Cup thread: Dodge Dealers 400 - Dover

[Knowlesy]

It's Chase rd.2 this week at Dover!

Jimmie Johnson on the pole, the latest to shut JPM out of the Bud Shootout!

Seems to be on pole by a reasonable distance as well, stellar lap.

Sam Hornish Jr. failed to qualify again. A.J. Allmendinger has a nice start slot in 11th!

Chase lineup

	Qual.
Jimmie Johnson	Pole
Denny Hamlin	3rd
Kurt Busch	4th
Martin Truex Jr.	5th
Kevin Harvick	7th
Matt Kenseth	10th
Carl Edwards	15th
Kyle Busch	22nd
Jeff Gordon	27th
Tony Stewart	28th
Jeff Burton	36th
Clint Bowyer	42nd

[ThePenguin]

I am really surprised to see that Sam Hornish Jr. not make the race again, this is really making me doubt whether or not he will be doing the chase. And what happened to Clint Bowyer, if he was not locked into the race, he wouldn't be in it because he wouldn't have qualified on speed.

[muggle not]

This should be an interesting race (aren't they all). Kurt and Kevin can hardly afford a bad finish which would make it very difficult for them to recover.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Originally Posted by ThePenguin

And what happened to Clint Bowyer, if he was not locked into the race, he wouldn't be in it because he wouldn't have qualified on speed.

Bowyer got loose on his lap, hence the slow time. He should be okay in the race.

It is a shame JPM was knocked off the pole. He had it until the 46th qualifier came out! Still, it is a great indication of JPM's progress that we are sitting here in September disappointed about him qualifying on the outside of the front row! JPM was fast off the truck. Is win #2 in the cards?

[muggle not]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Bowyer got loose on his lap, hence the slow time. He should be okay in the race.

It is a shame JPM was knocked off the pole. He had it until the 46th qualifier came out! Still, it is a great indication of JPM's progress that we are sitting here in September disappointed about him qualifying on the outside of the front row! JPM was fast off the truck. Is win #2 in the cards?

Remember though, only 4 drivers have won from the pole this year. I am not dissapointed with JPM, he is in 20th position in the points which is about where I thought he would run his first year in Nascar. He is having a pretty good 1st year in Cup, not great, but pretty good. He is a very experienced driver with talent and I would expect to see him improve on that position next year although I don't look for him to make the chase yet.

[VilleneuveTracy]

I agree. Montoya has had a good year and has shown consistent improvement. JPM at this point is ahead of where Tony Stewart was in his stock car experience (remember, he had 30+ Busch starts from 1996-1998, including 22 in 1998. He had 0 wins and only 5 top 10's in 1998. It took him 50+ starts to win any race while JPM already has 2). I think he can contend for the chase (he has had a lot of bad luck this year and has been involved in some rookie accidents. Next year the crashes will be cut down drastically and the points gained from that alone should get him in striking distance), although I don't think he will be at a point where he can truly contend for the championship next year if he makes the chase. Going by the Stewart example JPM should show a jump in performance next year, and has also improved over the past 2 months. Notice how JPM is not causing crashes anymore and usually is a top 20 car every week, at minimum?

JPM has proven he can drive stock cars; the burden is now on Ganassi. Can he give JPM championship caliber equipment? While JPM is on the front row his teammates are 33rd and 40th...

Keep in mind JPM was 13th in points after 7 races (-12 from 12th). A brutal 8 race stretch in which he finished 33rd, 31st (crash), 26th (crash damage), 23rd (Darlington!), 28th (crash), 31st, 20th, 43rd (crash) killed him. He fell to 23rd in the standings after this (well over 300 points behind 12th).

[Craig]

When is this race being run? I can't find it in the TV schedule?

[Knowlesy]

Craig - Cup races are not live whilst the stupid bloody Rugby World Cup is on.

I sincerely hope that it either finishes or is on a week off in time for the Talladega 500 or I will have a severe fit.

It is replaying on Sunday midnight I believe.

[Craig]

Cocking ******** I guess there's no point in complaining though - they'll do sod all. Sadly midnight on Sunday is not gonna happen for me. It has taken me all week to recover from only having 45 minutes of sleep last Sunday and there's no way I could do that again!

[Knowlesy]

Well, you have my PM.

Although I won't be watching until the Monday or Tuesday either. Midnight is just ridiculous.

It's strikes me as amazing they don't just put it on another channel.

[Craig]

Why don't they just turn one of the redundant football channels into 'Nascar TV' on Saturday and Sunday night so we can see live Busch and Cup? Bah.

[Knowlesy]

Maybe for the future. We need hundreds of complaints really.

[johntt]

Allmendinger seems to be in trouble - a shame as he'd qualified well and then gone to the back after an engine change. He was ruinning well in the busch series last night as well.

[Craig]

Do we have an email address to complain to, Knowlesy? This bloody world cup thing goes on until October 20th!!

[VilleneuveTracy]

Half of the race is complete. Denny Hamlin just got some damage after running into (or should I say over? ) Kyle Petty. Bowyer also got a piece of it and is furious. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are both 2 laps down after having to pit under green for tire problems. Tony Stewart is lapped. Jeff Burton has been lapped twice (got the lucky dog), was a lap from being lapped another time but a caution has bailed him out each time.

Top 5 as of lap 200

Kenseth
Ku. Busch
Biffle
Earnhardt Jr.
Hamlin

JPM running solid in 14th. Edit, he is now up to 10th after pit stops. He has been solid all day, quite a contrast to his last run at Dover in which he finished 31st, 5 laps down. JPM should only get better as the crew adjusts on the car.

Update: Hamlin is now forced to go to the garage to work on the car.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Kyle Petty walks into Hamlin's garage, pulls down the safety net, gives him a tongue lashing. Hamlin gets angry, gets out the car...but NASCAR officials separate the two.

Update: Petty says he knew Hamlin was sick but didn't know he was hallucinating.

[VilleneuveTracy]

JPM tangles with McMurray. Both remain on the lead lap and seem to have only very minor damage.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Craig

Do we have an email address to complain to, Knowlesy? This bloody world cup thing goes on until October 20th!!

Why god!?! Why?!?

[muggle not]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

JPM tangles with McMurray. Both remain on the lead lap and seem to have only very minor damage.

It looked like Jamie got up into JPM. Some good driving though by Jamie to keep the car on the track.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Something breaks on Kurt Busch, he wrecks and takes Newman and Truex with him. Johnson also was heavily damaged in it. Other cars, such as Kahne, Sorenson Green, and Labonte involved. Big crash involving top 6 cars with 17 to go! Gordon makes it through the carnage.

Update: at least 11 cars involved in this crash.

[Hazza]

I might need to go and watch this!

[ThePenguin]

This red-flag is taking forever!

[VilleneuveTracy]

Junior 3rd, JPM 10th so a good result. The points standings will be interesting after this race...Johnson salvaged 14th.

[VilleneuveTracy]

Unofficial Standings

1) J. Gordon
2) Stewart -2
3) Edwards -3
4) Johnson -4
5) Ky. Busch -10
6) Bowyer -18
7) Truex -46
8) Burton -75
9) Harvick -115
10) Kenseth -116
11) Ku. Busch -148
12) Hamlin -158

13) Junior
19) JPM (up one)

[muggle not]

Harvick owes Kurt a favor "big time". Kurt took many contenders out which saved Harvick from completely falling out of contention for the chase. Hamlin finished where he deserved.