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[/media-credit]Does this current NASCAR season remind you of 2005? Roush Racing vs Hendrick Motorsports ring any bells? At this point in the 2005 season, Greg Biffle already had four race victories. He won at Auto Club, Texas, Darlington, and Dover. Carl Edwards had at Atlanta. Kurt Busch had a race win at Phoenix, and Mark Martin topped it off with an All-Star win. Hendrick Motorsports in 2005? Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were both doing well at this point. However; it is also after this point that Gordon hit a big bad luck streak that led to him missing the Chase. The difference for Gordon this season is that he’s had nothing but bad luck it seems minus three top-10 finishes at Phoenix, Texas (ironic), and Charlotte.
Fans will agree with me that Gordon has had great cars all year along minus Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Charlotte. Gordon had a pretty bad car at Vegas, but his team managed to get him a 12th place finish. Gordon had a good car, but not a great car at Phoenix and also at Charlotte.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been the surprise of the season. Jr’s been up near the front of the points all season long. Jr’s consistency has been really helpful and that is something that we haven’t seen from him since 2008. Every driver eventually will have a bad race, but we haven’t seen a terrible finish for that no.88 team yet.
Kasey Kahne, like Gordon, started off the season backwards, but many say now that Kahne is one of the hottest drivers on the track as he is racking top-5 finishes and showed it with his third Coca-Cola 600 win. Now, what about Johnson? He started off with that nasty crash after completing the first lap at the Daytona 500. That was unfortunate. Johnson has also had a pretty decent year. The problem for Johnson is mistakes. We have seen more mistakes from his pit crew from these past 2 seasons than ever before. If Chad Knaus wants them to be competitive when the Chase comes, I suggest that they work better at that. Johnson broke a long winless streak after scoring his 2nd Southern 500 victory. If Johnson’s team can start finishing in the top-10 on a weekly basis and not have a random hiccup in the middle of that, then I think the no.48 team will definitely be a threat to the Roush train.
Is it only a matter of time before Gordon finds his stride? Before the Coca-Cola 600, Gordon had finished outside the top-20 for five consecutive races. For a guy that should be a six-time champion in the sport that is just incredible bad luck, but with his 7th place finish at Charlotte last weekend, is this the beginning of the recovery cycle for the no.24 team? Gordon can only hope, but he will have a good starting position for the race tomorrow.
If you think about it, Hendrick Motorsports has won the last four races. Johnson won the All-Star Race and Darlington. Earnhardt Jr. snagged the All-Star Showdown and Kahne got the 600. Is Gordon next to win? Can Hendrick Motorsports be stopped?
My prediction is simple, Johnson and Kasey Kahne will head into the Chase 1 and 2. Notice how I didn’t mention Jr.? For those of you who are new to the sport, we have a seed system based on wins and right now to me it looks like Jr.’s team is focused more on consistent finishes rather than go that extra yard for a victory. I say Gordon will make the Chase, but it’s definitely not going to be an easy ride.
