To say that the Stewart-Haas Racing cars had a great weekend in Loudon, N.H., would be an understatement.
Since unloading for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, those were two of the fastest cars there. The organization's pair of drivers swept the front row in qualifying, with Ryan Newman capturing the pole position and Tony Stewart placing second, which as a company they had never done before.
Then, in the race Sunday, they finished first and second, with Newman being out front again. That’s something Stewart-Haas Racing hadn’t done, either, in its 2-1/2 years in existence.
With an upcoming off weekend on the Sprint Cup side of things, you couldn’t have scripted a better weekend in Loudon, I don’t believe. A few weeks ago, Newman had been flirting with falling out of the top 10 in points. Two weeks ago at Kentucky Speedway, he finished fourth, which until Sunday had been his best finish of the year.
Now with the win Sunday, he is eighth in the points. Plus, with the win, he is probably a lock for the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup because this season NASCAR has instituted a pair of wild-card slots. Those will go to the drivers outside the top 10, but inside the top 20, who have the most wins. A tie would be broken by points position.
That has to make Newman feel really good, especially considering that he missed the Chase in 2010. Interestingly, too, in 2009 he didn’t win a race but made the Chase. In 2010, he won a race but didn’t make the Chase. Now, 2011 looks to be the year that he puts those both together.
If you are Newman and Stewart, running as well as you are, you probably would like to keep the momentum going and not have an off weekend. I can tell you though, from years of experience as a crew chief, this weekend off is very much welcomed by these teams.
You also have to remember that after this, the teams go 17 straight weeks with no break. We have the seven races leading up to the Chase and then, naturally, the 10 Chase races to determine our 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.
So, literally, the next weekend off, the teams will be carving turkey and, hopefully, watching football on NFL on FOX.
If you are the Richard Childress teams or Dale Earnhardt Jr., for example, this is a very welcomed weekend off. It won’t hurt those drivers and crews in the least to regroup, breathe a little bit, get their bearings and then get ready for these next seven races and then the final 10.
If you ran well Sunday, you have to feel pretty good knowing you will be back in a couple of months, as Loudon is the second race in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase.
However, if you are the Dale Juniors of the world or the majority of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, you know you have a lot of work to do.
People such as Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano have to be drivers who feel pretty good about their weekend.
Logano has really been on a roll of late. In the past four races, he has had three top-10 and two top-five finishes. Although it is a real stretch for him to make the Chase by being in the top 10 in points, he is doing a really good job of staying in the top 20. So if he could get a win or two in these next seven races, he could instantly become a factor in this year's Chase.
Jimmie Johnson's team members, despite all their problems in Loudon last weekend, has to feel pretty good. They didn’t qualify well. Then they had another issue on their pit stops with a lug nut being left off. Johnson also spun out, bringing out the last caution of the day.
For them to overcome all that yet still come home with a top-five finish, they have to feel like they actually won the race. That’s two top-five finishes in a row for them, so it looks like they are starting to ramp things up.
These next seven races are going to be pretty damn intense. Sunday was my last race broadcast of the year. I will still be at the track each and every week working for SPEED, so that’s exciting to me. I still stand by my statement at the beginning of the year that we will have the tightest, most intense Chase ever.
Just look at the numbers, because they don’t lie. We’ve had 13 different winners in 19 races so far. Nobody seems to have a stranglehold on the sport right now. We had good racing at Loudon.
Mother Nature continues to be the best race fan ever. In all 19 races so far, we’ve never had an issue come the green flag. I can’t tell you the last time that has happened. So things are great in NASCAR and, again, there are seven races to go in setting the field for the 2011 Chase.
You just know things are going to get even more intense.
