By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Monday, September 27, 2004
How tight is this NASCAR Chase for the NEXTEL Cup going to be? Well, ask Kurt Busch.
Busch was tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the lead after the first of the 10 Chase races. Then in the second race, the MBNA America 400 on Sept. 26 at Dover, Del., Busch couldn't hold off out-of-the-Chase Dale Jarrett from passing him in the late laps and wound up fifth rather than fourth.
And instead of still leading, Busch fell behind in the standings to Jeff Gordon. By one whopping point.
Gordon, driver of the DuPont Chevrolet, chased winner Ryan Newman and runner-up Mark Martin to the checkered flag in third. This gave Gordon, points leader after the 26 races that led to the Chase, just enough to take the top spot heading into the third showdown race, the EA Sports 500, on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 3.
Gordon, a four-time Brickyard 400 champion, has finished seventh and third in the first two Chase races. He is seeking his fifth Cup championship.
Under the old system, Gordon would lead Earnhardt by 69 points heading into the final eight races. Busch would be fourth but virtually out of the chase with 256 points to make up.
The victory moved Newman, driver of the ALLTEL Dodge, up from ninth to eighth in the standings, but he still is 107 points out of first. He lost an engine Sept. 19 at New Hampshire, finishing 33rd.
Tony Stewart is a perfect example of how strong finishes in every race are vital to winning the championship when the season ends Nov. 21 with the Ford 400 at Miami-Homestead Speedway. He rebounded from his accident with Robby Gordon at New Hampshire to place sixth at Dover ... and lost 11 points and a position in the top 10. He now trails Gordon by 135 points and remains irked over Robby Gordon's actions that put him so far behind in the points.
Earnhardt was tied for the lead with Busch heading into Dover. He brought his Budweiser Chevrolet home ninth and that dropped him back to third, 18 points in arrears.
Martin continued his late-season surge that first got him into the Terrific Ten and now is tied for fourth with Jeff Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, only 57 points out of first. Martin, who drives the Viagra Ford, is 45 and 12 years older than Gordon and Stewart, the next oldest of the group. He finished 25th in the Brickyard 400 on Aug. 8 and was mired in 15th place, 676 points out of first and 123 points out of the final qualifying position.
In the next five races, he passed seven drivers to place eighth among the qualifying 10. In just two races since, he has advanced another four positions as he seeks his first championship in 21 seasons. He has finished second four times.
The biggest loser at Dover was Matt Kenseth. He finished 32nd place after crashing while entering the pits, plummeted from fourth to seventh in the standings and lost 89 points.
Jeremy Mayfield remains mired in 10th. Another victim of the Robby Gordon bash of Greg Biffle at New Hampshire, Mayfield drove his Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge to seventh at Dover and lost 15 points. He now has a 157-point deficit to make up in only eight races.
Elliott Sadler is the other Chase participant. He maintained his hold on sixth despite a 20th place finish. He's 96 out of first and three in front of Kenseth.
The NEXTEL Cup champion will receive a postseason payoff of more than $5 million at the annual banquet in New York.
THE CHASE
1. Jeff Gordon 5,371 points
2. Kurt Busch -1 (5,370)
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -18 (5,353)
4. Jimmie Johnson -57 (5,314)
5. Mark Martin -57 (5,314)
6. Elliott Sadler -96 (5,275)
7. Matt Kenseth -99 (5,272)
8. Ryan Newman -107 (5,264)
9. Tony Stewart -135 (5,236)
10. Jeremy Mayfield -157 (5,214) ***
2005 tickets: The 12th Brickyard 400 is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005. Customers who are upgrading or purchasing Brickyard 400 tickets for the first time should act quickly to increase their chances of obtaining their desired seats.
To purchase tickets, camping or parking, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, (317) 492-6700 locally or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.
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