NASCAR’s Top 12

Winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship in 2008 is Hendrick Motor Sport’s #48 Jimmy Johnson. This is Jimmy’s third Championship in a row! That has only been done once in the history of NASCAR racing. Cale Yarborough accomplished the feat thirty years ago. Jimmy is good at this new Chase system.  The last ten tracks that make up the Chase are at his best tracks. In my opinion he will win every Championship until NASCAR figures out they need to change which tracks are in the chase.

Dale Jarrett says he’s one of the good guys. And he’s my Grandson Trystan’s favorite! Like him or not, with the help of his crew chief Chad Knaus, he knows how to race and win Championships.

Jimmy started the season 27th at Daytona. And after five races was only in 13th place in the points. But by the end of the year he had 7 wins, fifteen top 5’s, twenty-two top tens and six poles.

This is Jimmy’s fifth appearance in the Chase. The only other driver to do that is Rouch Fenway Racing’s #17 Matt Kenseth. But Jimmy shines in those last ten races like no one else. In 2008 Kyle Busch had eight wins heading into the Chase. That put him on top of the points and Jimmy only in third with only four wins.

However, in the chase, he had three wins, six top fives and seven top tens. Jimmy’s worst finishes were at Texas and Homestead Miami, where he finished fifteenth! He won at Kansas, Martinsville and Phoenix. That gave him seven wins for the season. Less than Kyle, but he won the races that counted. Jimmy will be a contender for the Championship for many years to come.

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NASCAR’s Top 12

Finishing the 2008 Season in second place is Roush Fenway Racing’s #99 Carl Edwards. Carl was the only driver who really gave #48 Jimmy Johnson a run for The Chase for the Sprint Cup. Carl ended the season 69 points behind Series Champion Jimmy Johnson. Heading into the last race at the Miami-Homestead track, Carl was the only driver that had a chance to beat Jimmy. Carl also finished second in points in the NASCAR Nationwide Series behind Champion Clint Bowyer.

Carl is good at the 1.5 mile tracks. He won at Las Vegas, Atlanta and twice at Texas. (After the race at Las Vegas, he was penalized 100 points, his crew chief was suspended and his win didn’t get five points for the Chase, because of a rules violation.) Carl also won at the 2 mile tracks of Auto Club Speedway in California and Michigan. And he won at he 2.5 mile track  at Pocono. He also won at the .533 mile track at Bristol. He does his signature flip after winning a race.

Carl came into the Chase second in points with six wins, five of which counted. He went on to win at Atlanta, Texas and Homestead in the Chase. Carl had top fours in eight of the ten Chase races. However, at Talladega he took out team mates in a crash and finished 29th. And at Lowes he had a parts failure that left him finishing in 33rd place.

Carl finished third in points in his first Chase in 2005. Actually, tied for second. But he missed the Chase in 2006. In 2007 he finished in ninth. In the end, he had to hope that Jimmy stumbled so he could win the Championship. And, of course, Jimmy didn’t stumble. Look for him in 2009. He had 27 top ten finishes and 19 top fives.

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NASCAR’s Top 12

Finishing the 2008 season in third place is Roush Fenway Racing’s #16 Greg Biffle. Greg is the only NASCAR Sprint Cup driver that had a chance to become the only driver with a Championship in all three NASCAR top Series. He won the Rookie of the year in the Craftsman Truck series, and went on to win the Championship in 2000. He then went on to the Busch Series, was the Rookie of the year and became the Champion in 2002. Greg was not the Rookie of the year when he came to Cup racing. But he has a chance to be the Champion in 2008. He finished second to Tony Stewart in 2005.

Greg started the Chase in ninth place. And promptly won the first two Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover. And finished third at Kansas. However, he crashed out at Talladega and finished 24th. In the last six races, his worse finish was 18th at the finale at the Homestead-Miami Track. He held on to third, but was not close enough to contend for the Championship.

Greg did not make the Chase in 2006 or 2007. In 2008 he had three DNF’s (Did Not Finish) but was never out of the top 12 to get into the Chase. He started the Chase with four out of five top ten’s and finished the Chase with four out of five top tens. If Greg can perform better next year, and get some wins before the Chase starts, he will once again be in contention for the Trophy.

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NASCAR’s Top 12

Finishing the NASCAR sprint Cup series in fourth place is Richard Childress Racing’s #29 Kevin Harvick. Kevin finished ahead of team mates, #07 Clint Bowyer and #31 Jeff Burton. Kevin missed the Chase in 2004 and 2005. But this was his third straight year in the Chase.

Kevin won the 2007 Daytona 500 in 2007, but hasn’t won a race since then. He was second twice in 2008 at Bristol and Miami-Homestead. Homestead being in the Chase. He had six straight top 10 finishes to climb from 13th in the points to seventh, securing himself a spot in the Chase. This is Kevin’s third straight Chase appearance.

Kevin started the Chase in eleventh place. He had three top tens in a row to start the Chase. And he never did worse than 20th at Talladega. He finished 13th twice at Lowes and Atlanta. And had seven top 10 finishes in the chase. Not bad, but not enough to win the Championship.

Kevin needs more wins all year long to be a contender in 2009. RCR is not quite there. The teams perform well, but winning takes them to the top and all three teams don’t have enough wins. Look for Kevin again in 2009. If he can win, he’ll be a challenge.

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NASCAR’s Top 12

Finishing the 2008 season in fifth place, is Richard Childress Racing’s #07  Clint Bowyer. Clint had only one win in 2008. That was the first race at Richmond. In 2007, he made it into the Chase and promptly got his first win in the first race of the Chase. Not so in 2008. Clint started the season slowly, but rallied ahead with seven straight top-10 finishes in the Spring. That put him into the top ten, but he struggled just to stay in the top twelve. Clint started and finished The Chase in Fifth place.

Clint finished all thirty-six races, completing 98.1% of the laps. During The Chase for the Sprint cup, his worse finish was 20th at Atlanta. Not bad, but not great. He finished 12th four times, and had five top ten finishes, with three top five finishes.

In 2009, Clint will move into the new RCR #33 car with sponsorship from Betty Crocker.

Clint also ran all the races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, winning the Championship for RCR. Perhaps if concentrates on Sprint Cup in 2009, and not run all the Nationwide races, he will be a contender for the Championship. He wasn’t a threat in 2008.

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