Although the crowd did not cheer much when Busch won the race, they did  when he saved his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from near disaster, twice.

On Lap 48, Busch was going through Turn 1 with Jimmie Johnson on his bumper when Busch came down and made slight contact with Johnson. The contact sent Busch sideways as the car shot off sparks. Busch collected it momentarily before going sideways again. Just as the crowd was sure that Busch was about to wreck the entire field, Busch collected it, straighten out and kept on, keeping the field under green.  Needless to say, the fans were in awe of Busch and thankful for his impeccable driving ability.

Later, Jeff Gordon gave Busch a hard shove in the left-rear, sending Busch sliding down to the apron. Gordon then moved up to avoid Busch and made contact with Kurt Busch, who then made contact with Jamie McMurray, sending all three cars into the wall. Kyle Busch again collected his car twice, keeping it from spinning initially. Then, however, on its third attempt, the car did spin, but Busch kept it off the wall and managed to avoid major damage. Gordon, however, wasn’t so lucky. More on that later.

From the drop of the green flag, the race had somewhat of a frantic pace.  After the first big wreck involving David Ragan, Paul Menard, Michael Waltrip and Matt Kenseth, we all knew another big wreck was coming; we just didn’t know when.  On Lap 55, a chain-reaction wreck occurred when Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano got together, collecting pole sitter and front runners Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth.

With only a few laps remaining in the race, it seemed as if Jeff Gordon and Stewart would be battling for the checkered flag.  On Lap 74, Gordon’s hopes of winning the race went up in the air – literally.  Coming off of Turn 4, Stewart had taken the lead from Gordon when a violent wreck struck, resulting in Gordon barrel rolling down the front stretch.  Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray were also collected in the crash.  Gordon came out of the wreck uninjured. He ended up finishing 15th.

Underdog of the Race

After a rocky and emotional season in 2011, Kurt Busch was thankful to land a ride with James Finch, Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 Chevy.  Phoenix is a single-car operations with limited resources. However, Busch ran near the front for most of the night, until becoming a victim of the wreck on Lap 74.  His driving efforts didn’t go unnoticed, and I believe he will be a driver to watch in the Daytona 500 this weekend — considering he’s got Hendrick horsepower under the hood of his Chevy.

Best Comeback of the Race

Last season Clint Bowyer left Richard Childress Racing to join Michael Waltrip racing’s No. 15 team.  Bowyer started his first race with MWR in 17th position and was soon racing at the front of the pack.  On Lap 31, teammate Martin Truex Jr. gave Bowyer a shove going down the frontstretch, sending Bowyer spinning through the grass.  After overcoming a variety of challenges throughout the race, Bowyer found himself in third for the green-white-checkered finish.  Although he wasn’t able to battle for the win, Bowyer finished the race in eighth position.

In April of 2010, Busch signed a contract extension with Penske racing through the 2015 season.  However, the separation of Busch and his long-standing relationship with Penske proves that contracts don’t always secure a ride in NASCAR.  Over the course of the 2011 season, Busch’s became more known for his anger outbursts than for his performance on the track. Before the incident at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch’s outbursts were well-documented.

When it comes to sponsors, not only do drivers have to perform on the track, but they have to live up to high expectations off the track as well.  If the driver acts so poorly off the track that fans can’t remember what the driver did on the track, he is not living up to the expectations of the sponsor.

Sponsors want a driver who can be fan-friendly; a spokesperson for their brand; and an outstanding representative for their product.  If the sponsor is not happy with the driver representing their brand, the team generally has no choice but to make a change in order to appease the sponsor.

The separation between Busch and Penske has awakened drivers, I think, and it will change how they act on and off the track in the future.  We have seen that contracts can and will be dismissed if the sponsor is not happy.

To succeed in NASCAR, you must please the sponsor.  Without sponsors, there is no NASCAR.  Even in today’s economy, a driver may do well on the track and be a good spokesperson off the track (example: David Ragan), but may be jobless next season due to lack of sponsorship funding.  When sponsors are dishing out millions of dollars to have their logo on a driver’s race car and firesuit, they want to be sure that their money is spent on a driver who will represent them accordingly.

There are an array of jobless/sponsor-less drivers available for hire in the NASCAR circuit right now (David Ragan, David Reutimann, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers, etc.) who are all proven winners and could be an excellent representative for a sponsor. So why would a sponsor waste money on a driver who is going to hurt their brand?

When a driver gets out of the race car, one of the top priorities for the post-race interview should be to thank the sponsor, not verbally abuse fellow competitors/media/team, etc.  Shell Oil decided that they had seen enough of Kurt Busch. They didn’t want to deal with the harm Busch’s mouth was doing to their brand, so Penske was forced to remove Kurt from the equation.

The moral of the story is: sponsorship money is everything in NASCAR.

On Lap 117 the caution came out for rain, bringing out the red flag and delaying the race for nearly an hour.  When the green flag waved again, it looked like a completely different race.  Stewart became a man on a mission and wasn’t letting anyone get in his way, especially Carl Edwards.  It took him six laps after the restart to pass Jeff Gordon for the lead.  Stewart made evasive maneuvers, including three and four wide passes on multiple occasions to get to the front of the pack.

From that point on, the points lead was tied, with Stewart and Edwards running first and second on track.  To win the championship, Edwards needed to win the race.  Stewart, however, had other plans, going on to take the checkered flag. As a result, Stewart won the championship with the tiebreaker of having more wins than Edwards this season.

Stewart has been nothing short of amazing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, winning five out of 10 races in the chase. That’s Jimmie Johnson-like domination!  Keep in mind that this performance came after Stewart said that he didn’t deserve a spot in the chase if his team wasn’t going to give championship performances.  Stewart and his Stewart Haas Racing No. 14 team made the Chase, and changed their attitudes, proving to everyone that they deserved to be a championship contender.

Stewart is the only driver in NASCAR history to win a Winston, Nextel, and Sprint Cup championship in his career.  He was also added to a very short list of drivers who have won the championship while driving for a team they own.  He joins legends Alan Kulwiki and Richard Petty, becoming a legend of our era.

Although Edwards fell short of the championship, he has undoubtedly been the most consistent driver of the 2011 season.  In his own words, he is the “best loser NASCAR has ever seen”.  However, Edwards is anything but a loser and has been in championship contention for most of his Cup career.  The chemistry between Bob Osborne and Edwards is one of the best driver/crew chief relationships NASCAR currently has.

If rumor serves correctly, Edwards will become the highest paid driver of the 2012 season, with good reason.  Jack Roush believes in his ability to become a Cup champion, and did what he had to do to renew Edwards’ contract with Roush Fenway Racing.  I am certain that Edwards will yet again, be a championship contender in 2012.

RBR announced earlier this season that they would not be returning to NASCAR in 2012.  The team’s future is still uncertain, just seven days before the end of the 2011 season.  It is expected that the team will shut down at season’s end, unless owner Dietrich Mateschitz can find a buyer for the operation.

Championship Rundown

The Championship battle is now a two man show between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.  Edwards remains the point’s leader, with a three-point advantage over Stewart.  Both drivers had fast cars at Phoenix, but they were no match for Kahne.  Edwards and Stewart finished the race in second and third position, respectively.  Stewart led a race-high 160 laps.

Going into Homestead, Edwards seems to have an advantage over Stewart.  Edwards has won two of the last three races at Homestead, with an average finish of 5.7.  Stewart also has two wins at Homestead, back in 1999 and 2000.  However, Edwards has a better average finish  than Stewart, who has an average finish of 12.4.

For the first time in the past eight seasons for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson will not be eligible for the championship going into Homestead.   He finished in 14th position in Phoenix, his fifth finish outside the top-10 in nine races.  Johnson will try to keep a 10-season streak of finishing in the top five in points alive.  He is currently fifth position in points, just two points ahead of Matt Kenseth.

Rough Day for Busch and Kenseth

Kyle Busch, after being parked at Texas Motor Speedway, stepped back into Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car at Phoenix.  He raced this weekend without his primary sponsor M&M’s after the organization decided that they did not want to be on the car for the remainder of the season.  During the first practice, Busch blew a motor, forcing him to start at the rear of the field.  To add insult to injury, as Busch was racing for third position on lap 188, he announced to the team that the engine was blowing up.  This resulted in a 36th place finish.

On the other side of the track, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth had fans thinking we were back at Martinsville Speedway.  Late in the race, Vickers slammed into straight Kenseth’s rear bumper going down the backstretch, causing major damage to Kenseth’s racecar.  Vickers claimed over the radio that Kenseth had slowed up, causing Vickers to slam into him.  Kenseth’s comments after the incident backed up that statement.

“I was out of brakes, and I was up on everybody,” he said. “I saw [Vickers] coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I would normally lift. And he drove in there at 165 miles per hour and cleaned us out.”  Kenseth finished the race in 34th position, Vickers in 23rd.

Stewart was running second when Jeff Burton ran out of fuel with four laps to go in the 334 lap race.  Stewart led on seven different occasions for a race-high of 173 laps.  He finished just one spot ahead of points leader Edwards, cutting his lead down to three points.

Teams Have Good Days

Roush Fenway Racing had a strong day with Greg Biffle and David Ragan qualifying on the front row, along with the rest of RFR starting in the Top 10.  Biffle led 23 laps early on and Matt Kenseth led 87 total.  Although Edwards only led 14 laps, he was the top finishing RFR driver by virtue of a second place finish.  Kenseth and Biffle finished the day out in fourth and fifth position, respectively.  Ragan, who raced in the Top 5 for most of the race, finished in 12th position.

After finishing the race in 13th position, Kevin Harvick remains third in points standings.  However, he is now 33 points behind the leader.  Kenseth, who finished the race in fourth position, gained one spot in standings and is now 38 points back in, fourth place.  Suffering from handling issues and troubles on pit road during the race, Brad Keselowski finished in 24th position, which drops him to fifth place in standings, now 49 points behind Edwards.

Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, both gaining two spots in standings.  Earnhardt nows sit seventh in points, 79 points behind the leader. Gordon sits in eighth, 89 out of the lead.

Their HMS teammate, Jimmie Johnson, had a day that was indicative of his Chase thus far this season. Johnson started strong, running in the Top 10 for most of the race before sliding through the grass on lap 240, effectively ending his chance to win the race. This is just one example of a lackluster Chase performance this season that has plagued the No. 48 team.

Kyle Busch Parked For Race, Fined And Put On Probation

Kyle Busch did not participate in the Cup race after being parked by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday under caution in the truck series race on Friday night.  By missing the race, Busch dropped four spots in standings and is now 100 points behind the leader.  Busch has been fined $50,000 and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 for his actions.

When issuing the penalty on Monday, NASCAR said that “if during the remaining NASCAR events in 2011 there is another action by the competitor that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, the competitor will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR.”

Chase Is A Two-Man Race

With just two races left in the season, it looks like the Chase battle has come down to a two man battle.  The championship may just come down to the final lap at Homestead between Edwards and Stewart.  Next week we head to Phoenix International Raceway to see how the battle plays out!

Results: 1. Tony Stewart, 2. Carl Edwards, 3. Kasey Kahne, 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Greg Biffle, 6. Jeff Gordon, 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 8. Martin Truex Jr., 9. Clint Bowyer, 10. AJ Allmendinger

The Winners

Tony Stewart: Stewart survived mayhem throughout the race to steal the victory away from champions Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.  This win has moved Stewart to second place in the championship points standings.  After being told that he is just eight points behind Edwards, Stewart replied, “He better be worried, that’s for sure. He isn’t going to have an easy three weeks.”  This is Stewart’s 42nd career win and his third win of the season, all of which came in the Chase.

Carl Edwards: Edwards may not have won the race, but finishing in ninth position felt like a win after his misfortune during the race.  Due to qualifying being rained out, Edwards started the race in the pole position.  He lost the lead on Lap 27 under caution when he pitted and seven or more cars behind him stayed out.  From that point on, he kept losing positions and by lap 167 he dropped to 17th position.  After pitting under caution on Lap 197, Edwards restarted the race in 26th due to a lug nut getting hung up behind the wheel.

He fell a lap down twice during the race, but was able to take advantage of the lucky dog rule twice.  Thanks to the high number of cautions in the race, Edwards was able to gain positions back and was in the Top 10 with 22 laps to go.  Edwards ultimately finished the race in ninth position, retaining the points lead by eight over Stewart.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick started the race in fifth position and ran in the Top 10 for most of the race.  He took the lead of the race under caution after pitting for just two tires with 102 laps to go.  On Lap 438 Johnson took the lead from Harvick with teammate Gordon following close behind.  Harvick was then bumped to fourth position late in the race when Stewart made a mad dash to the lead.  Harvick finished the race in fourth and gained himself two spots in standings.  He is now third place in points, 21 points behind leader Edwards.

Dale Earnhardt Jr:  Earnhardt put on a show for his fans at Martinsville with his have at it attitude and aggressive racing style.  Unlike many drivers, he kept saying on his team radio how much “fun” he was having during the race.  On Lap 8, he was involved in a pile up involving Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon, revoking him of his Top 10 position, dropping him to 34th place.  He quickly made his way through the pack and finished the race in seventh position.  Although he remains ninth in points, overall he had a good race and put on quite a show for the fans.

The Losers

Brad Keselowski: The most disappointed driver of the day would have to be Brad Keselowski.  After starting in the Top 5, he was a top runner all race long and was heading towards a good points day.  His Top 10 finish, however, disappeared in just one lap. While running in seventh place with two laps to go,  Keselowski was spun by another car and a caution was not thrown, causing him to drop from seventh to 17th position.

This finish has dropped him one spot in standings to fourth position, 27 points behind Edwards.  Keselowski needs to win the race at Texas Motor Speedway next weekend to have any kind of chance at staying in this points battle.  Last year, Keselowski clinched his Nationwide Series championship at Texas Motor Speedway. He typically runs well at intermediate tracks.  I wouldn’t count him out of this championship battle just yet.

Matt Kenseth: After starting in second position, Kenseth ran in the Top 10 for most of the race.  With 36 laps to go, he made contact with Kyle Busch, sending him to the garage for repairs.  When he came back onto the track, he was then wrecked by Brian Vickers, who retaliated against Kenseth for spinning him out with 43 laps to go.  This resulted in a 31st place finish.  Kenseth is now fifth place in standings, 36 points behind Edwards.

Kyle Busch: After leading a race high of 128 laps, Kyle Busch’s strong run evaporated with 37 laps to go.  Kenseth locked his tires up going into the turn, causing him to slam Busch, spinning him out.  He then pitted to fix the damage. While leaving pit road, his left front tire came completely off the car.  Apparently there was a lack of communication with the team on whether they were supposed to put the tire on or off.  Either way, this caused Busch to finish in 27th position.  This finish dropped him one position in standings to seventh, 57 points behind the leader.

Brian Vickers: Out of the 18 cautions that occurred during the race, Vickers was involved in five of them, including three just in the first 100 laps.  I think the only thing Vickers didn’t hit was the pace car.  Needless to say, he did not have many friends at the end of the race.  He finished the race, with what was left of his No. 83 Toyota, in 30th position.  With Red BullRacing leaving the sport at season’s end, Vicker’s future is in doubts.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

1. Carl Edwards, 2. Tony Stewart (-8), 3. Kevin Harvick (-21), 4. Brad Keselowski (-27), 5. Matt Kenseth (-36), 6. Jimmie Johnson (-43), 7. Kyle Busch (-57), 8. Kurt Busch (-58), 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr (-73), 10. Jeff Gordon (-76), 11. Denny Hamlin (-80), 12. Ryan Newman (-89)

Dega Wreaks Havoc on Chasers

On Lap 174, Michaeal Waltrip was pushing Bobby Labonte when Labonte lost control of his race car and spun in the middle of the turn.  Kurt Busch had no where to go and drove straight into the side panel of Labonte.  This destroyed the hood of Busch’s race car and ended his day.  The elder Busch brother finished the race in 36th position, 15 laps down.  This did not help his chances for the championship, knocking him down one spot in standings to eighth place, 52 points behind the leader.

Luckily for Kurt Busch, he isn’t the only Chase driver that struggled at Talladega.  Hendrick Motorsports’ Chasers did not finish as expected on Sunday, coming home with 25th (Dale Earnhardt Jr), 26th (Jimmie Johnson), and 27th (Jeff Gordon) place finishes.  All three drivers rode out the race in the back of the pack and just didn’t seem to have the momentum to race towards the front at the end.

Earnhardt remains in ninth position in standings, 74 points behind the leader.  Thanks to others’ misfortune, Johnson moved up one position to seventh place, but is now 50 points behind the leader.  Jeff Gordon also moved up one position; however, he is now 82 points behind the leader.   I would say this is the end of Hendrick Motorsports’ chances to win the title.  Johnson would be the only driver with a chance, but he would need the drivers ahead of him in the Chase to have substantial bad luck to overtake them.

Kevin Harvick came to Talladega only five points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Leaving Talladega, he is in fifth position, now 26 points behind the leader.  Early on in the race, Harvick had a fast car; he even led the race on six different occasions.  But, he fell victim to a large pile-up on Lap 104 when AJ Allmendinger spun on the front-stretch. Harvick finished the race in 32nd position, nine laps down.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano worked well together early in the race.  On Lap 67, as the duo was attempting to make green flag pit stops, Trevor Bayne cut in front of them, abruptly separating the pair.  This caused Logano to spin his race car and forced Busch to drive down pit road to avoid an accident.  Logano then blew a left-front tire on the backstretch, bringing out the caution. Busch was then sent to the rear of the field for failure to reduce speed while driving down pit road.

Busch was able to recover, leading the race on Lap 90 with help of his teammate, Denny Hamlin.  After the pile-up on Lap 104, however, Busch was unable to race his way to the front and finished the race in 33rd position.  Logano on the other hand, was able to push Tony Stewart to the lead of the race on Lap 136, despite the damage to his race car. Logano finished the race in 24th position.  Busch is now sixth in standings, 40 points behind the leader.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

Carl Edwards remains the points leader after finishing in 11th position at Talladega.  Fellow Roush driver Matt Kenseth sits second, 14 points behind Edwards.  Brad Keselowski gained three spots in the standings, moving to third, just 18 points back.  Tony Stewart moved up to fourth position after finishing the race in seventh place and is now 19 points behind Edwards.

Both Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch dropped positions because of their misfortune and are now in fifth and sixth position.  Rivals Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson are now right beside each other in standings, sitting in eighth and ninth position.  Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon round out the top-10 in ninth and tenth positions, respectively.  Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman reside in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

Best Efforts of the Race

The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne have to be recognized for their effort on Sunday.  Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and the two pushed their way into the top-five within 10 laps.  They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, causing Kahne to spin across the nose of Vickers to bring out a caution.  But with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and were headed to the front.  Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR tandem, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega represented Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level.  Blaney was in the battle at the front in both the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but couldn’t get the finishes he deserved.  This is a big step for a small organization with a short history in the sport.  Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes the Talladega finish is a step in the right direction for a more competitive season in 2012.

Landon Cassill and Casey Mears deserve a shout-out for their strong effort at Talladega.  Before the race had even one lap in the books, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th.  On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill to head to the front.  They spent most of the race in the Top 5 and Top 10 until lap 174 when Mears lost his drafting partner.  Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch, forcing Mears to find another dancing partner.  Although their finishes of 16th and 17th do not represent their hard effort, the fact that they survived Talladega tells the story by itself!

Kenseth gave fans excitement after a long, mostly single-file race.  Jimmie Johnson’s late-race accident brought out the caution, giving Kenseth a chance to catch Kyle Busch on the restart.  There was a 12-lap dash to the finish and Kenseth was able to pass Busch and take the checkered flag.  This is Kenseth’s third win of the season, moving him up two positions in standings to third position.  He is now only seven points behind leader Carl Edwards.

Kenseth’s primary sponsor, Crown Royal, is exiting the team at the end of the season, leaving Kenseth without a sponsor for the 2012 season.   Kenseth said in post race interviews, “Crown Royal — it’s not too late to come back. We don’t have any sponsors for next year, so this should be a good audition. And Fluidmaster for being on this week — it was a great night for us.”

Busch wasn’t thrilled to finish in second place, after leading 111 laps during the race.  Busch said after the race, “It’s frustrating, but we’ll take it, and if we can finish second here on out, we might win this deal.”  He has now moved up four positions in standings to fourth place, 18 points behind the leader.

Bad Night for Hendrick Chase Contenders

Dale Earnhardt Jr needed a good finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway to give him any kind of chance at the championship.  After pitting too early and altering his pit strategy, he was then forced to come down pit road for a loose tire.  Earnhardt finished the night in 19th position, one lap down, and even that was a small rally, as he was running two laps down late in the race.  Junior remains ninth in standings and has fallen 60 points behind the leader.

Jeff Gordon finished the race in 21st position after being a part of the first accident of the night, involving Kasey Kahne and David Ragan.  Ragan made an attempt to pass Kasey Kahne on the inside and slid up into Kahne, sending Kahne into Gordon.  Gordon dropped from 10th to 11th in standings and is now 66 points behind the leader.

Coming off his win at Kansas Speedway last week, Jimmie Johnson was one of the drivers predicted to do well at CMS.  Johnson was running in seventh and seemed to be moving towards the front in the closing laps when the unexpected happened.  Johnson got loose inside of the No. 39 car of Ryan Newman. The two made slight contact. Johnson looked as if he was going to save until the car veered towards the outside wall, hitting it nose-first.  The front of his race car was unrepairable, and his race was over. He finished 34th.  Johnson dropped five spots in standings, leaving him eighth position, 35 points behind the leader.

Although mathematically this does not eliminate the HMS drivers, it will be very tough for them to recover from this race.

Underdogs of the Race

For more than half the race, rookie Trevor Bayne was driving his No. 21 car like a veteran.  After qualifying in tenth position in his first Cup race at CMS, Bayne stayed in the top-10 the entire night.  While running in seventh position, he ran out of gas with only 97 laps left in the race.  Instead of finishing the race in the Top 10, he finished in 31st, three laps down.  Team co-owner Eddie Wood said after the race that a problem with the new fuel system is what likely kept them from contending for the win.

Marcos Ambrose celebrated his fifth Top 5 of the season with Richard Petty Motorsports after finishing in fifth position in the Bank of America 500.  He ran in the Top 10 the entire race and overcame many cautions to hold his position on the track.  Ambrose said after the race that he has his “mojo” back.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

The current points standings are as follows: 1. Carl Edwards, 2. Kevin Harvick (-5), 3. Matt Kenseth (-7), 4. Kyle Busch (-18), 5. Tony Stewart (-24), 6. Brad Keselowski (-25), 7. Kurt Busch (-27), 8. Jimmie Johnson (-35), 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr (-60), 10. Ryan Newman (-61), 11. Jeff Gordon (-66), 12. Denny Hamlin (-86).

Johnson is now eighth on the all-time wins list with this victory, tying Rusty Wallace’s 55 wins.  Chevrolet has now claimed the manufacturers championship for the season, their 35th championship overall.  Johnson led the race from lap 24 and dominated the field the entire race.  He had to beat his future teammate Kasey Kahne, who finished the race in second place.  Critics who doubted the No. 48 team are now retracing their statements and tucking their tail between their legs.

You can never count out five-time champion Jimmie Johnson.  Before the race at Kansas, the No. 48 team was in the midst of 21 race winless streak.  Many drivers go over 100 races without a win, yet the media was concerned with 21 for Johnson?  The battle for this championship gets more intense every week and you definitely can’t count out Johnson for this championship title.

Keselowski Stays Consistent

Brad Keselowski keeps up his consistent finishes after finishing second at Kansas Speedway.  He moved up to the fourth position in the standings, just 11 points behind the leader.  Keselowski has finished in the top-5 three out of the past four races.  Although he finished in 20th position last weekend at Dover, he overcame power steering issues to finish strong.

Like I’ve said before, Keselowski is one of the biggest contenders for this championship.   He never gives up and has consistent finishes every week.  He came into the Chase as the underdog and will leave it as the champion, or as the driver who gave the champion a run for his money.

Carl Edwards Takes Over Points Lead

Leaving Dover last week Carl Edwards was tied with Kevin Harvick for the points lead, in second position.  He is now leading the standings, one point ahead of Harvick.  Edwards salvaged a fifth place finish at Kansas after falling a lap down during the race.  In post-race interviews Edwards said that he felt like he won the race.  Managing to finish in the top-5 after overcoming such obstacles is a big accomplishment for the No. 99 team.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Just Wants to Win a Race

After the race at Kansas, Dale Earnhardt Jr is leaving with a different mind-set.  ”I just want to win a race,” he said. “That’s a goal of mine right now, is to just go out there and win. Man, if we could do that, no matter what happened in the Chase I think we’d be real happy with our season”.

Earnhardt seemed to have a fast car throughout the race, but wasn’t happy with his tires.  He said during the race that the various sets of Goodyear tires were inconsistent, and he couldn’t figure out why.  Earnhardt finished the race in 14th position.  He gained one spot in points, moving to ninth position.

Gordon’s Chase Hopes Take A Big Hit

Although Gordon ran in the top-10 for most of the race, he was never happy with how his car was handling.  With 23 laps to go, Gordon noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood.  The team knew it was a matter of time before their day was over.  With two laps to go, the engine expired, leaving Gordon with a 34th place finish.  His finish dropped him down to 10th position in the points.

Being 47 points behind the leader, are Gordon’s championship hopes over?  With just six races left in the season, Gordon would need a miracle to win the championship.  However, if the drivers ahead of him in points were to finish poorly in the last few races and Gordon was to finish top-5 every week, he may still have a chance.  With the points battle being so close this season, he still has a small chance.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

As we head to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the fifth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Carl Edwards is now your points leader.  Kevin Harvick lost the points lead, but only by one point, leaving him in second place.  Johnson gained two positions and is now in third place,  just four points behind Edwards.  Keselowski and Matt Kenseth both gained two positions, now sitting in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart both dropped positions in standings and now are sixth and seventh place, respectively.  Kyle Busch remains in eighth position and is now 20 points behind the leader.  Earnhardt gained one position, moving him to ninth position with his teammate Gordon in 10th.  Newman and Hamlin’s chase hopes are no longer viable, sitting in 11th and 12th position, more than 50 points behind the leader.

Busch said after the race, “To beat your arch nemesis, that’s just icing on the cake.  It’s pretty sweet.”  He moved up five positions in standings, to fourth position.  Busch is just nine points behind leader Kevin Harvick, currently tied with Tony Stewart.

I think critics overlook Busch as a championship contender because of his recent erratic behavior and rivalry with Jimmie Johnson; however he has finished in the Top-10 in four of the last five races and has been consistent all season long.  If he can control his temper and keep his head in the game, I believe he will be a top contender for the Sprint Cup title.

Rough Day For Chase Contenders

Tony Stewart told media that Dover would be a tough race for his team, and he predicted it correctly.  Stewart started the race in 28th position and finished the race in 25th, two laps down.  If you look at statistics for Stewart at Dover, he has finished 21st or worse in the past three races, so his struggles at the Monster Mile in this race weren’t a shock.  His bad day cost him the points lead, dropping him to third place in standings.

Luck was not on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s side at Dover.  He started the race in 21st position and looked as if he had a competitive racecar.  Shortly after the first caution of the race, Earnhardt realized on the restart that something wasn’t right with the car.  He was forced to pit with a broken sway bar.  This put him back in 41st position, racing three other drivers for the Lucky Dog.  On the competition caution on Lap 40, Earnhardt received the Lucky Dog and rallied back to 15th position by Lap 190.

Unfortunately, his bad luck didn’t stop there.   Dale Jr was forced to pit on Lap 271 for a loose wheel, putting him two laps down.  This relegated Earnhardt to a 24th place finish, two laps down.  He is now 10th place in standings, 34 points behind the leader.  Does this eliminate Junior for the championship?  I wouldn’t count him out just yet.  He has good statistics at many of the races left in the season, and has plenty of time to make it up. But, it certainly doesn’t bode well for him.

Brad Keselowski and his Penske Racing team struggled throughout the race, leaving them with a 20th place finish.  Just after Lap 250, Keselowski came down pit road after running over debris, forcing the team to replace the power steering belt.  Keselowski eventually fell two laps down behind the leaders, leaving him racing for the Lucky Dog position.

With 48 laps to go, Mike Bliss crashed down the backstretch, bringing out the caution.  Keselowski was in the Lucky Dog position, gaining one of his laps back.  Shortly after that, caution came out again with 40 to go, getting him back on the lead lap.  Keselowski doesn’t have good statistics at Dover, with an average finish of 17th position.  I think the No. 2 team can shake this off and will be back at the top of the standings before we know it.

Points Standings Leaving Dover

With Stewart’s misfortune and Harvick’s Top-10 finish, Harvick is now tied with Carl Edwards for the points lead.  Stewart dropped two spots to third position, tied with Kurt Busch.  Johnson, finishing the race in second position, gained five positions in points to fifth place.  After a rough day for Keselowski, he has fallen three positions to sixth place, 14 points behind the leader.  Matt Kenseth is tied with Keselowski in seventh position.  Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon both dropped positions, leaving them in eighth and ninth position, respectively.  Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin round out the Top 12.

There are just seven races left in the season with many opportunities for the point’s standings to be shaken up once again.  We head to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the Hollywood Casino 400.  Tune into ESPN on Sunday to watch the action unfold.