■ 08 September 2009 | 4:09 PM
Could history be repeated at Richmond?
Only once has a driver who clinched a spot in the Chase at Richmond gone on to win the championship. Kurt Busch did it in 2004 but could it happen this year and who might it be?
Consider that only Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin have clinched spots in the Chase so far. Realistically, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch should make the Chase provided something unthinkable happens. That leaves Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch challenging for the remaining spots. Two will not make the Chase. Truly, unless something bizarre happens, the Chase is really down to Kenseth, Vickers and Kyle for the last spot. Kenseth leads Vickers by 20 points and Kyle by 37 points.
So who could be the driver that could come from the group that clinches a spot Saturday and go on to win the title. If Mark Martin and Kyle Busch make it, they'll be atop the points standings to start the Chase. Remember everyone gets 5,000 points and 10 bonus points. Both those drivers have won 4 races so they would start with 5,040 points.
Based on the eight races since Daytona _ and understand these are different tracks than what they'll race in the Chase _ the most dangerous guy could be Brian Vickers.
Vickers you say?
Since Daytona in July, Vickers has scored more points than any other driver. Any.
Here's the breakdown in points scored since Daytona in July.
1. Brian Vickers ... 1,205 points
2. Tony Stewart ... 1,170
3. Denny Hamlin .. 1,164
4. Kasey Kahne .... 1,105
5. Juan Montoya ... 1,096
6. Mark Martin ....... 1,074
7. Jimmie Johnson .. 1,049
8. Matt Kenseth ..... 1,023
9, Greg Biffle ...........1,019
10. Ryan Newman ..1,011
11. Carl Edwards .. 1,005
12. Jeff Gordon ..... 1,002
13. Kyle Busch ......... 932
14. Kurt Busch ......... 898
Probably didn't think of Vickers as your first choice for a champion, did you?
Vickers was asked on a conference call with reporters today about where he consider his team among the title contenders:
"I think we're going to be competitive. Roughly about 10 weeks, we've earned the most amount of points. That's what it takes to win a championship. Can we maintain that? I don't know. It won't be easy. If we can make the Chase, do another 10, we win the championship. I know we're capable of it.
"I think at this point we need to set high goals and expectations, but we also have to remain realistic. We are a very young and new team. Just to be in the Chase is a huge accomplishment. What we do from there, I think is all gravy. That doesn't mean we're not going to try to win the championship. I think to try to put that pressure on such a young team, the expectation to win the championship, would not be right. It doesn't mean that we don't think we're capable of it or we shouldn't try, but I think to put the expectation up there that we should is probably a bit strong for a two-and-a-half-year-old team.''
As for the pressure of this week, Vickers says he's just trying to stay relaxed.
"If you get caught up too much emotionally and mentally throughout the week, even on the weekend, as to the challenge ahead, you can mentally drain yourself. You can really wear your body and your mind down just overthinking a situation.''
Of course for Vickers to make the Chase, he'll need to put together a good run at a Richmond track that has not been too kind to him. Sure, he has two poles but he has one top-10 finish in 10 starts. His average finish at Richmond is 27.8. That's only better than about five guys expected to start Saturday.
To compare, Kyle Busch has the best average finish at Richmond among current drivers. He averages a 6.1 finish. As for his chances of making the Chase? This is what Kyle said on the same conference call:
"The pressure is on for sure,'' Kyle said. "We just have to do what we need to do. It's not these two races, Atlanta or this race coming up at Richmond that's what's going to put us in the Chase. It's more of the season that we've had that's kept us out of it.
"Unfortunately, we haven't had some of the best cars this year. I haven't done some of the best driving I've needed to do this year. But we're trying to get back on par with the way we need to do things. If this weekend is a success, we win the race, still don't make the Chase, we did all we could.''
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A FOURTH LAWSUIT INVOLVING MAYFIELD
Jeremy Mayfield filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his former stepmom. Mayfield said he would do it after she stated in court documents presented by NASCAR that she witnessed him taking methamphetamine several times during the time he was racing in Cup. She's one of NASCAR's key figures in the case. Mayfield, though, accuses of her of having a hand in his father's death in 2007. Mayfield's dad died from a gunshot wound to the chest. His death was ruled suicide.
Mayfield's lawsuit, filed in North Carolina Superior Court does not reveal how his former stepmom, Lisa Mayfield, was involved in the death of Mayfield's father, Terry. Jeremy Mayfield claims that before his father's death, his father confronted Lisa about an affair and asked her to leave. Lisa Mayfield has denied she had anything to do with Terry Mayfield's death, stating that in a defamation suit she filed against Jeremy on July 29.
Of course, Mayfield is fighting NASCAR in court over his failed drug test and suspension from racing. And, Mayfield's team was sued earlier this year by a part supplier for more than $80,000.
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ODDS AND ENDS
# Tom Cruise was at Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend, a guest of car owner Rick Hendrick. Cruise narrates the documentary about Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports that will air on ABC the day of the California race (Oct. 11).
# Former UVA football player Bryan White is back in the state with this weekend's race. White, a middle linebacker for Virginia from 2001-06, is the jackman for David Stremme's team.
# Indications are that next year's Cup schedule should be more friendly for at least East Coast race fans with expectations being that many day races will start at 1 p.m. Cup schedule, along with the Nationwide and Truck schedules should be coming out soon.
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ODD JOBS
This courtesy of Kurt Busch's weekly press release. It shows a different side for some pit crew members you see jump over the wall.
Kurt Busch’s pit crew responded to this open-ended sentence and then added an explanation: “You may not believe it, but as far as jobs go, at one time in my life I…”
Ray Gallaghan, Jackman: “worked at Auto Bell Car Wash during high school and the first year of college. I was like their MVP guy in that I knew how to do anything there. Inside cleanup and vacuuming were my specialties.”
Jay Hackney, Front Tire Changer: “worked in a sawmill. My dad knew how hard the work was and he wanted me to get off on the right foot while I was getting out of school and having to do things on my own. I did everything from cutting and hauling the dropped trees to all the work at the mill. Dad was right, that was the hardest work I can imagine doing…”
Travis Johnson, Rear Tire Changer: “worked on a pheasant farm performing all the jobs there…yeah, even de-feathered and gutted them…I don’t talk about it much because my girlfriend doesn’t like it. I grew up on a dairy farm, so it really wasn’t all that strange to me…
Dave Littau, Front Tire Carrier: “was a paid dish-washer. It only took me two hours to figure out that kind of work was not for me. Ever since I was 13 or so, I’ve never done anything else except something that was automotive-related…”
Larry Robinette, Rear Tire Carrier: “was a ‘repo man’ back out in Texas, where I grew up. We had a nice little setup, with a truck that hid all our tools. We could pull up front of a car that we were after, drop our tailgate, make our hitch and get out of there in a hurry. I’m fortunate that I never got shot at, but there were a bunch of pretty hairy situations that I better not talk about…”
Chris Williams, Gasman: “worked for a while waiting tables at a restaurant.” Steve (father) comments, “Chris was really good at it, too. He was working at Damon’s at the time. I brought a huge group and we sat at one of his tables. He came over and took our orders without writing a single thing down. Man, was I ever impressed that our orders were perfect down to the little special items a couple of us requested. Chris has always had a sharp mind and a great memory. Working at that job probably helped him more in that department than he’d ever admit…”
Steve Williams, Catch Can: “worked for four years at the General Electric plant north of Cincinnati where we built jet engines. I was a union steward there when GE had the contract to build the F101 engines that powered the B-1B strategic bomber…”
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