Tragedy and Martinsville
Sunday's race at Martinsville will be remembered less for the fact that Jimmie Johnson went to victory lane for the sixth time this season than for the plane crash that claimed the lives of his car owner's son and nine others.
Ricky Hendrick, who was the guy who was supposed to one day carry on the Hendrick Motorsports legacy, was killed in the crash while on the way to the speedway Sunday morning. Many in the sport are likening this to Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona 3-1/2 years ago. While it is tough to draw such comparisons when one was a race-related crash and the other wasn't, the impact of any death in the racing community is felt profoundly by all, including the fans. Also killed was the organization's top engine guy. What effect these deaths will have on the future success of such teams as Johnson's, Jeff Gordon's, Terry Labonte's and Brian Vickers' will only be seen over time.
The tragedy overshadowed the race, which brought about some noteworthy developments in the Chase for the championship. Johnson didn't have a proper opportunity to celebrate in Victory Lane, as he was informed about the accident beforehand. There were no post-race interviews on NBC. We'll just have to do the best we can.
GLENN'S TEN: (3-for-10... shows what happens when you count out the Chase contenders.)
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- 9th, The frustration mounts for Gordon fans. He keeps getting decent finishes, but he continues to lose ground on Kurt Busch, who also had a good day. What is more frustrating is that Jeff is struggling on the very tracks he should be dominating, such as Kansas and Lowe's, and now Martinsville. I suppose struggling is a relative term; he did get a second last week, but only after running in the tank most of the race. Same at Martinsville, where he slid back from a 15th-place start and was a lap behind at one point. The only reason he led at all was because he stayed out at a point where everyone else came in. The car never looked good. Just a miracle he got a top 10. Moves up to second in the Chase, however.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 33rd, Aaah! The Glenn's Ten curse works! This was an absolutely miserable race for Junior. The car handled poorly, he got roughed up on the track more than once, he knocked into Dale Jarrett when his brakes locked up, he left part of his transmission on the speedway, then finally he took it to the garage after a crash. He never led a lap, and more notably he slipped to third in the standings, 125 points behind Kurt Busch. Guess the 25-point penalty don't mean s*** right now, to use Dale's own words.
* Ricky Rudd -- 14th, Guess Ricky's car was running loose, because he spun a couple of times Sunday. Managed not to damage it, however, and got a decent finish.
* Bobby Labonte -- 18th, Another mediocre day for the Interstate Batteries Chevy.
* Dale Jarrett -- 37th, Maybe the 32nd starting spot was too far back. He got into a couple of altercations on track, including the contact with Junior. Spend ahile behind the wall, but he did finish the race.
* Ryan Newman -- 3rd, I'd love to have been a fly on the wall after the race to hear the "discussion" between Ryan and teammate Rusty Wallace. Ryan clearly had a good car late in the race, if not good enough to win, but was it better than Rusty's? Guess we'll never know, because Ryan muscled Rusty out of the way on the last restart. Rusty went from a sure second place to 10th, and the two "teammates" started playing destruction derby after the checkers. And for what? Ryan is still ninth in the Chase, 266 points out.
* Rusty Wallace -- 10th, Here's the guy who has every right to be ticked off after getting roughed up by the #12 in the final five laps. Do you think Rusty and Ryan get along behind the scenes? I have a hunch they probably don't.
* Jeff Burton -- 11th, Just missed the show. I hope the off-season is good to the AOL team, because Jeff could be a threat again in 2005.
* Mark Martin -- 12th, Yaaaawwwwn. Mark's getting decent finishes, but he's losing ground to Busch. This one not as painful as last week's ground-loser at Lowe's.
* Tony Stewart -- 15th, Another snoozer. Tony barely touched the top 10 after the early part of the race. 246 points out will need Busch to screw up if he's to have a shot at the championship.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Jimmie Johnson -- 1st, First short track win for the #48. He jumps four spots in the standings, but still hopelessly out of contention. The Hendrick plane tragedy overshadows a fine day for this team.
* Jamie McMurray -- 2nd, I keep counting him out now that he's not in the Chase. Shouldn't keep doing that. If Newman hadn't been in the way those last few laps, I wonder if Jamie would have caught Johnson.
* Sterling Marlin -- 4th, Played the pit strategy game all day and it got him his best finish in months. Old tires not a good way to go at Martinsville, however.
* Kurt Busch -- 5th, Waiting for the bad luck to bite. When you are at the top of the heap your confidence level goes up. Can he keep the momentum for the final four races?
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 6th, Another guy I counted out here. He had a solid if not spectacular day.
* Jeff Green -- 7th, I almost forgot how to spell his name.
* Kevin Harvick -- 8th, Led a bunch of laps... for a change.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Matt Kenseth -- 16th, This was a good finish, considering he was deep in the field most of the day.
Next week... Atlanta, and maybe the last hope the Chasers have that Busch will screw up.
