Chase Heads To Horse Racing Country Of Delaware

Round two of the high-speed NASCAR playoffs will feature horsepower instead of the horse racing the area around Dover Downs is accustomed to enjoying. Jimmie Johnson rides into Delaware on his high horse as the champion—so far, but he is actually tied in the point total with his owner/teammate Jeff Gordon.

Johnson and Gordon each have 5,210 points following the first playoff race at New Hampshire. NASCAR awards first place on the point chart to the driver with the most wins when there is a tie. Johnson has six wins and Gordon four, so that gives Johnson top-billing rights.

No eliminations occurred at New Hampshire. All 12 drivers in the contest still have mathematical changes of winning the championship. Kurt Busch took the biggest hit dropping from fifth to 12th in the points after his 25th place finish in the New Hampshire race.

Clint Bowyer’s win at New Hampshire propelled him from 12th to fourth in the Chase points. Bowyer also collected the bonus points for leading the most laps in the event.

The only other Chase drivers collecting extra points for leading were Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.

Seven of the 12 drivers in the championship rounds finished in the top-ten at New Hampshire.

Dover International Speedway hosts the championship battle this weekend. The one-mile track that serves as the high-speed stage this weekend has a concrete surface that prompts some to call it “The Monster Mile.” The speedway has been a stop for the NASCAR circuit since 1969.

Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon have the best scorecards for the track among drivers running this weekend. Martin and Gordon have four Dover wins each. Gordon claimed three wins in a row in 1995 and 1996. His most recent win at the speedway was in 2001.
Martin carried home his winner’s hardware in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have registered three wins each at Dover. Johnson won both events in 2002 and one in 2005. Newman won both events in 2003 and the September event in 2004.
Tony Stewart has two Dover wins when he swept both races at the speedway in 2000.
Drivers with a single trip to Dover’s Victory Lane include Martin Truex Jr.(2007), Jeff Burton (2006), Matt Kenseth (2006), Greg Biffle (2005), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001), Bobby Labonte (1999), Dale Jarrett (1998), Kyle Petty (1995) and Ken Schrader (1991).
The top-five finishers of the 2006 June race at Dover were Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Truex collected the bonus points for leading the most laps of the race. He led 216 of the 400 circuits in June.

The only other drivers leading more than two laps of the race were Ryan Newman (135), Kasey Kahne (28) and Carl Edwards (18).

Six drivers traded the lead 16 times and there were seven caution flag incidents. The event took just under three hours and 22 minutes to complete.

Ryan Newman was the Bud Pole Award winner with a lap of 152.925 miles-an-hour during qualifying.

The Big Switch Begins: The King of Beers has a new prince. Budweiser has anointed Kasey Kahne to assume the throne being vacated by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Jr. has been the beer company’s on-track representative for his entire Winston/Nextel Cup driving career, but he gave up the sponsorship deal when he announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of this season.

Dale Jr. is going to work for Rick Hendrick, but the Budweiser sponsorship package is moving to Evernham Racing. The Bud decals will be affixed to the No. 9 Dodge, instead of the familiar No. 8 Chevrolet in 2008.

Get ready to watch Earnhardt Jr. guzzle down the Mountain Dew and AMP Energy drinks during post-race interviews next year. The Pepsi-owned drinks will be Dale Jr.’s primary sponsor in his new No. 88 Chevrolet. His father was a charter member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family for most of his driving career.

Looks like Junior is trading the beer for sugar next year in his new car. His own candy bar should begin to hit the shelves in 2008. It is called “Dale Jr.’s Big Mo.”

Dale Jr. will be competing with his father on the candy display counter. A special edition of the famous Hershey Bar honoring the late Dale Earnhardt is scheduled for delivery to stores by the opening race next year in Daytona.

The Army National Guard will also continue to pay sponsorship dollars to the Hendrick organization for the right to have their decals on Junior’s car too.

The red shirts that have identified Dale Jr.’s fans for years may have to be dyed for the new season. The two shots shown of the race car during this week’s announcement showed green and white and blue and white paint jobs for the car.

Georgia Boys: Reed Sorenson gets top honors for the Georgia drivers in the first Chase race at New Hampshire. The Peachtree City driver started 13th and finished 14th in the 300-lap run. Reed collected five bonus points for leading nine laps of the race. It was the fifth time he has led at least one lap of a race this year.

Sorenson advanced into the 23rd spot in the point standings. He has scored two top-five and three top-ten finishes in the 27 Nextel Cup races this season.

Unadilla’s David Ragan finished 19th in the New Hampshire race. It was the best finish among drivers competing in the “Rookie of the Year” competition.

Ragan holds down the 21st position in the Nextel Cup point standings. He has two top-five finishes on his report card for the season.

Shane Sieg, of Tucker, was the only Georgia driver running the Craftsman Truck Series race last weekend at New Hampshire. It was his second truck race this year and he did his home state proud. Sieg started 22nd and finished tenth. It was only his second truck event this year.

Saturday’s WSB 120 racing program will air from 2:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Newstalk 750 WSB Radio and www.wsbradio.com. For more race information visit our Fastcar Newsdesk at www.captainherb.net.