Throwing caution to the win in Michigan
I hate Greg Biffle. When I pick him he breaks down or rams into something, and when I don't pick him -- like this week -- he winds up having a good day. In this case, he wound up in Victory Lane. We won't talk about the fact that Mark Martin probably should have been there, had it not been for a loose lug nut. Or the fact that they threw a race-record nine caution flags, which consumed 33 of the 200 laps. But at least I recognized that the Rousch cars were a force to be reckoned with Sunday -- all five placed in the top 10. When was the last time that happened?
Here's the Glenn's Ten recap (6-for-10):
* Jimmie Johnson (winner) -- 40th, Looks like I spoke too soon about Hendrick putting the engine problems behind them. For the third week in a row, the #48 bunch made a premature exit. More significantly, they relinquished the points lead -- that's from 229 ahead to 68 back in 15 days. Ouch.
* Jeff Gordon -- 7th, Jeff had a mediocre day en route to another top 10. He led the first 30+ laps, but never was a serious threat after that. First in points makes up for some of that. First time he has led the standings since winning the championship in 2001.
* Ryan Newman -- 14th, Ryan struggled all day, starting with a flat tire on the pace lap. He made another early pit stop to fall a lap down. Made that up, then lost another lap later when he had more tire troubles. He slips another couple of rungs on the points ladder. This isn't looking good for the Chase...
* Kasey Kahne -- 5th, Kasey sneaks into the 10th points spot with another strong run. These guys wanted to win for their crew chief, Tommy Baldwin Jr., who lost his dad Thursday in a racing accident. Getting closer to that first win. Maybe at Homestead?
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 11th, Not enough to hold off Kasey for 10th in the points. Typical Mayfield, just mediocre enough to not make the cut.
* Dale Jarrett -- 3rd, We love the truck! Jarrett climbs in the points with a solid run. Can he still make the top 10 for the Chase? Don't count him out quite yet.
* Elliott Sadler -- 32nd, I knew I was going to regret this pick. Seems like when Elliott has a good car something always happens to it, and this time it was a piece of debris that cut a tire that ripped apart his front fender that left him 21 laps down.
* Mark Martin -- 2nd, It was a second-place sorta weekend for Mark, who finished in the same spot in Saturday's Busch race. He had the car to beat all day, but the lug nut problem on yellow-flag stops put him down in the 20s and he had to overcome that just to get back to second. By then, Biffle had him skunked.
* Matt Kenseth -- 8th, I didn't hear him mentioned all day, but look where he finished...
* Tony Stewart -- 9th, Wearing the Olympic rings on his hood, but he wasn't good enough to win the gold. More like a bronze.
THE REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Greg Biffle -- 1st, OK, this is the last time I'm going to dwell on Biffle's ups and downs. The guy can race, no question. But he is inconsistent. For a while it was rumored he might not be back in this car next season. Now Rousch says he will be. Sure, after he wins you realize he might not be so bad. We'll see. He rode The Flash to Victory Lane after leading nearly half the race.
* Jamie McMurray -- 4th, Same story as Biffle. When I don't pick him, he has a banner day. Won't matter, neither of them will make the Chase.
* Kurt Busch -- 6th, Third best of the Rouschers. I'm sorry I didn't pick him. Just tuning up for "his" race next Saturday night.
* Carl Edwards -- 10th, Atta boy! First Cup race and he completes the Rousch sweep by finding his way into the show. Would Jeff Burton have been here?
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Jeff Burton -- 12th, Speaking of Burton, he had a good day in his first trek in the AOL Chevy. Only notable glitch was when he attempted to pit in the #99 pit box, forgetting that he no longer drives for Rousch.
* Kevin Harvick -- 16th, Anyone think that Harvick's shot at a championship may be slipping away at crunch time?
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 21st, As I said, Michigan is not Talladega. Just a few points away from slipping to fourth...
* Bobby Labonte -- 26th, I'm telling you, it's that pukey yellow and purple paint scheme. Faaatbaaack!
* Ricky Rudd -- 24th, Hey, look at this! Fatback and Ricky will be reunited next weekend, albeit for the Wood Brothers rather than Robert Yates. Ought to be fun, since Bristol was the scene of their grand falling-out in 2002 (remember the bottle-throwing incident?).
Did you know... None of the cautions thrown Sunday was for a wreck? We saw a few spinouts and debris, but no physical contact with walls, cars, etc.
Next week... The Chase contenders get beaten and battered on Saturday night in the not-so-friendly confines of Bristol.
