[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”217″]
[/media-credit]With two races remaining before the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins, the first drivers have been locked in.
It was Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane for the first time at Bristol but he has yet to earn his spot, even with three wins this year. Instead it was point leader Greg Biffle and teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. who earned their spots in the Chase. Johnson finished second on Saturday night to Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr. 12th and Biffle was 19th.
“Tonight was intense. To start that deep in the field when they drop the green, you’re half a lap behind, if not more, the initial start,” said Johnson, who qualified 37th. “To get going was important for us, but then being back there, we had had to get some track position somehow. So we pitted a few times and tried to get some fuel in the car and set up a strategy for us later in the race.
“That really ended up working out nice for us. So credit to Chad and Greg for calling a great race strategy wise. We had a fast car at times, I think maybe a race winning car but certainly a top three car all night long.”
For Johnson it was a long night, which he thought might not have seen the end. Before the race had even hit the 50-lap mark, he was worried his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet was going to overheat and suffer an engine failure. He had damaged the nose early during a chain reaction while racing in a pack around the top side of the track.
Yet, with his gauges often flashing red, Johnson fought on. He led 51 of the races 500 laps to earn his ninth Chase appearance, making every Chase since its inception in 2004. In that time he won five straight championships, 2006-2010, and looks ready to fight for No. 6 after what started as frustrating weekend in Bristol.
“We rallied back and had a great race tonight. There is not another racetrack like this in the Chase, but momentum is key,” Johnson said. “Pit stops were strong tonight. It’s all more reps and very helpful moving forward and locking is awesome.
“Takes a huge weight off our shoulders.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t made every Chase, but his back-to-back appearances have the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard Chevrolet driver excited about his chances. After finishing fifth last season, Earnhardt Jr. will enter this Chase with bonus points toward seeding.
Saturday he didn’t have a winning car, although he complimented crew chief Steve Letarte for giving him one of the best he’s had at Bristol. Except, had it not been for two pit road penalties, it might have produced a solid top 10 finish.
Following a round of pit stops on lap 84, Earnhardt Jr. was busted for speeding while on pit road. He had been running in the top 10 but gave up all his track position when restarting at the tail end of the field.
Then came lap 384. Having made his way back into contention the team began to play their strategy by pitting. Earnhardt Jr. did but too early, again having to go to the tail end of the field. He only recovered for a 12th place finish after leading for 12 laps.
“I feel good about it. We worked real hard all season and I want to thank my guys,” said Earnhardt Jr. after the race on making the Chase. “They do a good job every week and give me good strategy. I made a little mistake and came down a closed pit road tonight.
“I don’t know what we were thinking. But we had a fast car. The car was so fast at the start of the race. We just lost that track position and couldn’t get by some guys. I had fun, though.
“I don’t know what the fans thought about the race. But I really enjoyed it.”
It was a night of mixed reviews. For Biffle, what started out as a potentially strong night fell by the wayside as things often do at the Tennessee bullring. But he led the way for Roush Fenway Racing with a 19th place finish and leading the field for 41 circuits.
Matt Kenseth, who clinched at least a Wild Card spot in the Chase, was wrecked while racing Tony Stewart for the lead and Carl Edwards, who had been leading with 40 laps to before falling to fifth, ran out of fuel.
The point leader, holding an 11-point advantage on Johnson, was out of contention by lap 365. He lost the lead when he slipped up the track and was sitting 14th by lap 425. His No. 16 3M / Bondo Ford Fusion continued to slide backwards by race’s end.
“The old Bristol we were all single file on the bottom and you would bump the guy to get him out of the way. Now we’re all single file a foot from the wall and you bump the guy and there’s nowhere for him to go,” said Biffle afterwards.
“You can’t bump him out of the way because there’s a wall four feet from you and it won’t open up a lane. So from where I was sitting it didn’t look a lot different. Some guys were pushing and shoving a little more, but you’ve got to have a place to pass when you shove them out of the way.”
The good news for Biffle is that after missing the Chase last season, he’ll make his fourth appearance in NASCAR’s playoffs next month. With two wins on the season he’ll also have a decent seeding as he searches for his first Cup title. As well as make history by becoming the first driver to win a NASCAR championship in all three national series.
“It feels really good to be locked in with two races to go. It was a tough night here, but we did lock ourselves in and still have the point lead,” he said. “This wasn’t the run we were looking for. We pitted at the end to try and make the car better and learn something, but it was probably the wrong thing to do because we lost about eight spots.
“We weren’t gonna win, so we thought we might as well try what we can.”
The Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday night and Richmond International Raceway the following Saturday night, will host the final two regular season races. The Chase then begins September 16 in Chicago.
