Now that we are done with the restrictor-plate races for 2010, there really isn’t a lot teammates can do for Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick on the track anymore.
Now sure, for example, if Jeff Burton was leading the race and his teammate Kevin Harvick was running second, you can bet Jeff will let Kevin go by to lead a lap for the five bonus points.
But my point is that scenarios like in last Sunday’s race, when you saw teammates hooking up and going to the front at Talladega Superspeedway, don’t exist anymore.
Off the track, teammates can help with information sharing. You have 10 teams involved with links to the Chase for the Sprint Cup – four Hendrick Motorsports, three Joe Gibbs Racing and three Richard Childress Racing groups. If you take out Jimmie, Denny and Kevin, the remaining seven, for the most part, still need to win a race in 2010.
Think about the pressure on young Joey Logano. Unless he can hit Victory Lane in these next three races, it will mark the first time since 1999 that the No. 20 team has not won at least one race during a season.
You simply can’t build a lot of teammate support into these final three races because of the tracks they are going to. Again, other than information sharing, the teammate aspect stopped at Talladega last Sunday.
As I mentioned earlier in the week, it’s Jimmie, Denny and Kevin that have to slug it out.
Yes, there are only three races left in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. But, again, don’t lose sight that we have over 1,200 miles of racing to go. As we’ve seen all year, plenty of strange things can happen during that period.
