2009 NASCAR Banking 500 Review
by Virginia Vroom of Predictem.com
Johnson wins again! Are you sick of that one yet? Really, you can’t expect much less from him at his own house. It was much anticipated that Johnson would do well, and it certainly shows for him every year in the Chase races. He always performs top-notch when it matters the most, and Saturday was no exception as he dominated throughout the night to come out into victory lane for the second week in a row.
As his 6th win of the year, Johnson is edging closer and closer to that trophy for a 4th consecutive. I think it’s pretty humorous that critics are saying that Johnson has overcome a deficit by winning this past weekend after not winning for 4 years at Charlotte. Sure, that’s a bit weird for Johnson, but did you look at his finishes? He has consistently strong top 5 and top 10 finishes. If that’s the worse that they have on this man, then the other teams have a heck of a lot of catching up to do.
Matt Kenseth made a notable finish, coming in 2nd with Kasey Kahne coming in a strong 3rd place. Jeff Gordon took 4th with Logano finishing out the top 5. There were a total of 10 cautions, with many of the other Chase contenders having poor nights. Juan Montoya made contact on a restart with Mark Martin causing right-front fender damage, significantly reducing his chances of winning. Carl Edwards also had a hard night, with his engine blowing on lap 304. Greg Biffle spun in the grass on lap 312 after getting bumped by Ryan Newman. Ultimately, the other chasers had a rough night. The Hendrick clan managed to do well, with the exception of Earnhardt and Martin this week, who had some unfortunate paint swaps with Montoya and, overall, a car that just was not running as well as it has been.
Here’s a look at your top 10 finishers from Charlotte:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Joey Logano
6. Clint Bowyer
7. Casey Mears
8. Kyle Busch
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Kurt Busch
This past weekend, there were several changes in the points. Jeff Gordon got a big boost, moving to third, and Montoya fell 3 positions to 6th place.
Here are your current top 12 in the points:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Mark Martin
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Tony Stewart
5. Kurt Busch
6. Juan Montoya
7. Greg Biffle
8. Ryan Newman
9. Kasey Kahne
10. Carl Edwards
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Brian Vickers
From about 6th on back, there’s not much hope of the trophy. Even Kurt Busch is pushing his hopes a bit out of reach. This weekend is sure to boggle up the points yet again. We are headed to Martinsville, which is MY favorite track being that I usually get to go twice a year. This year, I’ll be watching from my couch unfortunately, but I will still get you all of the great details and exciting racing news that happens. The tempers are about to fly and the niceness is definitely going away this weekend. With only a few more weeks left before we close out the season, what better way to do it than on the short track here in Virginia! Let’s go racin’ boys!
