman would have passed him for the win. The race continued several trends, including Jeff Gordon's winning ways, Ryan Newman's return to contention, and third-place driver Martin Truex Jr's emergence as both a contender and as the face of his organization. Aside from perhaps Casey Mears in 4th, the rest of the top 20 wound up almost exactly in the order you'd expect with no surprises at all.
5 Tony Stewart
6 Denny Hamlin
7 Mark Martin
8 Kyle Busch
9 Matt Kenseth
10 Clint Bowyer
11 Kevin Harvick
12 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13 Jeff Burton
14 Carl Edwards
15 Joe Nemechek
16 Kurt Busch
17 J.J. Yeley
18 Scott Riggs
19 Bobby Labonte
20 Juan Montoya *
See? Nothing at all that's stands out, or deserves spoken of.
If the Chase started today…
1.Jeff Gordon- 5040 points
1.Jimmie Johnson- 5040 points
3. Kyle Busch- 5010 points
3. Kevin Harvick- 5010 points
3. Martin Truex Jr- 5010 points
3. Jeff Burton- 5010 points
3. Matt Kenseth- 5010 points
8. Clint Bowyer- 5000 points
8. Tony Stewart- 5000 points
8. Denny Hamlin- 5000 points
8. Carl Edwards- 5000 points
8. Mark Martin- 5000 points
(If Martin sits out the Chase as expected, then Ryan Newman would take the 12th spot, and would be reset to 5000 points.)
And now for the real story…
This Wednesday, Dale Earnhardt Jr announced that he has signed a four year deal with Hendrick Motorsports, and will take Kyle Busch's place as a part of their four driver team. This officially makes Casey Mears the Theodore Roosevelt of Hendrick's Mt. Rushmore, not that being Teddy is a bad thing, but he just doesn't measure up to the skill or star-power of his three stable mates.
Although many people were surprised at the announcement, I have to say it definitely makes sense from both sides. Hendrick adds the circuit's most popular driver, and Junior gets the equipment needed to win a championship. The only people that seem to be upset by this move are the people who used Hendrick's machinery as the excuse as to why Junior never won a title. I have to say that this shows Junior is a true competitor, and just wants to win a title. If Junior fails to win a title over the life of this contract, then there will be no excuses, only the realization that Junior just wasn't good enough.
Honestly, I don't know what to expect. Junior has a lot of wins under his belt, but lately they've been few and far between, so it's hard to rank Junior in the grand scheme of things. If I had to rank the currently crop of drivers in order of who is going to win a race that my life depended on (all equipment equal) I guess I'd put Junior 9th. If you're curious:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Tony Stewart
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Jeff Burton
6. Kyle Busch
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Dale Earnhardt
10. Mark Martin (I added the tenth, because who ever has a top-nine list?)
For now, I guess I'd like to see Junior leapfrog Mark Martin to get into the Chase, and make a serious run this season, in fact if I had it my way it'd be a last lap show-down between Junior and Kyle Busch at Homestead, how sweet would that be? Better yet, can Jeff Gordon be listed as the car owner like on the 48? How would the swarm of Junior fans feel about him driving Jeff Gordon's car?
And now we're off to… Michigan! Recent History suggests…
Don't expect a Chevy to win this week. In fact, in the last ten races here no Chevy has found its way to victory lane. Jeff Gordon won here 12 races back in June on 2001. In the last ten tries at MIS, we've had two wins each for Newman, Biffle, and Kenseth, as well as single victories for Kahne, Mayfield, Kurt Busch, and Dale Jarrett. In the less than recent past, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, and Bill Elliott all have multiple victories here as well. You could argue that MIS was to Elliott what Lowe's has become for Jimmie Johnson, as Elliott has 7 career victories here. (All coming in 11 races between 6-84 and 6-89)
There's the White Flag, let's bring it home…
We're coming down to the wire once again, so I'm going to drop some quick predictions then call it a day.
Best Toyota: Brian Vickers
Best Ford: Carl Edwards
Best Dodge: Ryan Newman
Best Chevy: Mark Martin
Winner: I'll go with Carl Edwards, although I swear Vickers is going to get one this season so he may be a dark horse, but will need more than the usual amount of luck.
