| Next stop on the Nextel Cup Schedule is Lowe's | | | | Stewart's or anyone else who failed to qualify for |
| Motor Speedway | | | | the Chase. |
| Just when you thought Jeff Burton was about to run | | | | Do not, however, count Gordon out. While it's highly |
| off with the Nextel Cup Championship, Talladega | | | | improbably that he could win the Chase, there is a |
| happened. The surprisingly eventless UAW-Ford 500 | | | | good chance you will see his face in victory lane in |
| turned into a classic restrictor plate wreck-fest with | | | | the upcoming races. The remaining tracks on the |
| 50 laps remaining. As a result, the standings in the | | | | schedule have been some of Gordon's favorites. And |
| Chase for the Championship heading into next week's | | | | no matter what you've heard in the past several |
| Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway | | | | years, Gordon has not lost his competitive edge! |
| have tightened making next week's race in Charlotte | | | | UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Recap |
| a can't miss! | | | | A race at Talladega Superspeedway is exactly what |
| Of all current drivers with 2 or more career starts at | | | | this year's Chase for the Championship needed! After |
| Charlotte, Carl Edwards has had the most success. In | | | | last week's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway, the |
| 3 starts, Edwards has an average finish of 5th. | | | | drivers in the Chase were beginning to segregate |
| Also expect the following drivers to do well next | | | | themselves. However, nothing blocks segregation |
| week: | | | | more than a good 'ole restrictor plate race where |
| Jimmie Johnson - Average Finish 6th | | | | anything could happen. |
| Denny Hamlin - Average Finish 8th | | | | Again, there were only 4 Chase drivers who finished |
| Bobby Labonte - Average Finish 13th | | | | in the top 10. Surprisingly, buddies Kasey Kahne and |
| Jamie McMurray - Average Finish 13th | | | | Kyle Busch led the way finishing in 2nd and 3rd |
| Next Week's Schedule: | | | | respectively. The other drivers faired as follows: |
| Nextel Cup: @ Lowe's Motor Speedway | | | | 1. (Leader) Jeff Burton had one of his typical finishes |
| 10/12/06 - 07:10am NASCAR Nextel Cup Bank of | | | | at Talladega, 27th. The current point's leader has |
| America 500 Qualifying | | | | never faired that well at Talladega and simply wanted |
| 10/13/06 - 04:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Bank of | | | | to avoid disaster in yesterday's race. Disaster he |
| America 500 Practice | | | | avoided, and was able to maintain his points lead. |
| 10/14/06 - 07:10pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Bank of | | | | 2. (-6 points) Matt Kenseth had a strong car for most |
| America 500 | | | | the day, even led the race at various times to pick |
| Busch Series: @ Lowe's Motor Speedway | | | | up the 5 bonus points. The former champion is once |
| 10/12/06 - 08:40pm NASCAR Busch Series Dollar | | | | again that you don't have to win races to win a |
| General 300 Practice | | | | championship. |
| 10/13/06 - 05:05pm NASCAR Busch Series Dollar | | | | 3. (-10 points) Mark Martin has posted two |
| General 300 Qualifying | | | | consecutive top ten finishes to solidify his 3rd place |
| 10/13/06 - 08:10pm NASCAR Busch Series Dollar | | | | standing. At only ten points out, the fan favorite |
| General 300 | | | | could overtake the lead at next week's Bank of |
| Craftsman Truck Series off until 10/21/06 at | | | | America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway |
| Martinsville Speedway | | | | 4. (-33 points) Kevin Harvick gained over 60 points |
| The Drama is Building at Hendrick Motorsports | | | | this week by finishing 6th at Talladega. Could the |
| All of you drama queens out there who crash Google | | | | current Busch leader win both the Busch and Nextel |
| with searches such as, "Kasey Kahne + girlfriend" and | | | | Cup series in the same year? |
| "Dale Earnhardt Jr wife?" must be loving the drama | | | | 5. (-51 points) Denny Hamlin is NASCAR's new golden |
| on display by the teammates at Hendrick | | | | boy. Even on his bad days, he still comes out |
| Motorsports. As many of you already know, Brian | | | | squeaky clean. On lap 174 it appeared Hamlin was |
| Vickers is leaving HMS at the end of the season to | | | | done when he came onto pit road with steering |
| join Toyota in their NASCAR Nextel Cup debut next | | | | problems. However, golden boy persevered and |
| year. To date, the planned move has not exactly | | | | finished in 21st position. |
| been the smoothest. | | | | 6. (-106 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr was set to make up |
| Already, Brian Vickers has been blocked from any | | | | some serious ground in the points by winning |
| team and organizational meetings for the rest of the | | | | yesterday's UAW-Ford 500. However, those hopes |
| season. After yesterday, I'll be surprised if Brian is | | | | were dashed when a last lap wreck caused by Brian |
| even allowed back onto the campus of HMS. On the | | | | Vickers took the #8 Chevy out. |
| last lap of the UAW-Ford 500, Vickers turned | | | | 7. (-147 points) Jeff Gordon would be leading the |
| teammate Jimmie Johnson into the leader, | | | | points if you could discount your worst 150 miles |
| Jeff Gordon's Championship Hopes Dashed | | | | over the previous two races. Gordon was running in |
| If you missed the first 137 laps of yesterday's | | | | the top of the field for most of the day until a |
| UAW-Ford 500, don't worry. The action didn't heat up | | | | wreck with 50 laps remaining took out the 4 time |
| until lap 137 when an 11 car melee took out Chase | | | | champion. |
| for the Championship driver Jeff Gordon. Gordon's car | | | | 8. (-156 points) Jimmie Johnson is not feeling the love |
| took the brunt of the collision and was rendered | | | | for teammate Brian Vickers right now. Johnson's |
| in-operable for the balance of the race. As a result, | | | | hopes of winning the championship were slim heading |
| Gordon finished 36; his second consecutive 30+ finish | | | | into Talladega. However, that 2nd place finish he was |
| in the Chase for the Championship. | | | | set to receive before Brian Vickers wrecked him on |
| Just a few races ago, it looked as if Gordon was | | | | the last lap would have been nice. |
| back into his championship form and ready to win his | | | | T9. (-185 points) Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch cannot |
| record 5th title. However, fuel pump issues last week | | | | seem to get enough of each other these days! |
| at Kansas and a bad case of the restrictor plate | | | | Wherever one finishes, you'll be sure to find the |
| blues yesterday have left Gordon in 7th place in the | | | | other. Both had strong days yesterday with Kasey |
| standings and 147 points out of first. His hopes of | | | | finishing 2nd and Kyle 3rd. |
| winning the 2006 title are about as good as Tony | | | | |