Thirty-five down, one to go
Now we have a better sense of what has to happen next week for Jeff Gordon to clinch his fifth championship, and I'll give you a hint: It isn't what he did this week. Gordon has every right to be disgusted with his third-place finish on Sunday, because he should have been a shoo-in for Victory Lane. Unfortunately, the crew dropped the car on an air hose during the last pit stop, dropping Super-G from the lead to seventh place on the restart. He made up most of it, but that gaffe unquestionably spoiled an otherwise great day.
This race pretty much decided who we'll be watching next weekend at Homestead-Miami, so let's get to the results...
GLENN'S TEN (6-of-10, with all of the top six!)
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- 3rd, Jeff could have emerged with the points lead had he nailed the win. Instead, he dropped a spot to third, even as he closed to within 21 points of Kurt Busch. The car looked terrible in the early going, but the crew got it running right by mid-race, such that he led the most laps (5 extra points). He just didn't have enough time to seal the deal after the pit road problems.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 1st, That's eight wins now for the Lowe's car, and more important four in the last five races. It is that momentum that has not only pulled him back into contention for the win, but makes him a huge favorite for the championship going into next week's race. He now trails Busch by a mere 18 points.
* Ryan Newman -- 34th, Ryan's going to look back on this season and point to his eight DNFs as the reason why he couldn't win it all. He had one of the fastest cars Sunday and might have contended for the win, but his engine went up seven laps from the finish line. That was just the capper on a frustrating day that saw him blow a tire early and go a lap down. He must have taken 100 tires over the course of the race. The short pit strategy got him close to the front, but then the engine failed. Sigh.
* Kasey Kahne -- 5th, Overcame a back-of-the-pack start after damaging his car in practice. Relax, Kahne fans, next week's your week...
* Jamie McMurray -- 4th, Winning the Busch race obviously helped. He was a strong contender all race.
* Kurt Busch -- 6th, The luckiest of all lucky dogs in this race had to be the #97. His car was decent if not dominant, but when he roughed up his fender and fell back into the mid-20s, it looked like this might be his undoing in the Chase. But he bounced back, and a few other guys ahead of him dropped out in the late going, he wound up with a decent spot. (Drat!)
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 11th, Dale recovered well, too, although not enough to preserve his spot in the Chase. He slips to 4th, 72 points back. Not impossible to win it all next week, but it would take a great finish and some bad luck by the others ahead of him.
* Dale Jarrett -- 37th, Can you hit the wall much harder than he did? Don't know if he had a tire blow or got turned around or what, but he went straight in to the Turn 2 wall on lap 195 and that was it. Car was mediocre before then.
* Mark Martin -- 2nd, Happy as a clam to be fifth in the Chase and 82 points out. Dim hopes for winning it all, but it could still happen.
* Tony Stewart -- 17th, Had to made an unscheduled pit stop late in the race that cost him any chance at the championship. Just a disappointing year for Tony.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Carl Edwards -- 7th, One day I'm going to start picking this guy. Could he be the next Ryan Newman/Jimmie Johnson? Never led, but came darn close.
* Joe Nemechek -- 8th, Not making a lot of noise, but having a career year.
* Bobby Labonte -- 9th, Hey, that makes a couple weeks in a row for a top 10 finish...
* Mike Bliss -- 10th, Who? He took over Ward Burton's ride and makes an impressive debut. He's been a regular for Joe Gibbs in Busch series, but looking for a job next season. Didn't hurt his prospects Sunday.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Michael Waltrip -- 33rd, Haven't talked much about him this year, but he got the highlight of the day award for plowing Todd Bodine down the backstretch after the two of them got together. It's been a frustrating year for the Napa crew.
* Other Chasers -- Jeremy Mayfield, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler all had mediocre days, finishing 19th, 20th and 23rd respectively. One of the drawbacks to the Chase format is that, now, we no longer care.
Next week... Busch, Gordon or Johnson? We decide it all with 400 miles at Homestead-Miami.
