Junior fans can celebrate (for now)
Talladega never fails to provide action, and most of it seems to come in the final lap as it did this time. Let's see... We had two separate crashes after the white flag, one driver managed to cross the finish line on two tires (after skidding on his roof), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. grabbed the points lead with his fifth Talladega victory. A busy recap day, so I'll get to it.
GLENN'S TEN (5 for 10):
* Dale Earnhadrt Jr. (winner) -- Winner. This was just too easy. Nice way to celebrate his 30th birthday this week, dominating the race, winning it and taking over the points lead. Little E obviously expected to win this race and it just raised his performace a notch. That makes five victories for the season, but obviously not enough that he's learned to control his post-race antics. Wonder if NBC will think about adopting ABC's 10-second delay policy after the Nextel Cup heir apparent swore on camera? Don't get too excited about Junior taking the top spot, however, because he still has to get by Kansas, Atlanta and Lowe's -- none of which favor the #8 but heavily favor the #24 and #48.
* Jeff Gordon -- 19th, Arrrgh! Had a great car all afternoon until he lost his drafting partner in Jimmie Johnson. Then he got bogged down around 11th until the last-lap crash in which he got tangled a bit with Kasey Kahne and lost a few more spots. Kansas will be a welcome sight after this one.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 37th, If there is one argument against gNA$hCAR's Chase format it is the #48. Jimmie got into it on pit road with Kasey Kahne and had to make a couple stops for fender repairs. Then the engine went south with about 30 to go. Now Jimmie is 172 points out of the lead after having been up by over 220 several weeks ago. These guys probably wish they could have saved some of their good fortune earlier in the season for now.
* Elliott Sadler -- 22nd, Elliott wins the day's style points for his flip coming to the checkers. He slid a couple hundred feet on his roof and then landed on his wheels just as the car crossed the finish line. Not as spectacular as his barrel roll here last year. Lost maybe seven spots at the finish, and the low finish won't aid his title hopes.
* Kurt Busch -- 5th, Did what he needed to to stay out of trouble and grab a good finish to stay second in points.
* Mark Martin -- 15th, Didn't hurt his cause too much.
* Dale Jarrett -- 3rd, Ahhh, the magic has returned to the #88. I know I keep saying this, but today saw a Jarrett who was in the thick of it for the win after hanging back most of the race. I would be willing to put money on DJ winning one before the season is over.
* Tony Stewart -- 6th, Pretty much followed my prediction, hanging back around 35th until about 30 to go, then suddenly was up front pushing Junior.
* Kevin Harvick -- 2nd, Best finish at a restrictor track. He didn't have enough to catch Junior at the end, but showed he can run here.
* Michael Waltrip -- 25th, Was up near the front much of the day, but his role was mainly to push the #8 to the win. When the heat got turned up late in the race he got shuffled back.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Brendan Gaughan -- 4th!, Best career finish. Won't keep him in the car though.
* Casey Mears -- 7th, Likes finishing in this spot. Ran well, leading a few laps.
* Joe Nemechek -- 8th, Front Row Joe was mediocre all day. Until the end.
* Robby Gordon -- 9th, Good teamwork to get the #29 up to second. I was waiting for the #31 to trigger the Big One and it never happened.
* Ward Burton -- 10th, Finally, a good finish for the NetZero squad.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Ricky Rudd -- 12th, Qualified on outside pole and nearly challeneged for the win before getting lost in the shuffle. Fatback's making a difference.
* Matt Kenseth -- 14th, About where I figured.
* Ryan Newman -- 16th, Can't blame him for being cautious at this track with his past history. This was about as high as he ran all day after hanging out at the back.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 38th, I think we can safely write off his chances at winning the championship. Second time in three weeks he was victimized by accident not of his making. We can feel for him, but the ability to avoid problems is what separates the champs from the... non-champs.
Next week... The Rainbow Warriors take heart and search for the wonderful wizard's miracle cure in the land of ahs: Kansas Speedway.
