All Jacked Up

Who's it gonna be?

Posted by: Jason Randall

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:03 PM

After 13 races into the Sprint Cup season, we can kind of get an idea of who the real contenders are ... and who the pretenders are.

Of course, Kyle Busch is having a phenomenal season, with four wins already. But as we've seen before, everything can change in the blink of an eye come Chase time.

So I thought I would break down the top 12 or so drivers as they stand in the Chase picture.

1. Kyle Busch: So far, the move the Joe Gibbs Racing has been a blessing for the younger Busch brother. He has run well pretty much everywhere this season and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. The key for the No. 18 Toyota will be to keep the momentum up from now until August. I think he'll be able to and like Jimmie Johnson last season, Kyle should be considered a contender every week.

2. Jeff Burton: It's amazing to me that he hangs around in second place so quietly. No one is better at getting results while at the same time flying under the radar. He's a sleeper during the Chase simply because he's so consistent.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: No wins and still having the best season of the Hendrick Motorsports cars. The drought will end sometime this season, perhaps at the July race at Daytona. But he's got to stay out of these wrecks if he's going to contend for a title. Yeah, they haven't been his fault, but it will be important to qualify well to stay out of the mess that is David Gilliland, Elliott Sadler and Co.

4. Carl Edwards: Now this is the guy who is the real competition to Kyle Busch. A master this season on the intermediates, Crazy Carl will be a lot of people's pick come Chase time. The 99 also is a strong pick this weekend for Pocono, and if he wins, he'll tie Kyle for the most wins so far this season with four. Remember, Carl was slapped with that 100-point penalty and has been climbing back up the chart ever since. He'll be right there in the final 10 events.

5. Greg Biffle: Biggest jumper in the Chase standings, Biffle has been good for several weeks now, and has just run into some tough luck here and there. I can't say he's a real title contnder just yet. I need to see results for a few more weeks before I can become a believer.

6. Jeff Gordon: No one probably is more happy to see Pocono than the four-time champ. He's slowly getting things together, but I still think crew chief Steve Letarte needs to be replaced. But, as in every year, you can never count out the 24.

7. Jimmie Johnson: Up and down. Up and down. Just when I think the 48 is poised to march toward the top, he stalls and even loses a place or two in the standings. Not sure what the problem is with this team, but as long as they can stay in the Chase picture (which I believe they will) that Lowe's Chevy should be regarded as a championship contender.

8. Clint Bowyer: Like Biffle, the RCR driver is probably closer to a pretender in my opinion than a contender. He finished third in the Cup standings last year and does have a win this season, but a few DNFs and Bowyer's ship could be sunk. He's a guy who will need top 10 finishes almost every week.

9. Denny Hamlin: What in the world was going on with Hamlin in that wreck at Dover? That DNF dropped him five places in the standings. But I think the 11 team will recover. Hamlin does some dumb things in a car sometimes, and that is his achilles heel. But if he can stay focused, I think he'll be back up toward the front before we know it.

10. Kevin Harvick: The other RCR pretender, Harvick disappoints more than he should. He dropped three spots after Dover and is in jeopardy of falling out of the top 12 with a few more lackluster finishes. Maybe Harvick needs to start focusing more on his Cup season than all the other things he's got going on with his Nationwide teams and cars in other series. It's time to get things figured out before it's too late.

11. Tony Stewart: I've said it all season long. Stewart will heat up, maybe starting this weekend at Pocono. He's traditionally a slow starter, so his misfortunes this season are nothing new. I don't know if his possible departure from JGR is distracting him or not, but Stewart needs to get going now and stop worrying about making sarcastic quips about less-talented drivers like Elliott Sadler. It's go time, Smoke.

12. Kasey Kahne: Nice to see him back in Victory Lane, but I think his equipment is holding him back. Budweiser made a good choice with Kahne, but the results the Dodges have been getting make you wonder if they wished Kahne was with a different group.

So that's the Chase field as it stands, but who are the others who I would expect to see bump some guys out? Well, Ryan Newman (14), Matt Kenseth (17) and Kurt Busch (21) are the three guys I could see jump into the fray. Newman obviously won the Daytona 500 and he's been better lately.

Kenseth has had a lot of problems, but I think the crafty veteran will get things turned around. Maybe Robbie Reiser should get back on board. It worked for Carl Edwards when his crew chief, Bob Osborne, was suspended.

Kurt Busch might be a long shot right now, but remember his Pocono dominance last season? Something like that could be all the momentum he needs. We'll see. Regardless it's been fun so far, and with places like Sonoma, Chicagoland, the Brickyard and Daytona coming up, not to mention the best race on the circuit, the night Bristol race, we're in for a treat.

I'll be out of town through the weekend, so I'll have to record Pocono. You'll hear back from me by next Tuesday.

Until next time, keep hittin' your marks!

Comments

Be the first to share your opinion!