Busch counting on road race to get back in Chase
Something that impressed me from Monday's race at Pocono was a pretty darn good crowd was able to stay over. I was just very impressed that many people came back out. I would wager to say there might be some people that called in sick that might not be really sick. The other thing that was impressive was some darn good racing and not always for the lead.
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All things happen for a reason and with everything Denny Hamlin had been through with losing his grandmother a few days before the race, he was pretty possessed to take that No. 11 car to Victory Lane. He led something like half the race and became our 12th different winner of the season.
Jimmie Johnson is comfortably in the 2009 Chase so even if the team wasn't able to fix the spark plug problem, the hit he would have taken in the points at Pocono really wouldn't have affected anything. By finishing 7th, Mark Martin has helped his cause. That puts in about a full race in points ahead of Kyle Busch who is now in 13th.
I see where the battle still exists is from Matt Kenseth down to David Reutimann. I really believe Jeff Burton is out of the 2009 Chase picture because he is now over 200 points out of 12th position. I just don't see that much ground being made up in with only five races to go before the Chase field is set.
There were a couple of guys who did themselves a lot of good Monday. They include Clint Bowyer who finished third. He's still got a long way to go with two people still in front of him and 115 points out of 12th spot. Brian Vickers got his second top six-finish in a row and he is just 104 points over Greg Biffle who sits in 12th.
To me, the real winner of the day was Juan Pablo Montoya. Not only did he finish 2nd at Pocono, but he also got his first top-five finish of the year. That puts him a full race in points ahead of Kyle Busch too. Kyle only had a marginal day. Sure it was his best finish in the last couple weeks, but he needs a lot better finishes if he is going to make it into the Chase.
When I look at 11th place back to 16th place heading into Watkins Glen this weekend, the only one that really jumps out at me as a really accomplished road racer is Kyle Busch. Kenseth, Biffle, Vickers, Bowyer and Reutimann collectively aren't ones who look forward to road racing. Also remember that it was Kyle who won both road course races last year.
