Green-white-checkered championship -- and I'm 'Busched'
Can I bring out the boo-birds now that the inaugural Nextel Cup season is history? This race lived up to its billing as a thrilling conclusion to the Championship Chase, even though I think the wrong guy got to take home the trophy. Just goes to show that, much like American politics, sometimes the guy who wins the popular vote doesn't win the election. A record 13 cautions in this race helped slow the action, but keeping things close made for an exciting finish, and isn't that all we can ask for as gNA$hCAR fans? NO! I wanted to see Jeff Gordon win his fifth title, but that's just me...
GLENN'S TEN: (4-for-10)
* Kasey Kahne (winner) -- 38th,
Spllllt! See what happens when I place my faith in Evernham teams? Kasey marched backward quickly, then ran over some debris dropped by his teammate's car. His day finally ended when he wrecked off Turn 4 all by his lonesome. He may be rookie of the year, but he didn't go out with the "bang" he'd hoped.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 2nd, Came up through the field and had to dodge a couple of wrecks in the process. He had perhaps the best car at the end, but the cautions hurt his championship hopes, which fell 8 points short of Kurt Busch.
* Jeff Gordon -- 3rd, Why is Jeff not now celebrating his fifth title? Simply put: bonus points. How many of the final 10 races did Gordon not lead a lap? Enough, and this one hurt the most. He had an OK car, if not good enough for the win then certainly good enough to lead at some point, but he never did. Busch got his five bonus points early and that figured heavily in the finish. I don't think Gordon would have stood in the way of Jimmie Johnson at the end if it meant the difference between one Hendrick driver taking home the title. As it was, Gordon got roughed up by Joe Nemechek on the next to last restart, which probably prevented him from a realistic shot at taking the lead.
* Ryan Newman -- 30th, What kind of a year was it for Ryan? This finish typifies the bad luck -- leading the race with a handful of laps to go when he blows a tire. If Ryan is to win a title he'll have to iron out his penchant for checkers-or-wreckers finishes.
* Bobby Labonte -- 12th, Led a few laps and visited the top 10 a couple of times, but couldn't remain there when the heat was on in the final few laps.
* Kurt Busch -- 5th, Did what he needed to do to hang onto the title. It was clear the racing gods were smiling on him when he lost his right front wheel coming to pit road and avoided hitting the pit wall by less than a foot. All the cautions allowed him to claw his way forward. If not for that, he might not have gooten the finish he had to to hold off Johnson. Dumb luck, but Roush will take it and the $5.2 million check. Thankyaverymuch.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 23rd, No title for Little E this year, but look out next season. The Bud crew served notice that Dale will be a force to reckon with soon. A mediocre day today, with handling problems and a little front-end damage hampering his performance.
* Jamie McMurray -- 7th, Didn't make a lot of noise getting here, but that's been his style. He nails down 11th overall for the season, which is good for an extra million. Look out next season!
* Carl Edwards -- 14th, He was up and down and up again. Good finish despite missing the show. Another guy I'll have to consider carefully for next year's predictions.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 35th, Never pick a guy who's given up. Mayfield quit after Richmond, and his car quit early in this race. He finished 60 laps down.
THE REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Greg Biffle -- 1st, There's a team in every sport you have problems picking, and in this sport Biffle's mine. Naturally, I didn't pick him this week and he won. He had the dominant car, unfortunately, because his presence prevented Johnson or Gordon from leading when they had to.
* Tony Stewart -- 4th, Wish I'd picked Tony instead of Mayfield. He had a strong car, which is the only reason he got back up front after having to serve a stop-and-go penalty for weaving too long under caution. Bizarre penalty, but kinda sums up Tony's year.
* Brendan Gaughan -- 6th, Someone must have given him pep pills for the final race. Why couldn't he do this the rest of the year? Oh yeah, it's a Penske thing. I don't see Brendan in this car by the middle of next season.
* Rusty Wallace -- 8th, Rusty got to lead a few laps. The farewell tour officially starts now.
* Ricky Rudd -- 9th, If it were anyone else I'd say look for him to contend again in 2005. But this is an aged Ricky Rudd with the Wood Brothers. Not even Fatback can overcome those handicaps.
* Kevin Harvick -- 10th, The punctuation mark on a season of underachievement by RCR drivers.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Mark Martin -- 11th, Looked like he had a strategy to win before tire problems doomed him to a mid-pack finish. An otherwise strong year that came up short of a championship. Will Mark get another shot next year, his last? I sort of hope so, but I think we've seen the last hurrah for this driver's winning ways.
* Matt Kenseth -- 19th, A snoozer of a day for last year's champion. He seems to have difficulties at Homestead.
* Dale Jarrett -- 24th, Was running third but ran out of gas before the finish. Next year...
* Elliott Sadler -- 34th, Crashed out. Not a good finish to a disappointing Chase.
Next week... Breathing a heavy sigh of relief that the season is over. I'll review my preseason predictions, but that's it for 2004. Counting the days to Daytona 2005.
