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ghettozoe03
Guest
Who's Hot and Who's Not
after New Hampshire
By Abby Chase
Who's Hot
Matt Kenseth - That's right, Matt Kenseth is making a reappearance on the Hot list. Two races ago at the Richmond International Raceway, Matt started 25th. He brought out the fourth caution on lap 68. One of his tires was cut down and left debris on the racing surface. The tire flapping as the car moved did not cause any major damage to the No. 17. After the Dewalt crew got on new tires, Matt was ready to go. He led 124 of 400 laps. Matt was able to hold off Rusty Wallace (who made an unscheduled pit stop at the end of the race for a cut tire) and win the gas mileage race. At Loudon, the No. 17 qualified… seventeenth. The race had to work around the rain. It was delayed to get the track dried off. They ran nineteen some laps and it rained again. After another long rain delay, the race got restarted. They were able to get to complete 207 laps before it rained again and the race was called. In that amount of time, Matt was able to work his way up to tenth place to score his fourteenth top ten in 2002. He is the driver with the most wins this season with four (Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, and Richmond).
Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Dale Jr.'s last five races (since Michigan) have been pretty decent. At Michigan, he sat on the pole and finished tenth. The next race at Bristol, he sat on the outside pole and placed an impressive third. In Darlington he started fifteenth and finished sixteenth. At Richmond, he qualified 24th for Winston Cup. He qualified on the pole for the Busch race, dominated, and won that race. Dale, Jr., then went on to finish fourth in the Monte Carlo 400. Last weekend at Loudon, he had to take a provisional and started all the way back in 37th. That didn't slow him down though. In the 207 laps, he was able to race up to eleventh before the final rains came. He resides thirteenth in points. He also is the defending champion this weekend at Dover. If you look at his pit box, you can see the American flag he flew out his racecar window while he did his victory celebration a year ago.
Ricky Craven- It was a good weekend for the TIDE team. On Friday, Ricky posted the eight quickest qualifying time. Of course this is a track that Ricky would like to do well at because it is as close that a Winston Cup track gets to his home state of Maine. He was able to back up the great qualifying run with a good race. It should definitely not go unmentioned. Ricky scored the team their six top ten after placing sixth in the New Hampshire 207. They are currently sixteenth in the standings and looking for their first win in 2002.
Ryan Newman - Over the past 3 races, Ryan Newman has won a race and finished second twice. That is quite an achievement because the Winston Cup series has become so competitive. That is something that can be underestimated, but all you have to do is just look at the top five in points this season. Ryan and the No. 12 team really know how to shack up consistently good finishes. It shall pay off in the end because, in his rookie season, he may be speaking at the banquet.
Points Race - One of the hottest races of late has been within the points standings. Going into New Hampshire, Sterling Marlin was only nine markers ahead of Mark Martin. Jimmie Johnson trailed Sterling in third by 72 points. This New Hampshire race was a turning point as far as the 2002 Championship battle goes. Mark Martin didn't have a spectacular race. He started seventh and finished sixteenth, but that was just enough for him to take over the points lead since April 16th, 2000, after the Diehard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. It was the first swap for first since Sterling took over after the second race of the season from Ward Burton. Sterling started 24th and finished 21st in the New Hampshire 207. With only nine races left, anything is possible. At this point, we may have a rookie champion (Jimmie Johnson), a first time champion (good chance with this one, Johnson, Martin, Marlin, and Stewart), or even a five-time champion (Jeff Gordon). As of right now, Mark is only ahead of second place (Sterling Marlin) by nine points. Jimmie Johnson is only back by 40. Fourth place, Tony Stewart, is behind by 59 points, and Jeff Gordon is behind Mark by 67. To sum it up, it is really close, especially with nine races to go. It will be quite a show.
Who's Not
Elliott Sadler- Oh, it hasn't been a few good races for Elliott and the No. 21 Wood Brother's team I'm afraid. Back at Bristol, Elliott had a tough weekend. He wrecked his primary car, had to start 38th, then wrecked the back up car in the race, and finished 42nd. They had a decent week at Darlington and finished nineteenth, but the last two races haven't been as good. In Richmond he qualified 35th and finished one spot higher in 34th. He took a provisional to get into the Loudon race. Unfortunately, he was only able to finish 35th. Let's hope things will improve for the remaining race that this team will be together.
Sterling Marlin- The last two races for Sterling are what led Mark Martin's take over of the point lead. He finished dead last at Richmond after he was involved in the accident on lap eight. Then he was only good enough for a 21st place finish at Loudon. They will need to improve with in the next few weeks in order to remain a top point contender.
Who's In between
Since there were only two drivers that really stood out to me that could be in the NOT section, I decided to create a special section called "Who's In Between." These driver are, well, in between. They haven't had any consistent races recently that really stood out as being astounding, yet haven't had any races that were really awful. These are the drivers and their last three finishes (Darlington, Richmond, and Loudon)…
Dale Jarrett- 5th, 31st, and 7th.
Bill Elliott- 3rd, 16th, and 23rd.
Rusty Wallace- 22nd, 15th, and 19th.
Jeff Burton- 10th, 39th, and 20th.
Dave Blaney- 29th, 9th, and 25th.
after New Hampshire
By Abby Chase
Who's Hot
Matt Kenseth - That's right, Matt Kenseth is making a reappearance on the Hot list. Two races ago at the Richmond International Raceway, Matt started 25th. He brought out the fourth caution on lap 68. One of his tires was cut down and left debris on the racing surface. The tire flapping as the car moved did not cause any major damage to the No. 17. After the Dewalt crew got on new tires, Matt was ready to go. He led 124 of 400 laps. Matt was able to hold off Rusty Wallace (who made an unscheduled pit stop at the end of the race for a cut tire) and win the gas mileage race. At Loudon, the No. 17 qualified… seventeenth. The race had to work around the rain. It was delayed to get the track dried off. They ran nineteen some laps and it rained again. After another long rain delay, the race got restarted. They were able to get to complete 207 laps before it rained again and the race was called. In that amount of time, Matt was able to work his way up to tenth place to score his fourteenth top ten in 2002. He is the driver with the most wins this season with four (Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, and Richmond).
Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Dale Jr.'s last five races (since Michigan) have been pretty decent. At Michigan, he sat on the pole and finished tenth. The next race at Bristol, he sat on the outside pole and placed an impressive third. In Darlington he started fifteenth and finished sixteenth. At Richmond, he qualified 24th for Winston Cup. He qualified on the pole for the Busch race, dominated, and won that race. Dale, Jr., then went on to finish fourth in the Monte Carlo 400. Last weekend at Loudon, he had to take a provisional and started all the way back in 37th. That didn't slow him down though. In the 207 laps, he was able to race up to eleventh before the final rains came. He resides thirteenth in points. He also is the defending champion this weekend at Dover. If you look at his pit box, you can see the American flag he flew out his racecar window while he did his victory celebration a year ago.
Ricky Craven- It was a good weekend for the TIDE team. On Friday, Ricky posted the eight quickest qualifying time. Of course this is a track that Ricky would like to do well at because it is as close that a Winston Cup track gets to his home state of Maine. He was able to back up the great qualifying run with a good race. It should definitely not go unmentioned. Ricky scored the team their six top ten after placing sixth in the New Hampshire 207. They are currently sixteenth in the standings and looking for their first win in 2002.
Ryan Newman - Over the past 3 races, Ryan Newman has won a race and finished second twice. That is quite an achievement because the Winston Cup series has become so competitive. That is something that can be underestimated, but all you have to do is just look at the top five in points this season. Ryan and the No. 12 team really know how to shack up consistently good finishes. It shall pay off in the end because, in his rookie season, he may be speaking at the banquet.
Points Race - One of the hottest races of late has been within the points standings. Going into New Hampshire, Sterling Marlin was only nine markers ahead of Mark Martin. Jimmie Johnson trailed Sterling in third by 72 points. This New Hampshire race was a turning point as far as the 2002 Championship battle goes. Mark Martin didn't have a spectacular race. He started seventh and finished sixteenth, but that was just enough for him to take over the points lead since April 16th, 2000, after the Diehard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. It was the first swap for first since Sterling took over after the second race of the season from Ward Burton. Sterling started 24th and finished 21st in the New Hampshire 207. With only nine races left, anything is possible. At this point, we may have a rookie champion (Jimmie Johnson), a first time champion (good chance with this one, Johnson, Martin, Marlin, and Stewart), or even a five-time champion (Jeff Gordon). As of right now, Mark is only ahead of second place (Sterling Marlin) by nine points. Jimmie Johnson is only back by 40. Fourth place, Tony Stewart, is behind by 59 points, and Jeff Gordon is behind Mark by 67. To sum it up, it is really close, especially with nine races to go. It will be quite a show.
Who's Not
Elliott Sadler- Oh, it hasn't been a few good races for Elliott and the No. 21 Wood Brother's team I'm afraid. Back at Bristol, Elliott had a tough weekend. He wrecked his primary car, had to start 38th, then wrecked the back up car in the race, and finished 42nd. They had a decent week at Darlington and finished nineteenth, but the last two races haven't been as good. In Richmond he qualified 35th and finished one spot higher in 34th. He took a provisional to get into the Loudon race. Unfortunately, he was only able to finish 35th. Let's hope things will improve for the remaining race that this team will be together.
Sterling Marlin- The last two races for Sterling are what led Mark Martin's take over of the point lead. He finished dead last at Richmond after he was involved in the accident on lap eight. Then he was only good enough for a 21st place finish at Loudon. They will need to improve with in the next few weeks in order to remain a top point contender.
Who's In between
Since there were only two drivers that really stood out to me that could be in the NOT section, I decided to create a special section called "Who's In Between." These driver are, well, in between. They haven't had any consistent races recently that really stood out as being astounding, yet haven't had any races that were really awful. These are the drivers and their last three finishes (Darlington, Richmond, and Loudon)…
Dale Jarrett- 5th, 31st, and 7th.
Bill Elliott- 3rd, 16th, and 23rd.
Rusty Wallace- 22nd, 15th, and 19th.
Jeff Burton- 10th, 39th, and 20th.
Dave Blaney- 29th, 9th, and 25th.
