Full Throttle

Lets call this partial qualy results, you can see the entire lineup here. I’ll only cover starting positions of those in the top fifteen in points.

1 Tony Stewart 17
2 Jimmie Johnson 29
3 Greg Biffle 4
4 Rusty Wallace 20
5 Mark Martin 25
6 Jeremy Mayfield 6
7 Kurt Busch 7
8 Ryan Newman 8
9 Carl Edwards 37
10 Jamie McMurray 9
11 Dale Jarrett 10
12 Jeff Gordon 2
13 Elliot Sadler 9
14 Kevin Harvick 18
15 Matt Kenseth Pole Position

It’s an interesting mix isn’t it? Those needing a good result, from 10^th to 15^th with the sole exception of Harvick all start in the first five rows. A distinct advantage? Maybe not, since 1999 five winning efforts have come from 18^th position or worse.

Bristol is always tough to pick because of the constant fender banging, not that I’m complainin’, and brakes are always a factor. With a yellow flag count most likely in the double digits fuel loads shouldn’t come into play.

Last week I went with the trend of Dodge success at Michigan, I had the wrong driver but the correct brand. This week I’m bucking that trend. MIS saw three events and three Dodges in the winners circle. Bristol continues the streak with a Ryan Newman Dodge win in Fridays Busch Series event (His third straight win in the series). That streak ends tonight, here is my top ten.

1 Jeff Gordon
2 Matt Kenseth
3 Rusty Wallace
4 Elliot Sadler
5 Tony Stewart
6 Kurt Busch
7 Greg Biffle
8 Kasey Kahne
9 Ryan Newman
10 Mark Martin

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports