So a few weeks earlier I made a blog post previewing NASCAR’s version of the playoffs called the chase. Where the top 12 drivers through the regular season get re-aligned based on the number of wins. Well Saturday night was a great race in Richmond Virginia, and the playoff field was set.
Matt Kenseth came into the race 12th, just in the field. But struggled all night. He was never up front, and his car just was not running well. Matt ended up 25th in the race, and 14th in the standings.
Then there is Kyle Busch. The driver of the 18 car for Joe Gibbs Racing had an up and down race. But for the most part he ran inside the top 10. With kenseth’s problem’s this opened the door for Busch to jump into the chase from 14th. But it was not to be as Kyle cam up short finishing getting 5th in the race and 13th in the standings.
But Brian Vickers was the man to step up and get himself in the chase. Brian finished 7th in the race, and it gave him enough points to get past Kenseth for 12th, and keep Kyle Busch from passing him.
Throughout the whole race it was back and forth between Kyle and Brian for the final chase spot. I must it admit, it was a great race to watch. Along with the chase storyline, Denny Hamlin took home a win at his home town track.
So now the field is set. The twelve drivers (after the points have been reset based on number of wins in the regular season) are 1.)Mark Martin 5040 pts. 2.) Tony Stewart 5030 pts. 3.)Jimmie Johnson 5030 pts. 4.)Denny Hamlin 5020 pts. 5.)Kasey Kahne 5020 pts. 6.)Jeff Gordon 5010 pts. 7.)Kurt Busch 5010 pts. 8.)Brian Vickers 5010 pts. 9.)Carl Edwards 5000pts. 10.)Ryan Newman 5000 pts. 11.)Jaun Montoya 5000 pts. 12.)Greg Biffle 5000 pts.
So it’s shaping up to a very exciting and close points battle. The first chase race is next Sunday in New Hampshire.
My opinion on who will win, well I think we will see a close battle between Mark Martin,Tony Stewart,and Jimmie Johnson at the final race in Homestead. My darkhorse pick to do well is Jaun Montoya. But it’s a new season for these twelve drivers and as we have seen in the past anything can happen when a title’s on the line.
