While Jamie McMurray stole the show with the win, the beast of the southeast took her turn at mixing up the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Multiple Chase drivers took a turn in the blender experiencing issues, which has now changed the complexion of the Chase.

12th: No. 33 Clint Bowyer, 300 points back of points leader Jimmie Johnson

After a finish of 17th, Clint Bowyer keeps his seat as the last place man in the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship standings. Bowyer struggled all night with an ill-handling car and even got into a pit road discussion with Johnson. Coming off of pit road, Johnson cut Bowyer off, in Bowyer’s mind, when he was leaving his stall. In return, Bowyer made contact with Johnson before they went back green.

Bowyer has a long fight ahead of him, something he knew he would have after the 150 points penalty following New Hampshire.

11th: No. 17 Matt Kenseth, 256 points back of Johnson

Matt Kenseth had a consistant night as he finished sixth after running in the top 10 for most of the night. Though if Kenseth is going to have a shot at the championship, Kenseth will have to pull off some wins and hope the others run into some misfortunes.

10th: No. 31 Jeff Burton, 239 points back of Johnson

After a finish of 20th due to an ill-handling car and a spin, Burton drops back two spots to 10th in points. Burton is known for his consistancy, however like Kenseth, he will have to go above that and hope for some misfortune.

9th:  No. 2 Kurt Busch, 237 points back of Johnson

Busch had just a good of night as Burton did as he spun early in the race and was lucky nobody else made contact with him. From that point on, it was all downhill as the team could never get a handle on the car, which resulted in a finish of 30th. This, in return, caused him to drop three spots in the championship standings.

8th: No. 16 Greg Biffle, 225 points back of Johnson

With both Busch and Burton having issues, Biffle was able to gain two spots in the standings after finishing fifth. Biffle is known for being good on the mile and a halfs so it’d seem to be no surprise that he was in the top 10 most of the night.

7th: No. 99 Carl Edwards, 200 points back of Johnson

Carl Edwards is another Roush ford that had a decent night as he finished 12th to stay seventh in the standings. If Edwards wants to live up to his tough competitor edge and win the title, he’s going to have to pull off some top fives.

6th: No. 14 Tony Stewart, 177 points back of Johnson

After recieving damage in an early race incident after slowing down to avoid a wreck, Stewart’s night didn’t get better as he finished 21st and dropped one spot in the standings. Stewart had hopes that he’d be able to get back in the championship picture following his win at Auto Club Speedway. However, this sets him further back and makes the chances of that happening slimmer.

5th: No. 18 Kyle Busch, 177 points back of Johnson

After a finish of second, Busch gains four spots in the championship and looks to be entering back into the picture. Last week, Busch wrote himself off saying that he was done after they blew the motor. Following his second place finish, Busch was still disappointed as he felt that he should’ve won after dominating. Truthfully, Busch is going to have to pull off some wins if he wants to gain the points on his fellow competitors as right now, he looks to be just outside of the gate of being in the picture.

4th: No. 24 Jeff Gordon, 156 points back of Johnson

Gordon was running in the top 10 and looked to gain points after starting on pole, however alternator issues, which brought on a change of the batteries, caused him to finish 23rd. Gordon is barely in the picture as a swing of 161 points is possible in one race, if all the circumstances fall in place. Though this race also represents Gordon’s luck this year as whenever he seems to be in the spot to get a shot at winning, something happens that causes that chance to disappear.

3rd: No. 29 Kevin Harvick, 77 points back of Johnson

After looking to be the most consistant driver following the first 26 races, Harvick now sits third in points after finishing eighth. Harvick has the ability to pull off some wins so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Harvick made the charge.

2nd: No. 11 Denny Hamlin, 41 points back of Johnson

After finishing fourth, the disappointment was clear on Hamlin’s face as he knew he fell short of his goal – beating Johnson. Hamlin has officially declared that he is after Johnson and is ready to win the championship so look for these final five races to be exciting.

1st: No. 48 Jimmie Johnson

Following the Bank of America 200, Johnson deserves the “biggest comeback” award as a lot of people thought it was going to be a poor finish for the No. 48 team. At the beginning of the race, Johnson had a really loose car, which caused him to spin. Once he was stuck back in traffic, it was thought that he’d be done. However, like many times before, crew chief Chad Knaus pulled out the magic wand and got the car to where it was the quickest car on track. Johnson drove from the back to lead the race for awhile, and then eventually settled for second. Performances like these are what win championships and Johnson proved why he is a four-time champion. Look for the No. 48 team to put out these types of performances from here till Homestead.

Each week brings a new challenge to the Chase for the Championship drivers and each week, you see drivers that lose hopes to being the 2010 Sprint Cup Champion.

Next Sunday, the drivers will head to Martinsville Speedway, a tough half mile paperclip. Look for Johnson and Hamlin to battle for the win and the title as they’ve both been battling the track lately to determind whom is king. Although while they’re at it, don’t forget to watch the other 10 as they may sneak in and spoil their party.

Weird things sometimes happen under the lights and NASCAR’s elite Cup Series did not disappoint as they took to the track at night in Charlotte.  Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the halfway point in the Chase, with just five races remaining in the 2010 season.

Surprising:  For the very first time at Charlotte Motor Speedway since the Chase for the Championship began, a non-Chase driver took the checkered flag and emotionally climbed out of his car to celebrate in Victory Lane.  Jamie McMurray, a driver that has risen to the top in all major races with wins at the Daytona 500, the Brickyard, and now the night race in Charlotte, dedicated his victory to fellow competitor Shane Hmiel, who suffered life-threatening injuries in a serious wreck in a Silver Crown Series qualifying run.  McMurray also thanked his dad, who was in Victory Lane with him for the first time this season, and talked emotionally about the power of prayer and its effect on him and his team this year.

Not Surprising:  Following closely behind McMurray in the decidedly heated battle for the second place position were none other than four-time champion Jimmie Johnson and admittedly aggressive competitor Kyle Busch.  While Busch won that battle, Johnson perhaps was the true winner, having overcome an early race spin and playing catch up all race long with continual coaching from crew chief Chad Knaus.  Busch had his share of obstacles as well, at one point battling throttle issues.  With Busch’s second place finish, the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota climbed four positions in the point standings and also broke the record for the number of laps led, in his case now over 4,000 laps led, in NASCAR’s top three series.  Jimmie Johnson, with his third place finish, maintained his standing as points leader, currently 41 points ahead of the second place contender.

Surprising:  No one could have predicted how many of the Chase contenders would have problems at their home track under the lights.  Kurt Busch, who was going for a Charlotte sweep and history, not only wrecked during practice but also wrecked early in the race.  Tony Stewart also sustained damage to his incredibly unattractive race car after an incident involving his teammate.  After leading the field to the green from the pole position, the other four-time champion Jeff Gordon suffered battery issues, losing power in his principal battery and going a lap down in trying to make the switch to the back up.  Jeff Burton also had issues, causing caution number eight when he slid across teammate Clint Bowyer’s nose and spectacularly spun his car out of contention, finishing 20^th.

Not Surprising:  On the flip side, it was not surprising to yet again see many non-Chase competitors start to find their grooves as the season winds to a close.  In addition to Jamie McMurray in Victory Lane, other non-Chasers also had good runs, including Joey Logano who finished seventh, David Reutimann who came in ninth, and David Ragan who had an unusually good finish in the top ten in his Live United No. 9 Ford. 

Surprising:   After such stellar runs in Fontana with Tony Stewart in Victory Lane and Ryan Newman finishing fifth, Stewart-Haas Racing had a terrible time back at the home track in Charlotte.  Newman got the worst of it, crashing on lap two of the race, when he got loose, spun and hit the wall.  The incident and the resulting damage relegated the driver to his worst finish in eight races, coming to the checkered flag in the 36^th position.  Stewart finished slightly better in the 21^st position, but fell a spot in the Chase standings to sixth, now 177 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Not Surprising:  Denny Hamlin, still in the hunt for this year’s championship, maintained the position of being poised to strike at Johnson for the coveted Sprint Cup.  Hamlin, in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota finished fourth in the Bank of America 500 and remains just 41 points behind Johnson in the Chase for the Championship standings. 

Surprising:   Strange things happened on pit road during the race at Charlotte, from speeding penalties to burning rubber in the pit boxes.  Seasoned drivers and past champions Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon both had speeding penalties.  While Busch was coming in hot to get tires after this spin on the track, Gordon was penalized for the second week in a row for being too fast on pit road, relegating him to a miserable 23^rd place race finish and undoubtedly jeopardizing any hope for a fifth championship run.

Not Surprising:   Kevin Harvick had his usual share of problems in the pits, with his crew having failure to perform yet again.  Harvick did, however, overcome them to finish eighth in the race, keeping himself in the championship hunt, in the third position just 77 points shy of leader Johnson.

Surprising:  In a surprising turn of events, Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne bailed from his No. 9 Budweiser Ford.  Kahne and Sam Hornish tangled on Lap 124, with both suffering severe damage to their race cars.  Kahne took the opportunity to leave the track, citing illness, and J.J. Yeley was enlisted to finish the race, bringing the car home in the 38^th position.

Not Surprising:  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had another miserable night at the office.  The Hendrick Motorsports driver brought up the rear for his team, finishing 29^th and sharing that his car felt like it had “concrete in the front shocks” and that his run was “expletive embarrassing.”

The Cup Series will head next to the short track at Martinsville, Virginia.  The sixth race of the 10-race Chase, the Tums Fast Relief 500, will run on Sunday, October 24^th at 1:00 PM EDT on ESPN.

The announcement of the 2011class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame was interesting if not perplexing.  Chosen were David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, and Bud Moore.  Pearson was as much of a lock to be voted in this year as anyone could have been.  Reports indicate he nearly made it last year, so this year was a certainty.  Surprising was the Jarrett and Moore selections, not that they didn’t deserve the honor.  They certainly do.  But what is confusing is how can you lock William Caleb Yarborough out two years in a row. 

I had openly campaigned for Pearson, Yarborough, and Allison.  Those were the heroes of my youth, and with each approaching or past 70, I wanted to see them get into the Hall before anything happened to them.  Two out of three made it, but what about Cale?  Humpy Wheeler, former boss at Charlotte Motor Speedway, said it was personal feelings that drove the voters to Jarrett, Moore, and Petty and against Darrell Waltrip and Yarborough, the other two favorites.  Is there something I’m missing here?

Yarborough has the third most wins in series history and is the only one of two drivers to win three consecutive Sprint Cup championships.  So why did Petty, Jarrett, and Moore get in and Yarborough did not?  It probably had to do with exposure.  Yarborough is seldom seen around NASCAR’s speedways and last made an appearance in congratulating Jimmie Johnson for tying his consecutive championship record, a record Johnson has since eclipsed.  Maybe Yarborough could be called the forgotten man.

Truth is, this was a tough decision for the voters to make and Wheeler is probably right in that personal feelings had a lot to do with it.  Petty was a pioneer in the sport and the father of NASCAR’s “King,” Richard Petty.  Jarrett was a popular personality on NASCAR’s television and radio broadcasts for years.  Moore was a crusty World War II veteran who led his drivers to 63 wins and two championships.  And that’s the problem.

The powers that be just don’t induct enough people into the Hall of Fame.  At the rate of five per year, most of our heroes will have gone on to their reward before they make the Hall.  There should also be separate categories for drivers, crew chiefs, pit crew members, car owners, and media greats.  The Hall should have had an initial 20 people inducted and then chosen five a year from each category.  Some will not live long enough to see their heroes in the Hall, and that’s a shame.

So those of us who watched Yarborough wrestle a race car around the track to win will have to wait another year…or three.  And if NASCAR continues to only induct five per year, we may never see him join the elite group he deserves.