Raising Kahne in Richmond
OK, the monkey's finally off Kasey Kahne's back. Not only did he notch his first career Cup victory on Saturday night, but he did it in dominant fashion, leading most of the race's 400 laps over runner-up Tony Stewart. My only disappointment (or maybe one of several) is that I taped this race and made the mistake of logging on to the FOX Sports Web site before watching the tape. I wasn't looking for the winner, but there he was on the home page. Dang! Took all the suspense out of the finish, but it was fun to watch a first-time winner.
My most dire predictions came to pass, unfortunately, and it was a nasty evening for the Hendrick cars. It was sort of a nasty evening for me, as well, as I only notched four of the top 10.
GLENN'S TEN (4-for-10, thhhfffpt!):
* Ryan Newman (winner) -- 3rd, Nothing to be ashamed of here. He was in the top 5 all night and gave Tony Stewart a run for 2nd place at the end. Up to 8th in points and showing signs of the consistency he needs to have.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 40th, A woeful finish for the points leader. Jimmie spun into the inside wall on the backstretch on lap 80. It wasn't too bad, however, and it looked like a visit to the pits might get him back in the race. But as he was heading there something broke in the front wheels and the car hammered the wall again, this time hard enough to put him in the garage. Despite the points hit he's still number one.
* Tony Stewart -- 2nd, Tony's fun to watch when it's his night. But he didn't have anything for Kahne and he admitted as much. He was gracious in defeat, congratulating the winner.
* Kevin Harvick -- 5th, Harvick seems to excel on the short tracks at night. He suffered a speeding penalty late in the race that took him out of contention for the win, but this was a good recovery.
* Kurt Busch -- 17th, Probably the third strongest car in the field, but he got a lug nut hung up on the brake rotor and had to make an unscheduled stop under the green, which left him a lap down too long to get caught up, even when he did get the lap back.
* Greg Biffle -- 6th, A quiet night and look where he finishes.
* Carl Edwards -- 21st, Slipped back through the field and wound up a lap down.
* Mark Martin -- 15th, Didn't hear much from the Roush camp at the finish.
* Matt Kenseth -- 12th, Best run this team's had in a while. Just 65 points shy of making the cut for the Chase.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 13th, Jeremy lets me down as usual, finishing outside the show.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Kasey Kahne -- 1st, The FOX guys say Kasey's further along in his development as a driver than Jeff Gordon was at the same point in his career. That's a scary thought, because it could mean we'll be seeing many more wins out of this young'un.
* Kyle Busch -- 4th, The rookie comes up big. Will the #5 team be respectable again soon?
* Elliott Sadler -- 7th, Knew I should have picked him.
* Bobby Labonte -- 8th, With Stewart running so well it only makes sense that his teammate should benefit. Best luck for the #18 this year.
* Michael Waltrip -- 9th, He's got Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew this year -- same one that put Junior in Victory Lane last spring.
* Jamie McMurray -- 10th, Could have been 5th if not for his dust-up with Kyle Busch as everyone was scrambling for position on the final restart.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Ricky Rudd -- 11th, These guys are putting the pieces in place, little by little.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 14th, Almost exactly where I predicted he'd finish. Falls from the top 10, but not far out.
* Rusty Wallace -- 19th, They still call him the king of the short tracks. Maybe five years ago.
* Jeff Gordon -- 39th, Broken parts, similar to Johnson's problem, sent Gordo to the garage on lap 252. I'm glad I didn't pick him, but sad he took a big hit in the standings, losing a couple of positions. He'll rebound.
Next week... The All-Star Challenge visits Lowe's for yet another Saturday night feast. No top 10 predictions from me, but I'll try to name the winner.
