NASCAR season down to wire
By CHUCK SAMPLES
ISL Correspondent
Three weekends remain in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and at least at the very top a familiar face has charged back to the top.
When the Chase for the Cup started, I anticipated Jimmie Johnson would win his sixth title in seven years. I also thought Dale Earnhardt would finish second instead of having to sit two weeks with concussion issues.
Be that as it may, I haven’t seen anything so far this Chase season to make me think Johnson will waver. The Johnson team continually demonstrates it is the best team in NASCAR, and already it has done extremely well at two of the three remaining tracks (Miami is preparing for its only Sprint Cup race this season). However, the two drivers closest to Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer, have also demonstrated they deserve their positions at the top of the heap — and not just for this year.
So far this year, Keselowski is tied for the circuit lead in wins with five, and he has been charging hard up the final leaderboard the past few years. Keselowski was 25th in his first Sprint Cup season in 2010 but jumped to fifth in the final standings last year. Keselowski is adept at stretching fuel mileage, always a bonus, and crew chief Paul Wolfe is one of the best at in-race strategy adjustments.
Bowyer hasn’t generated the wins of some of the other drivers (three so far) and he hasn’t had the number of Top 5 finishes, so for him to be less than 30 points down at this stage is pretty impressive. Credit Bowyer’s immediate chemistry with Brian Pattie and his crew for that. When I wrote my preview, I said Bowyer needed three wins to have a realistic shot at a title. That’s unlikely (and Bowyer had to be extremely disappointed he finished behind Johnson last weekend), but with his consistency evidenced by 21 Top 10 finishes this year, Bowyer should have erased any questions he is an elite driver.
Texas, Phoenix and Miami await. Every misstep, no matter how small, removes drivers from their dream of winning the Sprint Cup. If by some chance Johnson stumbles, Keselowski and Bowyer are poised and ready to zip by him.
Should be a blast to watch it all unfold.
