[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”229″]
[/media-credit]Not so long ago, a wise man (hey, I can dream can’t I?) once said that Kyle Busch would claim the final Chase place at Richmond. This wise man noticed that in 13 of 15 attempts, Busch had finished not worse than sixth. That would leave no room, one would think, for Jeff Gordon to make up a 12 point deficit. It seemed like a pretty good bet. Thank God that wise man didn’t wager on the outcome. Sometimes nudity, even if only to lose one’s shirt, is not a good thing for any of us.
Rain delayed things in Richmond for a couple of hours, then more rain put a halt to the action short of the midway point. Crew chief Dave Rogers left Busch out for track position, just in case the rains continued. They did not. Kyle Busch wanted to pit. He did not. They then hoped for a caution, maybe hoping Brad Keselowski might toss out another water bottle, thermos, or even the entire cooler. He did not. What they would wind up needing was to pit under green for servicing.
Busch came in, the tires went on, but there was something missing. From my couch, a 2400 mile drive away from Richmond, I could see the official in white frantically waving at the missing lug nut on the passenger rear tire. Rogers, from a few feet away in the pit box, apparently did not. After a painful pregnant pause, the man with the airgun returned, fixed the problem, and Busch drove off. Precious time and positions were lost, and in the end Kyle lost his Chase spot to Gordon by three little points.
Jeff was ecstatic. When they had halted for rain, he thought he was done like dinner. Instead, he marched forward, Busch faltered, then they took the gun to his foot and pulled the trigger. Gordon led two laps and finished second, Busch led none and wound up 16th for his second worse finish there in eight seasons. When he pulled in, Joe Gibbs stuck his head in the window to remind his driver to handle the situation the right way. For his trouble, he got a face full of Busch butt as he got out of the car and out of Dodge, but not before stating that they missed it and that there was “no right way to handle it.”
Gibbs claims “we love Dave Rogers.” I’m not sure who “we”includes, but I have a suspicion as to one who might not. It should be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the next ten races. Meanwhile, Gordon said if he made the Chase he was going to bring back that cheesy mustache he sported back when he first broke in, and he is a man of his word. I guess we can blame Dave Rogers for that, too.
Heading to Chicago, Denny Hamlin enters the Chase with a 12 point bonus to lead the way, three up on Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Keselowski. Those with 2006 points, six off the pace, are Richmond race winner Clint Bowyer, who led the final 86 laps, and Greg Biffle. Three behind them we find Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Matt Kenseth, with Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr, Kasey Kahne, and Gordon all starting with 2000 points. Four cars owned by Rick Hendrick, two by Jack Roush, and two by Michael Waltrip, with Childress, Penske, Stewart, and Gibbs each with one.
So, it is off to Chicago and the nitty gritty portion of the season. Tony Stewart won there last season but, based on what happened last Saturday night, yesterday’s results might mean squat coming into this weekend. Still, Smoke has won there three times in eleven attempts, Harvick has a couple, with Junior and Jeff with one apiece. Stewart might be the favorite coming in but, as we have discovered, it is what it is heading out that really counts. Enjoy the week.
