Still Chasin'
So it would appear that I was a bit premature in writing off the seaons of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon several weeks ago. Both finished well enough Saturday at Bristol to put themselves back into contention for the Chase, which begins after the Richmond race in less than two weeks.
Gordon hung tough to get a top 10 and sneak into the 10th spot in the points standings. Kenseth won the race -- his first since Las Vegas a year ago -- and is just 11 points out of 10th. Nice to see the champs step up when the going gets tough.
I stepped it up too on Saturday, collecting more than half of my picks in the top 10. There were a couple of low lights, but I'll get to those soon enough.
GLENN'S TEN (6-for-10... a good night!)
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- 6th, Jeff, as has so often been the case this season, did not have a dominant car. He hung around in the top 5 for a bit until the second round of pit stops when he got out ahead of Kenseth and managed to lead for a while. But the car was rarely to his liking, and for a time he was mired in mid-pack banging fenders with teammate Brian Vickers. He got the car adjusted well enough that he made up several spots on the final green-flag run. Just enough to get back into the top 10, but will he be able to stay there now?
* Rusty Wallace -- 5th, Rusty got to lead some laps in his final Bristol race. The car wasn't strong enough to win on old tires after he stayed out when everyone else came in.
* Ryan Newman -- 39th, Low light number one: Newman had a good car. Maybe not good enough to win, but surely a top 10. Unfortunately, he got into it on track with Dale Jarrett. He appeared to bump Dale unintentionally around lap 200, and then about 100 laps later they met up again when Newman tried to lap Jarrett's slower car. It seemed pretty clear from the replay that Dale body slammed Newman and put both of them into the wall. Ryan wasn't able to continue, which drops him to 9th in the points and precariously close to not making the field. Hopefully he can rally from this, as California and Richmond are two of his better tracks.
* Kurt Busch -- 10th, This was a new car and apparently not as good as the one that got him his wins here. It was good enough for me.
* Tony Stewart -- 8th, Tony has nothing to gain right now from pushing for wins. This car wasn't good enough to win anyhow, but he hung around in the teens until cars up front had trouble, then took fresh tires on the final round of pit stops.
* Kevin Harvick -- 37th, Low light number 2: Happy probably isn't very happy with Dale Jarrett and Ryan Newman. He had a decent car, but was the innocent victim in the Newman/Jarrett tiff. He tried to dive to the apron and couldn't avoid Newman's car which slid right into him. This all but kills Harvick's chances of making the chase.
* Elliott Sadler -- 13th, The two-tire strategy got him up front briefly, but it didn't help him stay in the top 10 when other guys took fresh tires on the final pit stops.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 9th, How many times can one driver be the beneficiary of the free pass? Junior got three of them early in the race, then got his car working well enough to make the show. He was on the march, but needed probably another 150 laps to get to the front.
* Greg Biffle -- 3rd, Another decent night for the Roush cars. I think Biff may have been penalized for speeding in the pits, which he blamed for not finishing better.
* Kyle Busch -- 33rd, Not even Johnny Bravo on the hood could keep his car out of trouble. He spent about 50 laps behind the wall.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Matt Kenseth -- 1st, He proved the rare pole wasn't just a fluke. Matt dominated the race and deserved every moment of that victory lane celebration.
* Jeff Burton -- 2nd, Another guy who would have deserved the chance to celebrate had he been able to catch Kenseth. It's been nearly five years since Burton's last win. This was easily the best run he's had in many moons.
* Ricky Rudd -- 4th, I'm starting to think Ricky's for real again. The short tracks are his thing, and Richmond in two weeks will give him one more chance to shine. He dodged a couple of bullets on the track and the car didn't suffer mechnaical issues, which is a far cry from the Motorcraft Ford of old.
* Mike Bliss -- 7th, Always interesting how as the season wanes the guys on the bubble for keeping their jobs suddenly start to improve.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Ken Schrader -- 11th, Short tracks are the great equalizer for the lesser teams.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 18th, Respectable finish keeps him comfortably in the Chase picture.
* Dale Jarrett -- 31st, Not too often that DJ gets cast in the role of villain. But he played it to the hilt Saturday. gNA$hCAR penalized him a couple of laps after the dust-up with Newman. He refused interview requests at the end of the race. This leaves his 78 points behind Gordon for the 10th Chase spot, so it's understandable why he would be upset.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 36th, Terminal engine problems ended his night early. It really doesn't matter much, as he's still second in points.
Next week... The new Labor Day weekend tradition continues under the lights at California Speedway.
