Full Throttle

Not a bad race, on a ten scale I’d give it a 6 1/2. Disclamer: Nothing gets higher than an eight. Events that are longer then 300 miles will always contain a certain amount of “stroking” mid-race that leads to downgrading it’s entertainment value.

So a 6 1/2 is damn good considering, and the last 50 laps should be counted as some of the most entertaining racing of the year.

I think one could honestly conclude, if not for the Chase, Jimmie Johnson has “Championship” written all over him. The team hardly ever makes a mistake and when they do, they make a proverbial “silk purse” out of the “pigs ear” they were given or dealt themselves. But… there is the Chase thing!

Greg Zipadelli and crew, with the able help of Ricky Rudd, did what they had to do. If not for a speeding penalty Rudd may have scored a top 15. As it is Rudds 25^th place keeps Smoke in the hunt to repeat as Champion.

It’s obvious there are no team orders among Roush’s Mongol Hoard? (if there were McMurray would have won) Last week all five were in the top ten, this week four were in the top ten, and two were fighting tooth and nail to the bitter end. McMurray was the driver to beat, holding the lead for most of the final laps. But it wasn’t enough to hold off an obviously superior Kenseth when it counted. More importantly, Kenseth cut JJ’s points lead from 109 points to 74.

Jeff Gordon dropped another 2 spots in the standings and only sits 12 points from 11^th. Not a good thing in anyone’s book. But there is a lot of racing yet to do as Dover only marks the halfway point of 26 events before the Chase.

I noted an interesting stat. There have been only 35 drivers that have made all 13 starts to this point. With a starting field of 43 that seems a bit low. What it means I have no idea, just interesting.

More later in the weekly Cesspool.

NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle