The Chase is changing NASCAR race strategy
With about twenty laps to go today in the gloom of the Irish Hills, Jeff Gordon's team made a choice to fore go a final pit stop for tires - in effect going for broke for the win, and the ten bonus points that count in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
A few laps later, maybe inevitably, the Dupont #24 slid back through the pack and eventually spun out of the lead lap and win contention. Gordon's team had nothing to lose. Their points position is way safe. Now it's all about the wins - and bonus points.
In the final laps of the race that was really dominated by Kurt Busch, several Chase qualifiers were hangin' it out trying for the win. In the old days, drivers in the top five or six in the championship might have been a bit more conservative and run for points - or not to lose points. Not any more.
Other than Martin Truex Jr, who is hovering around the 12th spot and needs all the points he can get, the other front running Chase contenders were after it. Jimmy Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart all contributed to exciting, fast racing at the finish.
Congratulations to Kurt Busch for another pressure performance. He'll be dangerous if he makes the Chase. We have a nice interview with Kurt from Friday on tonight's ON PIT ROW. If you miss the show, check out the re-broadcast Thursday at 7 pm on RaceTalkRadio.com.
Gordon's gamble didn't pay off today. On to Bristol. The last 50 laps of the night race may to be better than ever.
The painting is another of Rob's. See them all at Car a Day.
It was nice to see..oops listen to on Sirius..the bonus points make it worthwhile to throw the dice which is a good thing....
Posted by: robert bourne | August 21, 2007 at 05:40 PM
Hey Charlie and Steve
I DVR'ed the MIS race. Just when I began playback last night my darling wife yells out from my desk.. "Michael, do you want to know who won?" She was online at NASCAR.com teasing me and knowing well I could not stand the suspense.. My first response was "NO!" "How dare you!" A few minutes later I said.."Was it a Ford?" Then I had to narrow it down to the Dodge and eventually I said.."Kurt Busch, Right?" I could dump a bucket of ice water on her!! Funny. Oh well.. now I can erase the race and make room for more.
Posted by: michael | August 22, 2007 at 07:18 AM
From what I saw between work and lunch break it looked like a pretty good race.
I was at work, so I DEFINETLY liked NASCAR.COM's streaming of the race. I think they are doing that for the last 3 races leading up to the chase.
Anyway, bad for Newman - finish and points standing. But he finished on par. With a 16.7 AVG finish at MIS, he finished 16th!
Good - Gordon got spun (actually did it to himself and I was suprised that he took responsibility for that!)
Posted by: Mike | August 22, 2007 at 11:23 AM