NASCAR Drivers Facing Crunch Time
With less than 20 races left before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins, four top drivers are starting to feel the pressure of being on the outside looking in.
The races increase in importance with each passing week - and this Saturday night’s race at Phoenix is vital for four drivers in particular: Jeff Gordon in the number 24 DuPont Chevrolet, Matt Kenseth in the number 17 DEWALT Nano Ford, Kurt Busch in the number 2 Miller Lite Dodge and Martin Truex Jr. in the number 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
Kenseth, one spot out in 13th, won at Phoenix in 2002 and has finished inside the top three in three of the last four races there. He has a driver rating of 97.0, an average running position of 14.3 and 103 fastest laps run over his last six Phoenix races. Jeff Gordon took the win last year at Phoenix for his first win ever at this track. Over the past six races at the one-mile track, the four-time series champion has a driver rating of 107.0, an average running position of 8.0 and has run 89% of the laps among the top 15.
Kurt Busch, who scored a perfect driver rating of 150.0 in his 2005 Phoenix win Has been very quiet this year. Kurt is sitting right behind Gordon in the standings but could start falling down the ladder further if he doesn’t start making some noise very soon. In his five Phoenix races since 2005, Busch has an overall driver rating of 103.7, an average running position of 8.3 and 121 fastest laps run.
Truex is looking for a rebound from Texas. Truex had a strong car last week at Texas, but a blown engine on Lap 330 dropped him to 36th place. Better results may await Truex at Phoenix - he has a driver rating of 93.0, an average running position of 11.5, and 58 Fastest Laps Run in his four races run there. His best Phoenix finish was last November - a seventh-place run where he led 72 laps. It’s still a long ways to go until September but if you don’t position yourself now the road begins to get a lot tougher with each passing week.
John Pischel writes about auto racing for http://www.speedweekly.net
John Pischel writes about auto racing for http://www.speedweekly.net
Bruton Smith determined to get Kentucky Speedway a Cup date and LVMS another one The hot rumor sweeping NASCAR Nation today has Bruton Smith also purchasing Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., closing the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track and moving one of its Cup dates to Kentucky Speedway and the other to Las Vegas Motor speedway.Smith has