After setting a new qualifying record at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Ryan (Rocket man) Newman goes on to win the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Sunday. Newman is no stranger to winning poles at New Hampshire; he has a total of five poles here with the pole this past weekend. Team owner Tony Stewart came in second place Sunday making this the first time that the Stewart/Haas team has finished one and two. In victory lane Tony had his team owner hat on and was saying that he didn’t mind coming in second as long as he was second to his other car. Newman, who needed a win this season, is now sitting in eight place in the points and car owner Tony Stewart is sitting in eleventh place in a numerical tie with Denny Hamlin. Numerical only because if the chase started today Hamlin would be above Stewart due to the fact that Denny has one win to Stewart’s no wins and Denny has four top fives to Tony’s two. If the chase started today Tony would still be outside looking in as there are two drivers under him in points with a win a piece giving them the eleventh and twelfth places in the chase for the most wins. That would be David Ragan and Brad Keselowski.
If there are to be two Stewart/Haas cars in the chase then Tony Stewart needs to get busy either staying in the top five in finishes or winning some races. It isn’t a lock yet for Ryan Newman at this point either, no one is locked into the chase yet with seven races to go before the chase starts. This new points system can be your friend or your enemy this season, all you need to do is win a couple in the next seven to stay in or bomb out a few races and see your hopes for a chase birth disappear in a cloud of tire smoke.
Well on another note, “Junior Nation” didn’t see our driver win at New Hampshire. I thought that he would be up there winning or would at least be contending for the win at this flat track in New England. A 15th place finish was all that we could garner this past weekend and that saw us losing another spot in the points with Junior sliding back to ninth, nine points behind Ryan Newman and seventy five points out of the lead. The end of the month doesn’t bode well for “Junior Nation” unless the 88 team can change their running history at the “Brickyard”, an average finish around 22nd doesn’t make me look too good last week saying, “ Junior is hot on the flat tracks”. Maybe I jinxed him? This week I’m keeping my mouth shut!
There is a new points leader in the Sprint Cup, Carl Edwards took the lead this past weekend when Kyle Busch Blew a tire and slammed the wall. Kyle said that they blew a bead on the tire probably due to too much brake heat on the position. That had him in the garage for an extended stay to repair the damage to the car. Kyle returned the track on lap 134 many laps down and finished 36th. This is exactly what I was talking about earlier when I mentioned this new points system and how it could bite you late in the season. Here is Kyle Busch, the point’s leader, blowing a tire and finishing back in the pack. He dropped four positions in the points when the three behind him had good finishes. Two more weekends like that and Kyle Busch or anyone in the top ten in points for that matter could see themselves on the outside looking in. I think we have an exciting points system this year when you can have so much go wrong or right for that matter so late in the season. I don’t see any reason to adjust it but I won’t be surprised in Brian France doesn’t tweak it after the season is over. I for the life of me can’t find an area to tweak because it just seems perfect to me at the moment.
Here is how they finished down through the top ten, for the full field rundown head over to Nascar.com
1. Ryan Newman
2. Tony Stewart
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Joey Logano
5. Jimmy Johnson
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Bobby Labonte
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Marcos Ambrose
10. Kurt Busch
The points look like this with only seven races until the chase starts. Again, to see the full points head over to Nascar.com.
1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmy Johnson
3. Kurt Busch
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Kyle Busch
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Ryan Newman
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Denny Hamlin
The two transfer spots for the most wins would be David Ragan and Brad Keselowski if the chase started at the Brick Yard. I’m on vacation this week but I will still be here looking for any Nascar news that comes out. Our county fair is this week and I plan on going to a couple of tractor pulls, a rodeo and a demolition derby. I feel the need to gorge myself on funnel cakes and BBQ as well. Beyond that I am cleaning out my garage and building a shop in the rear of it. Someone called it a “Staycation” and that pretty well fits the bill, just not having to be in a truck this week makes any work I do here at the house seem like a vacation.
Stay safe out there
TW
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