Little E's short-track sweep
Earnhardt's back, man! He's gonna win that Cup! He dominated Bristol, man! Yeah, yeah, yeah... OK, so Driver 8's the man -- for now -- at Bristol. He earned it. He had the best car. He's only 75 points or something like that out of the lead. Doesn't matter after Sept. 11. Just keep that in mind.
I'll admit, I'm bummed about this race, if only because I couldn't wait to get home to watch it Saturday night after eight hours of work. I was expecting a lot more fireworks. I was hoping for someone else in Victory Lane. Ah well, we can't win them all (and I didn't -- only 5-for-10 in the picks department):
Glenn's Ten results:
* Matt Kenseth (winner) -- 9th, Finished a lap down like just about everyone else. Ran as high as fifth, but bad track position on the restarts hurt.
* Kurt Busch -- 8th, Fell short in his bid to win four straight here. Wasn't happy with the car much of the night.
* Mark Martin -- 13th, Wonder where he would have finished if not for the mental meltdown on his green flag stop, when he crawled through both halves of the pit road instead of just the one half he had to travel through. The car looked very good all night, but once again burned by bad luck.
* Jeff Gordon -- 14th, Speaking of getting burned, Jeff got a lap down and then finally got the lucky dog pass to get caught up, only to be black flagged because gNA$hCAR deemed he had passed illegally in the process. He wound up 14th, 2 laps down.
* Jamie McMurray -- 7th, I'm really liking Jamie at Bristol. The kid's aggressive, but not overly so. It pays off with another top 10 here.
* Tony Stewart -- 19th, Victim of bad luck. Got caught back in traffic during the long green flag run, then got involved in someone else's wreck after a restart. Damage wasn't too severe, but it effectively ended his shot at a top 10.
* Greg Biffle -- 11th, Once again, Biffle is just mediocre enough to miss the cut. At least he finished well. Chase hopes officially ended tonight.
* Kevin Kyle Harvick Petty -- 24th, It was un-Happy Harvick who showed up tonight. The car wasn't all that good, but the driver was worse. His arm got numb after the seat dug into it, and Kyle Petty was brought in as a relief driver. I think the knowledge that Kyle would be my sub would be enough to keep me in the car, but Kevin was in major pain. So Kyle Petty effectively gets two finishes: 24th with Harvick's car and 37th with his own.
* Elliott Sadler -- 5th, This feels like a win. The #38 bunch needed to escape this place without taking a hit in the points, and this finish keeps them in the thick of the Chase.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 1st, Shows what confidence does. He rolled off 30th but used pit strategy to get up front and stay there. He had the fastest car and was helped by nearly 250 laps of green-flag racing. Only driver ever to win both the Busch and Cup events in the same weekend at Bristol.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Ryan Newman -- 2nd, Just when I'm starting to give up on Ryan, he breaks through with a performance like the ones that got him eight wins last year. The 2-tire strategy on the final pit stop proved enough to hold off everyone behind him, but wasn't close to making it a race with Earnhardt. Back into the top 10, if barely.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 3rd, I erred again in counting him out. This has abeen a horrible month for the Lowe's guys, so nice to see it end on a high note.
* Jeff Burton -- 4th, I came close to picking Burton. The new team is having an effect -- so far, a positive one. Best finish for the #30 in a couple of years.
* Sterling Marlin -- 6th, Yawn. He was solidly in the top 10 all night, just never did anything spectacular. Which at Bristol can be a very good thing.
* Dale Jarrett -- 10th, Despite getting caught up in a spin and getting roughed up in a crash, he managed to keep the car in the hunt. Two years ago he would have been 30th after a night like this. Loses a spot in the points, but still just 45 out of 10th.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Robby Gordon -- 12th, I was waiting all night for someone to punt him into the wall and it never happened. The guy is just a menace to society. Even blocked his teammate (Burton) when it mattered. Helped trigger a multi-car pileup. gNA$hCAR warned him to stop hitting other cars or they'd park him, which was when Jeff Gordon finally laid a bumper to him and Kenseth followed. Class act, Robby.
* Bobby Labonte -- 16th, Still ninth in the points. By one point.
* Kasey Kahne -- 21st, Slips out of the top 10, but at least the car finished in one piece.
* Rusty Wallace -- 26th, Had the car to beat... until it got wrecked. Still, only 10 laps down.
Next week: The Labor Day tradition continues at Darling... oops! Make that California Speedway (under the lights!)
