2009 Sharpie 500 Review
by Virginia Vroom of Predictem.com
This weekend’s race at Bristol was a little different than what we are used to seeing at this track. Nevertheless, the racing was awesome, and, for once, Kyle Busch wasn’t whining. That could be because he won though.
There weren’t nearly as many wrecks as we’re used to seeing here, but there was certainly some good side-by-side racing. Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, and even Kurt Busch were making impressive runs throughout the night. Martin dominated the top spot and the top 5 all night long, and I was honestly sad to see him lose to Kyle Busch. Busch needs to take some lessons in class from Mr. Martin. He could learn a lot.
I love Kyle Busch when he wins because he is able to give credit where credit is due, complimenting Martin’s driving and recognizing what an awesome competitor he is; however, when Busch loses, the whole world loses. It’s never his fault. Someone else always did something to him. His team sucks. That’s basically the speech we get in a typical second-place run for Busch.
For Kyle, though, this win was extremely important as he races to get into the Chase. Martin needed a strong finish as well, which is exactly what he accomplished. Martin wasn’t disappointed with second, though. He had a loose car and went sideways driving his butt off to run down Busch. Busch drove as hard as he could and at least realized that Martin had every opportunity to wreck Busch out of the way if he really wanted too. Each driver ended up 2 spots in the points, so not much complaining is happening here.
As I anticipated, lap traffic turned into a huge issue and held Martin back plenty of times, especially trying to put Kahne 2 laps down. Jimmie Johnson was able to take the high side and get a hold of the lead as Martin fell behind lap traffic.
Johnson’s luck ran out in the pits when his team failed to tighten the lug nuts on his Lowe’s Chevy, causing him to lose critical spots in the pits.
My pick, Kurt Busch, got involved in a wreck after charging to the front and staying in the top 3-5 throughout much of the night. He finished in the top 10. Jr. fans can rejoice as he had another top 10 finish this weekend, finishing 9th. For Jeff Gordon, the race couldn’t have ended any sooner. He finished 23rd, struggling with adjustments on the DuPont Chevrolet.
Here’s a look at your to 10 finishers from Saturday night’s race at Bristol:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Mark Martin
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Greg Biffle
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Ryan Newman
7. Kurt Busch
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Matt Kenseth
Marcos Ambrose is showing that he’s more than a road-course driver after successfully maintaining a top 3 position throughout the night. Matt Kenseth lost a spot in the points despite his 10th place finish. Here are your current top 12 in the points:
1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Carl Edwards
6. Kurt Busch
7. Ryan Newman
8. Greg Biffle
9. Juan Montoya
10. Mark Martin
11. Kasey Kahne
12. Matt Kenseth
Two weeks from now, we are heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway, a safe haven for concrete Carl. Edwards always performs well here as do his Roush counterparts. Stay tuned as we head to the last couple of races before post-season Cup series begins!
