Clint Bowyer
Since the penalty final appeal decision was announced and even prior to that Clint Bowyer has been on a mission to prove the skeptics wrong. In his first two attempts he failed with disappointing finishes but on Sunday Bowyer was looking to prove their win was legit. He finished second at Auto Club Speedway and while his championship hopes are over in 2010 Bowyer wants to win and win big.
At Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bowyer will look to continue the momentum he has built. It won’t be easy as CMS is not one of Bowyer’s best tracks. He has an average finish of 17.7 at the CMS. He only has one top five and three top 10 finishes. Two of his three top 10 finishes came in the last races at CMS, so don’t be surprised to see Bowyer running up front.
Tony Stewart
Following New Hampshire most had already counted Tony Stewart out of the title mix. Costly fuel gamble had them 10th in the standings and title chances out of reach. Since Dover, Stewart has been on a roll with a fourth at Kansas. At ACS a convincing win shot Stewart up to fifth in the standings and back into contention.
CMS has been a love and hate type track for Stewart. He hasn’t had a top five finish since 2007 and his best finish since then was 11th in 2008. He has one win, six top fives and 11 top 10 finishes at CMS. Stewart is the hottest driver in the Chase right now, I don’t expect him to cool off this weekend.
Kyle Busch
At ACS it was looking like Kyle Busch would be able to gain some points back after a rough ride at Kansas. He was running top 10 all day until his engine blew and so did his Chase chances. His 35th place finish all but put a cap on his title hopes.
This weekend his average finish is 17.7 but he hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since 2007. He has four top fives and seven top 10 finishes but no wins. Busch once again has struggled with consistency in the Chase. They have good cars but can’t seem to put together the whole race. On Saturday night, Busch and his team could very well be in victory lane.
Greg Biffle
After winning at Kansas the week before, Greg Biffle came to ACS with momentum on his side. He was looking to continue his climb up the standings. This dark horse for the title was ready to go from pretender to contender. Instead his title hopes also went up in smoke, early in the race. He finished 41st and all but ended any title chances. CMS is not one of Biffle’s best tracks overall with an average finish of 19.1. He hasn’t finished in the top 15 at CMS since 2008. In fact since 2007 he only has two top 10 finishes at CMS and that was in 2008.His two top fives and five top 10’s at CMS means Biffle could have his work cut out for him this weekend.
Jimmie Johnson
From one house to another for Jimmie Johnson and he is a familiar place in the standings, the lead. After his third place finish at ACS, Johnson point lead has expanded and Johnson looks to continue get maximum points this weekend.
It’s no secret that Johnson has owned CMS in his racing career. His six wins, nine top fives, 13 top 10’s and solid average finish of 10.2. In the last five races the results have been a mixed bag for Johnson. He has only two top 10’s and three finishes worse than 13th, including a 37th place finish in May. Johnson will still be the man to beat once again this weekend and for the competition that could be bad news.
Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon told the media and his team bring on the mile and half tracks in the Chase prior to Kansas. He was right the team has been strong but at ACS a pit road penalty cost them a sure top five finish late in the race. They rebounded from 29th to 9th in the final 40 laps. Gordon though still lost points to the leader but saved his title hopes.
Since 2007 he has only had one finish though outside the top 10 at CMS.It was 14th at the rain shortened race last May. Gordon has five wins, 16 top fives and 20 top 10 finishes. Gordon is more than capable of pulling out a win and gaining points in the standings this weekend, if the team can avoid mental mistakes.
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