CHASE THIS!

Richmond International Raceway…a short track. A track with more prestige than ever because it wraps up NASCAR’s version of a “regular season”. This race dictated who would be a part of the top 12 teams in the hunt for a Sprint Cup Championship. In a race requiring precision and guts from those who were outside the top 12, the only disappointment belonged to those who just didn’t have lady luck on their side.

As far as lady luck is concerned, she took the front seat with Denny Hamlin…who considers Richmond to be his home race track. Much like in football or basketball, home field advantage is always special. Many race car drivers don’t even have a race track to call “home.” Denny Hamlin’s victory at Richmond marked his territory not just at home, but also in the chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009.

The ESPN crew points out that it was the race off of pit road on a late set of pit stops that allowed Hamlin to assume the lead and run away with the show.



After many articles raved about Kyle Busch and the impact he would have on the chase, his Richmond performance proved that his team had overcome adversity. 5th place doesn’t look bad on the stat sheet…but despite the top 5, the M&Ms crew will have to race for 13th place in the points instead of contending for the title.
Throughout the 400 mile affair, ESPN’s director pushed his crew to concentrate on the drivers who were on the bubble (Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch). Viewers were consistently updated with where each of these drivers was running on the track, especially at the end of the race. It seemed as if the leaders and the race for the win was completely overshadowed by a race between two drivers who were battling back between 5th and 7th place to make “the big dance.” It turns out that this in-race strategy’s presentation paid off and it had relevance to it, since Busch and Vickers were separated by only 8 points when the checkered flag flew.

As usual, after 26 races (Richmond being #26), the drivers in the top 12 are “seeded” based on wins. This means that even though Tony Stewart led the point standings for most of the season, he will be behind Mark Martin, who won 4 races, and thus acquired 40 bonus points. Stewart will be 2nd in points, 10 behind with his 3 race wins. The chase will also include Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, and Greg Biffle.

This means next weekend’s race at New Hampshire will begin the countdown to the cup…12 drivers, 10 races, ONE MISSION. Look for chase contenders Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle to be strong at this race track, especially with the added incentive of additional points for winning a race. I’m excited to see who is going to be the headline and who will start off the chase either a contender or pretender! LET’S GET CHASIN’!