All Sports All The Time

It was a relatively quite night as Bristol Motorspeedway, well as quite as it can be with 170,000 screaming fans and 43 high powered race cars. With Btirstol known for its hard driving and less than patient racing, this particular race will go down as one of the most ho hum Bristol races. Not that the fans at the track would be disappointed in the race they saw. but I would imagine there are plenty of race fans that were left a bit disappointed after watching it on television.

I for one am far from disappointed, my driver had a great race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up in 3rd place and actually moved up in the points standing with only 2 races to go. He only needs to survive California next week and Ricmond in the final race, the week after.

After starting the race way in back after a horrible qualifying session, he managed to get to the front and actually lead a bunch of laps (not sure exactly how many). He was able to pull off that feat thanks to smart pit strategy by the team. One of the early cautions brought them to pit road deep in the pack and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. made the call to put on only right side tires and sent Dale Jr. back on the track with the lead.

Even though he didn’t remain in the lead for a long time, that move allowed him to stay in the Top 10 for the remainder of the race and he ultimately finished in 3rd. The winner of the race was Matt Kenseth and with the win, he swept the Bristol race weekend since he won the Busch race on Friday night. Baby Busch was trying to make a run to the front of the field, but he fell on position short and came in 2nd in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Both Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson have at least clinched a spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup and Kenseth actually has pulled to only 7 points behind Jimmie Johnson in the points standings. The final 8 spots will have to wait until after Richmond to be finalized. I was really nervous before the race started, being a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan and him starting in 40th position, but that soon gave way to excitement at the possibility that he might improve his position in the Chase after he actually lead some laps and looked like he had a pretty stout race car.

There was plenty of shake up in the points standing after Saturday nights race, but no one dropped out of the Top 10 as a result. The biggest loser in the whole thing was Mark Martin, he lost 6 spots, dropping from 4th in points down to 10th. He is 90 points ahead of 11th place Kasey Kahne fighting for that 10th and final spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Top 10 Finishers

1.	M. Kenseth	4	Ford
2.	Ky. Busch	19	Chevy
3.	D. Earnhardt Jr.	40	Chevy
4.	S. Riggs	23	Dodge
5.	J. Gordon	13	Chevy
6.	D. Hamlin	6	Chevy
7.	C. Edwards	39	Ford
8.	R. Newman	21	Dodge
9.	J. Burton	2	Chevy
10.	J. Johnson	18	Chevy

 

Heading into California this weekend, Dale Earnhard Jr. only needs to be concerned with big picture racing and so much fighting for a win. He can move up only 4th in points if he has a spectacular race a the drivers ahead of him don’t, but he could also drop out of the Top 10 with a less than stellar race and Kasey Kahne pull off a win or Top 5.