NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Carl Edwards: After a tire issue left him floundering mid-pack for much of Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500, Edwards delivered a gutsy charge to the front late in the race. He salvaged a ninth-place finish and maintained his points lead, which is now eight over Tony Stewart.
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[/media-credit]“So, Stewart says I ‘better be worried?’” Edwards said. “He’s right. I am worried. Worried that I won’t be in first place when the Chase ends. But that’s better than worrying that I’ll still be in second when the Chase ends.”
2. Tony Stewart: Stewart nearly fell a lap down midway through the TUMS Fast Relief 500, but battled back and passed Jimmie Johnson on lap 498 to take his third win of the Chase. Stewart now trails Carl Edwards by two points in the Sprint Cup standings.
“The Cup championship is so close,” Stewart said, “I can taste it. I’m not sure what it tastes like, but it smells like victory.
“Paul Menard wouldn’t push me to the win at Talladega. Ironically, his refusal to do so pushed me to the win at Martinsville. Supposed ‘team orders’ played no part in this outcome. Last week at Talladega, it was ‘team orders’ that reeked of ‘team odors.’ Something is rotten in Denmark, and at Roush Fenway, and at Richard Childress Racing.”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth at Martinsville and clipped five points from Carl Edwards’ points lead. Edwards lead Tony Stewart by eight, with Harvick 21 behind Edwards.
“That’s my sixth top-10 finish in seven Chase races,” Harvick said. “Despite those finishes, I still find myself hovering just outside the lead. It seems I’m ‘spinning my wheels,’ unfortunately not as a result of winning a race.”
4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 31st at Martinsville after slamming the wall on lap 464 after cutting a tire. He later tangled with Brian Vickers, spinning the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota only to have Vickers retaliate later. Kenseth fell from second to fifth in the point standings, losing 22 points to points leader Carl Edwards, who finished ninth.
“Brian Vickers is hell on wheels,” Kenseth said. “Red Bull comes in a can. You know what else comes in a can? ‘Black Flag.’ Oddly enough, I’m jealous of Vickers. Why? Because he did so much ‘trading paint’ on Sunday that he had new sponsors by race’s end.”
5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led on the final restart with three laps to go at Martinsville, but couldn’t hold off the charging Tony Stewart, who slipped by one lap later. Johnson took the runner-up spot and improved one place in the point standings to sixth, 43 behind Carl Edwards.
“Brian Vickers cost me the race,” Johnson said. “He just had to retaliate against Matt Kenseth. That caution killed me. Vickers has no business intentionally spinning cars when he can do it just fine by accident.
“As for my title hopes, I’m not conceding anything. Hopefully, something strange will happen. Ideally, something stranger than me not winning the Sprint Cup title.”
6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski saw a sure top-10 finish turn into a disappointing 17th after his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was collected in a wreck with two laps to go. Dale Earnhardt made contact with Denny Hamlin, sending the No. 11 into Keselowski’s Dodge. Keselowski is now fourth in the point standings, 27 behind Carl Edwards.
“Brian Vickers hit a lot of cars on Sunday,” Keselowski said, “and it appears he ‘rubbed off’ on Earnhardt as well.”
7. Kyle Busch: Busch led 126 laps at Martinsville and was headed for at worst a top-5 finish before he was wrecked on lap 464 when Matt Kenseth cut a tire in front of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota. Busch finished 27th, seven laps down, and fell to seventh in the point standings, a distant 57 out of first.
“It’s hard to believe I was leading the standings before the Chase started,” Busch said. “What’s much more believable? That I’m not leading the standings after the Chase ends. I could blame it on luck, or fate, my own deficiencies as a driver, or, better yet, ‘un-lead-ed’ fuel.”
8. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led 113 laps in the TUMS Fast Relief 500, sporting the best car on the track for much of the race. Unfortunately, his handling faded late, and his chance for a win fell to the wayside. He finished third and remained in tenth in the point standings, 76 out of first.
“Apparently,” Gordon said, “2011 is not a good season for present five-time Sprint Cup champions, or future five-time champions, for that matter.”
9. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt finished seventh at Martinsville, registering only his second top-10 result of the Chase. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 73 out of first.
“I’m not ready to call our 2011 season a failure,” Earnhardt said. “That is, unless I go four more races without a victory, thereby clinching a winless season. Only then will I call our year a ‘total’ loss.”
10. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 14th at Martinsville, and since winning at Dover on October 9th, has not posted a top-10 finish. He now sits eighth in the point standings, 58 out of first.
“Despite a ho-hum 14th-place finish,” Busch said, “there was reason to celebrate. I spun Ryan Newman and didn’t get punched.”
The Final Word – And then there were two…or is it three for Texas?
As the boys moved on from Martinsville en route to Texas, the Chase has come down to essentially a two man race. Carl Edwards went to Virginia hoping to avoid disaster, which would have been to maintain his average of 16th place finishes there, but moved up in the end to claim 9th. Tony Stewart was in junk all day, told his crew that nothing they did seemed to change that fact, yet moved around Jimmie Johnson in the late stages to claim his third win of the Chase. It was called the Turns Fast Relief 500, and for a pair of guys it sure did.
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[/media-credit]Eight points separate Edwards from his nearest challenger, and if you don’t think wins matter this season, think again. Stewart is eight back, but if those three Chase wins had turned out to be just runner-up results the difference would have been 20. Wins matter, and after what took place last Sunday so does Stewart.
As they move into the Lone Star state, some have a chance if Edwards, at least, finds himself about as lucky as the hare who sacrificed the rabbit’s foot. Kevin Harvick was 4th last weekend and now sits third in the standings, 21 points out. Brad Keselowski was 17th, and he finds himself 27 points back. The rest don’t matter unless Texas turns into the Alamo for the leaders. So, what are the chances?
Edwards has won at Fort Worth three times in 13 starts, but has an average finish of more than 16th. More than half the time he is outside the Top Fifteen, three times 33rd or worse. Stewart has ran there on nineteen occasions, won there five years ago, and has an average outcome of 13th. Six times he has finished fifteenth or worse, three times outside the Top Thirty. Advantage Stewart, unless Edwards wins. I guess that means you will have to watch the action to see how this turns out.
Harvick has never won there, but 60% of his seventeen encounters have ended with him inside the Top Twenty. Keselowski has not done much of anything in his four visits, so that does not bode well for him. Should both Edwards and Stewart falter, Harvick has a shot of getting back into it. If Edwards claims his fourth victory at the track, then Phoenix and Homestead could be somewhat anti-climatic.
While you will be watching the action from Texas, my family and I are taking a short break to visit New York City, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg. We know we should expect to see tall buildings, the Liberty Bell, and the site of Pickett’s Charge on our tour. I don’t know what to expect at Fort Worth, other than maybe the unexpected. The picture should be much clearer when I return as the boys head to Homestead in a couple of weeks. Enjoy your week.
Underdogs of the Tums Fast Relief 500
Jeff Burton: Burton was the top finishing non-chase driver at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday with his sixth place finish. This is his second consecutive top-10 in a row after finishing second in the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The first caution of the race occurred on Lap 7 when Dale Earnhardt Jr ran over a curb, spinning out and causing a pile up. Burton received sheet metal damage to the left-rear corner of his race car, but his pit crew was able to fix the damage and keep him on the lead lap. He quickly raced his way back to the front of the pack and ran as high as seventh in the first 100 laps of the race.
Halfway through the race, Burton was running in ninth and ran in the top-15 for the next 150 laps. On Lap 398 Burton was involved in a pile up involving Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. Burton backed his Chevy into the outside wall, resulting in minimal rear-end damage and restarting in 16th position. Burton did not pit when the majority of the field pitted under caution on lap 457, moving him up to second place for the restart on lap 463. Racing on old tires, Burton was eventually passed, but still came home with a top-10 finish.
Martin Truex Jr: Unlike a majority of the field on Sunday, Truex had a relatively uneventful day at Martinsville Speedway. Due to qualifying being rained out, Truex started the race in 24th position. By Lap 110, he had broken into the top-10 and remained near 10th place throughout the rest of the race. In the final three laps, Martin raced from 11th to eighth position to secure his top-10 finish. This is the No. 56 team’s second consecutive top-10 finish and tenth top-10 of the season.
AJ Allmendinger: AJ started the race in 16th position and wasted no time letting his team know that he was happy with his race car. In fact, he was so happy with it that crew chief Greg Erwin elected not to bring the No. 43 Ford down pit road during the first three caution’s of the race. Staying out under yellow, along with having a fast race car allowed Allmendinger to drive into the lead of the race on Lap 55. Allmendinger continued to lead until Lap 66 when a caution came out, allowing him to pit for an air pressure adjustment, four tires and fuel. Several teams did not to pit under this caution period, forcing Allmendinger to restart in 16th place.
Still pleased with his car, Allmendinger was able to take the lead again on Lap 117. As the race wore on, the No. 43 car started to lose grip and positions on the race track. Lap 407 Allmendinger sustained left front fender damage due to a multi-car pile up. He was forced to pit to repair damage on Lap 409 and restarted in 22nd position on Lap 413. Being the last car on the lead lap, Allmendinger race his way through the field and was in the 14th spot by Lap 441.
On Lap 444 Allmendinger made contact with the No. 78 car sending him sliding into the wall, causing minor right side damage. He yet again found himself at the tail end of the lead lap with 50 laps to go. Allmendinger once again raced his way to 15th position with six laps remaining in the race. To Allmendinger’s benefit, caution came out for the final time on Lap 494. This caution allowed AJ to gain four spots in the final three laps of the race, securing his 11th place finish.
