With a ten race dash to decide a champion, it pretty much makes sense that the best over the final ten events will claim the crown. That certainly was the case once again in 2012 as Brad Keselowski left the field behind, thanks to a rough patch or two for his closest competitors late in the season.
Clint Bowyer was keeping his hopes alive until Jeff Gordon decided to end that in Phoenix, leaving Gordon with minus points on the day. Jimmie Johnson had back-to-back wins in Martinsville and Texas, but he was outside the top-30 in the final two and likely left about 40 points on the table and the championship.
While the Chasers were doing there thing, Kyle Busch was showing what might have been had he been eligible. No wins, but seven top fives gives the impression that the boy-child we call Rowdy has designs on a place at the dinner table come November. Only Keselowski was better. Kurt Busch moved to a new team for the final five races and finished off with three straight top tens. Might the team from Colorado have found their man to put them into contention?
As we countdown to Daytona, here are the Hot 20 over last season’s final 10…
Pos (Official) Driver- Pts – (Wins-Top Fives-Top Tens)
1 (1) Brad Keselowski – 391 pts (2-3-8)
2 (13) Kyle Busch – 359 pts (0-7-8)
3 (2) Clint Bowyer – 355 pts (1-4-8)
4 (3) Jimmie Johnson – 351 pts (2-6-7)
5 (4) Kasey Kahne – 345 pts (0-5-6)
6 (5) Greg Biffle – 326 pts (0-2-6)
7 (7) Matt Kenseth – 321 pts (2-3-3)
8 (8) Kevin Harvick – 321 pts (1-1-3)
9 (6) Denny Hamlin – 317 pts (1-3-4)
10 (14)Ryan Newman – 317 pts (0-3-6)
11 (10) Jeff Gordon – 303 pts (1-4-6)
12 (9) Tony Stewart – 302 pts (0-2-4)
13 (11) Martin Truex Jr – 299 pts (0-1-5)
14 (17) Joey Logano – 287 pts (0-0-4)
15 (15) Carl Edwards – 283 pts (0-1-2)
16 (20) Aric Almirola – 281 pts (0-1-2)
17 (16) Paul Menard – 275 pts (0-0-0)
18 (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr – 242 pts (0-0-3)
19 (25) Kurt Busch – 236 pts (0-0-3)
20 (19) Jeff Burton – 236 pts (0-0-1)
23 (18) Marcos Ambrose – 215 pts (0-0-0)
