There will be no more right hand turns (at least not intentional ones) for the NASCAR Sprint Cuppers this season after Monday's rain-delayed Watkins Glen race was completed.
What turned out to be the final lap Monday was about as crazy as one can get this side of Daytona or Talladega. And just as is often the case at those places, there was a big last lap crash. Check out this video taken by a fan who happened to be sitting in the turn where the crash took place.
So, who were the biggest losers and winners Monday.
The biggest winner may have been the second-place finisher Brad Keselowski. He's got two wins and sits 14th in points, so he's in good shape to make the Chase for the Championship with four races remaining in NASCAR's regular season.
Another big winner was of course Marcos Ambrose, who gave NASCAR its fifth first-time winner this season and the 15th different winner this season. It was Ambrose's first win in 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series attempts.
The biggest loser was Denny Hamlin who crashed out to finish 36th. He's still in the Chase, sitting 12th in points with a win. But he's only 27 points ahead of the next highest driver with a win, Paul Menard.
The other big loser on the final lap was Tony Stewart. He was looking at a top 10 finish, but crashed and finished 27th. He's still 10th in points and in the Chase at the moment, 25 points ahead of Clint Bowyer in 11th. Stewart nor Bowyer have a win to fall back on to be eligible for one of the final two wild-card spots, so being in the top in points is crucial to each of them.
And of course, like often happens in NASCAR, there's two guys who really don't like each other in Boris Said and Greg Biffle. Here's the video to that, too.
Until next time
Showing posts with label Clint Bowyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clint Bowyer. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Getting to the points
There are just six races left until the Chase for the Championship begins. So, getting into the top 10 in points, or winning one of the two wild-card spots by having the most wins of a driver in the top 20 in points, but not in the top 10, is becoming more urgent.
The two drivers who helped themselves the most at Indianapolis Sunday were Paul Menard, obviously, with his first career win, and Tony Stewart. Menard, who became the first driver to win his first Sprint Cup race at Indy, is 14th in points, but would make the Chase based on his win, even though he sits behind Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle, who are each winless this season. Bowyer and Biffle have run well at this week's venue, Pocono, in the past, so they're not out of it yet.
Stewart put himself in better position by moving from 11th to ninth in the point standings with a sixth-place finish at Indy. Stewart doesn't have that coveted win yet, but he does have a 22-point lead over 11th place Denny Hamlin, who does have a win, and 35-point lead over Bowyer.
Though he didn't have a disaster of a day, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th, which bumped him back to 10th in the points. He also does not have a coveted victory this season as his winless streak reached 113 races (for those of you snoring at home). He's 19 points ahead of Hamlin and 32 ahead of Bowyer. His chances of making the Chase are slipping every week as he inches closer to falling out of the top 10 and with the fact that there have been 14 different winners in 20 races this season. Junior needs one of those different winners to be him in these next six races.
Until next time.
The two drivers who helped themselves the most at Indianapolis Sunday were Paul Menard, obviously, with his first career win, and Tony Stewart. Menard, who became the first driver to win his first Sprint Cup race at Indy, is 14th in points, but would make the Chase based on his win, even though he sits behind Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle, who are each winless this season. Bowyer and Biffle have run well at this week's venue, Pocono, in the past, so they're not out of it yet.
Stewart put himself in better position by moving from 11th to ninth in the point standings with a sixth-place finish at Indy. Stewart doesn't have that coveted win yet, but he does have a 22-point lead over 11th place Denny Hamlin, who does have a win, and 35-point lead over Bowyer.
Though he didn't have a disaster of a day, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 16th, which bumped him back to 10th in the points. He also does not have a coveted victory this season as his winless streak reached 113 races (for those of you snoring at home). He's 19 points ahead of Hamlin and 32 ahead of Bowyer. His chances of making the Chase are slipping every week as he inches closer to falling out of the top 10 and with the fact that there have been 14 different winners in 20 races this season. Junior needs one of those different winners to be him in these next six races.
Until next time.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The Yellow Brick Road
The NASCAR boys are in Kansas this weekend and this, the third race in the Chase, is when we start to get more separation between the haves and have nots in the Chase.
So, with my five picks for this week (yes, I had Jimmie Johnson last week at Dover), maybe we can get a little more clarity in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson: Yes, he's second to Denny Hamlin in the points, but he's the guy to beat.
Denny Hamlin: Probably the only driver who has the combination of consistency and win-ability to challenge Johnson.
Carl Edwards: He says he would rather win in Kansas, about 90 minutes from his hometown of Columbia, Mo., than anywhere including Daytona or Indy. Really? Well, he could use a win right now and has been pretty consistent for a while, so it might be about time for a visit to Victory Lane.
Clint Bowyer: Cheatin' Clint (I know, he has no idea what exactly the crew does to the car, but he's guilty by association here), would love to win in his home state and get a legal victory.
Kasey Kahne: He's starting up front, and as you may well know, clean air is everything with these cars
The guy I probably should have picked but didn't ... Jeff Burton. Just a hunch.
So, with my five picks for this week (yes, I had Jimmie Johnson last week at Dover), maybe we can get a little more clarity in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson: Yes, he's second to Denny Hamlin in the points, but he's the guy to beat.
Denny Hamlin: Probably the only driver who has the combination of consistency and win-ability to challenge Johnson.
Carl Edwards: He says he would rather win in Kansas, about 90 minutes from his hometown of Columbia, Mo., than anywhere including Daytona or Indy. Really? Well, he could use a win right now and has been pretty consistent for a while, so it might be about time for a visit to Victory Lane.
Clint Bowyer: Cheatin' Clint (I know, he has no idea what exactly the crew does to the car, but he's guilty by association here), would love to win in his home state and get a legal victory.
Kasey Kahne: He's starting up front, and as you may well know, clean air is everything with these cars
The guy I probably should have picked but didn't ... Jeff Burton. Just a hunch.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Cheatin' Cllint and Dover picks
First some thoughts on the 150 points that NASCAR penalized Clint Bowyer for last week's race at New Hampshire for a rear end infraction.
Yes, it's true, Bowyer really has nothing to do with this, other than he is the driver and main spokesperson for the No. 33. He's out doing P.R. most of the week, keeping sponsors happy, that kind of stuff. But yes again, he's guilty by association.
No, the Childress team shouldn't act so surprised about the penalty. They were warned about it before, which is basically NASCAR saying, "we probably could have penalized you this time, but don't get caught again." But they were. The Childress team may have listened a little, but not a lot. Even if the team was riding the fence on the rules, it basically had nothing to lose because it was starting last in the Chase, so why not gamble a bit?
The No. 33 team gambled and lost and the penalty sent a strong message to other teams who might try something similar. So, while harsh, Bowyer's penalty is deserved.
Now on to the Dover top five picks.
1. Jimmie Johnson. He's on the pole and has been dominant there in the past.
2. Tony Stewart. He was about a mile short on fuel last week, but showed he has the equipment to run up front.
3. Kyle Busch. He had a good run at Dover in the spring, and is feeling pretty good about himself now.
4. Kevin Harvick. The neighborhood bully seems to hang around for good a finish.
5. Carl Edwards. A bit of an upset pick here, not because he's been terrible, he in the Chase afterall, but the Fords have run well here in the past, so I'm going with Edwards here.
Hopefully there is good weather all weekend.
Yes, it's true, Bowyer really has nothing to do with this, other than he is the driver and main spokesperson for the No. 33. He's out doing P.R. most of the week, keeping sponsors happy, that kind of stuff. But yes again, he's guilty by association.
No, the Childress team shouldn't act so surprised about the penalty. They were warned about it before, which is basically NASCAR saying, "we probably could have penalized you this time, but don't get caught again." But they were. The Childress team may have listened a little, but not a lot. Even if the team was riding the fence on the rules, it basically had nothing to lose because it was starting last in the Chase, so why not gamble a bit?
The No. 33 team gambled and lost and the penalty sent a strong message to other teams who might try something similar. So, while harsh, Bowyer's penalty is deserved.
Now on to the Dover top five picks.
1. Jimmie Johnson. He's on the pole and has been dominant there in the past.
2. Tony Stewart. He was about a mile short on fuel last week, but showed he has the equipment to run up front.
3. Kyle Busch. He had a good run at Dover in the spring, and is feeling pretty good about himself now.
4. Kevin Harvick. The neighborhood bully seems to hang around for good a finish.
5. Carl Edwards. A bit of an upset pick here, not because he's been terrible, he in the Chase afterall, but the Fords have run well here in the past, so I'm going with Edwards here.
Hopefully there is good weather all weekend.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Bowyer town
We're coming up on 75 laps and Bowyer is the class of the field. He's stretched his lead to almost two seconds over Kyle Busch. Harvick is up to 5th and Johnson 8th. Only Busch and Hamlin are less than 10 seconds behind. We need a yellow soon to bunch this field back up and allow crews to make major adjustments.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
They're bad and Nationwide
Some impressions from Saturday's Nationwide race at Dover.
When Kyle Busch has it all going like he did Saturday, he's a treat to watch. A couple of things you can't help but notice is that when he's going around and lapping the field, he's a bit of a stalker. There's no waiting a lap and then passing a guy, or catching up to someone and then laying back and waiting for the right opportunity to go around. It's more like here I am, I know I'm faster than you, you know I'm faster than you, so get out of the way. The other thing is that when Busch has a two- or three-second lead, he doesn't just coast around there and maintain what he has. He's looking to stretch that lead to say five or six seconds. He's just doing his job, driving that car as fast as he can.
As for the Bowyer-Hamlin incident. Bowyer doesn't easily lose his cool, so it was a surprising to see him head back out and take out Hamlin. It makes you wonder if there's been some history there over the last year or two and Bowyer finally had enough. I do believe Hamlin when he says he didn't clip Bowyer intentionally on that restart that caused a major accident. So, it will be interesting to see if there's any carryover into today's Sprint Cup race. My guess is probably not.
When Kyle Busch has it all going like he did Saturday, he's a treat to watch. A couple of things you can't help but notice is that when he's going around and lapping the field, he's a bit of a stalker. There's no waiting a lap and then passing a guy, or catching up to someone and then laying back and waiting for the right opportunity to go around. It's more like here I am, I know I'm faster than you, you know I'm faster than you, so get out of the way. The other thing is that when Busch has a two- or three-second lead, he doesn't just coast around there and maintain what he has. He's looking to stretch that lead to say five or six seconds. He's just doing his job, driving that car as fast as he can.
As for the Bowyer-Hamlin incident. Bowyer doesn't easily lose his cool, so it was a surprising to see him head back out and take out Hamlin. It makes you wonder if there's been some history there over the last year or two and Bowyer finally had enough. I do believe Hamlin when he says he didn't clip Bowyer intentionally on that restart that caused a major accident. So, it will be interesting to see if there's any carryover into today's Sprint Cup race. My guess is probably not.
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