Sunday, October 26, 2008

Cousin Carl Gets Another Win at Atlanta


It wasn't as exciting as when he rub passed Jimmy Johnson in previous years, but with Jimmie Johnson getting fresh tires with 8 to go, and after having sped on pit road earlier, Johnson showed why they are in contention for the Cup by finishing 2nd as Carl Edwards fought his Roush Fenway Ford up to the win in the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Johnson almost got taken out by Denny Hamlin when Hamlin slid up the track sideways a bit into Johnson, but Hamlin saved it and Johnsons day!

Matt Kenseth was 4th,
Kyle Busch was 5th.

It wasn't a good day for some of the Cup chasers.

On lap 302 we saw a multi-car crash with Jeff Burton slipping up a notch and bumping Dave Blaney, but that was all it took to start the incident that collected Juan Montoya, Reed Sorenson and Joe Nemechek.

Michael Waltrip just disintegrated through out the day with a tire issue and then ensuing debris calls from car parts flying off his call. Mikey was the yellow flag on three different occasions.

We saw a lot of coverage of the chasers and a lot of coverage on the wrecks with good lists of who was involved in the incidents.

The chaser finished in the following spots:
  • Edwards - 1st
  • Johnson - 2nd
  • Hamline - 3rd
  • Kenseth - 4th
  • Ky Busch - 5th
  • Jeff Gordon - 9th
  • Biffle - 10th
  • Earnhardt Jr. - 11th
  • Harvick - 13th
  • Stewart - 17th
  • Burton - 18th
  • Bowyer - 20th
What this did was keep Jimmie Johnson in first in the standings by 183 points,
Carl Edwards moved up 2 posts into 2nd,
2 points behind Carl is Greg Biffle,
Jeff Burton slipped a spot into 4th, 218 points behind Johnson.
Harvick moved up one spot into 5th - 312 points behind Johnson.

Though nobody is mathematically eliminated yet, it seems that unless something happens to the top 5 drivers in each of the next 3 races, inevitability is starting loom on the horizon. For one moment, after Jimmie Johnson got nailed for speeding on pit road and had to take a green flag drive through penalty, it looked like a chink in the championship armor but the Hendricks No. 48 Lowes Chevy team proved why they are in first place in the standings today.

Today, the track that was acting more like a large version of Martinsville than a speedway.

Cup Series Results
Cup Series Standings

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