Hot 20 over the past 10 – A bad break for Stewart opens the door for the defending champ at the Glen

Where there is Smoke, there is an ambulance. Three Sprint races, three wrecks. A 19-year old driver got carted away with a back injury after Stewart caused a July 16th crash in New York. He flipped five times in a race July 29th in Ontario. Now we have this one where the flashing lights were for Smoke himself in Iowa. The three-time former champ will be back, but it will not be Sunday at the Glen, it will not be at Michigan or Bristol or probably anytime earlier than October at best.

Bad news for Tony, good news for Ryan Newman. As Stewart sinks in the standings and out of the Top Twenty, Newman sits next in line for his wild card berth in the Chase, as things stand now. Of course, there are five more races to run before the Chase begins, races that could be won by Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, or Joey Logano.

Oh, Logano has been making some noise lately. Over the past ten events, he has seven Top Tens, and only Kevin Harvick has done better. The trouble is, Logano has yet to lead a single lap at the Glen, with a fifth place finish sandwiched between a couple beyond 30th. Newman was second in 2002, but has just a couple of Top Tens since. Maybe the one to watch on Sunday, the one to take advantage of Stewart’s misfortune might be the guy who finished second to Marcos Ambrose each of these past two years at Watkins Glen. That would be one Brad Keselowski.

The defending champ has not done much of anything lately, but he remains poised to get back into contention on Sunday. He has a lapped car on a Sprint track in Iowa to thank for the opportunity.

Name Points Pos. LW Rank W T5 T10
  Kevin Harvick  360 1 1 (4) 1 3 8
  Jimmie Johnson  349 2 2 (1) 2 3 6
  Clint Bowyer  346 3 3 (2) 0 3 6
  Tony Stewart  341 4 4 (11) 1 5 7
  Kurt Busch  326 5 6 (13) 0 3 6
  Kyle Busch  321 6 5 (6) 0 4 7
  Carl Edwards  309 7 7 (3) 0 1 3
  Joey Logano  302 8 12 (17) 0 2 7
  Ryan Newman  299 9 9 (15) 1 3 5
  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  297 10 10 (5) 0 2 5
  Jeff Gordon  291 11 11 (9) 0 3 6
  Greg Biffle  288 12 14 (10) 1 2 4
  Kasey Kahne  286 13 16 (8) 1 3 4
  Martin Truex, Jr.  283 14 13 (14) 1 2 4
  Matt Kenseth  274 15 8 (7) 1 2 4
  Jamie McMurray  271 16 15 (16) 0 1 2
  Brad Keselowski  266 17 20 (12) 0 2 3
  Marcos Ambrose  265 18 19 (22) 0 0 2
  Jeff Burton  249 19 17 (20) 0 1 2
  Juan Pablo Montoya  238 20 18 (23) 0 1 2
  Aric Almirola  237 21 22 (18) 0 1 1
  Paul Menard  217 24 24 (19) 0 0 0

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Ron Thornton
Ron Thornton
A former radio and television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, Little League baseball coach, Ron Thornton has been following NASCAR on this site since 2004. While his focus may have changed over recent years, he continues to make periodic appearances only when he has something to say. That makes him a rather unique journalist.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Best New Zealand Online Casinos

RacingJunk.com and Leaf Racewear Safety Equipment Giveaway

Rocketplay Casino

10 deposit casinos

Best Betting Sites in Canada

bettingtop10.ca

Latest articles