The sun finally shined on Tony Stewart’s dreams of a possible third Sprint Cup championship to go with his first two on Sunday afternoon as he came from behind to beat the field to the finish line and win the Pocono 500 in front of thousands of unbelieving fans. This victory along with his recent win in the All-Star Race last month certainly validates Stewart’s belief that he can still compete against the best and maybe even hang-in long enough to sneak around the corner at the end of the year and steal his third title.

Tony Stewart wins the Pocono 500

Stewart had to start at the back of the grid due to a practice accident that forced him to jump into his backup ride for the Pocono 500. He seemed to sense his situation and decided to drive safe and conservative until the final 40 laps, when he decided to take a chance that paid off for the veteran. Driving past the scheduled pit stop he gambled that he could manage his car and speed well enough to complete the final laps without the pit stop, and he won the bet.

Deciding that he doesn’t need a pit stop is a decision he can make as team owner but it’s certainly one he’s glad paid off. He still has to be accountable to himself and his team if his gamble doesn’t pay-off and thoughts of doubt must have been dancing through his mind at the time he made his decision.

Stewart is the first owner/driver to emerge victorious in a Sprint Cup race since Ricky Rudd did it at Martinsville in 1998; Stewart’s joy at his triumph was evident in his celebrations. Carl Edwards managed to drive clean and finished second, just ahead of David Reutimann in third, and Jeff Gordon, who battled through out the race. Ryan Newman didn’t have the fastest car of the day but he kept his line clean and finished fifth despite his problems. Marcos Ambrose had a pretty good showing and finished sixth, Jimmie Johnson had a frustrating day but still managed seventh, Juan Montoya grabbed eighth, Jeff Burton finished in ninth, and the top ten in the Pocono 500 was rounded out by Sam Hornish Jr.

The next venue for the Sprint Cup series is the LifeLock 400 being held at the Michigan International Speedway. If you want to watch or listen to the play-by-play of the LifeLock 400 tune into TNT at 12:30 or Radio MNR at 1:15 on Sunday afternoon, June 14^th.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Coming off of a terrible weekend at Indy, you can bet that NASCAR’s feeling the pressure to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible at Pocono this weekend, and if the trip here back in June is any indication, then things should be just fine. It’s also a big weekend for the teams, as Pocono is only the second track on the schedule that the series has already traveled to once before this season, and this is about the time of year that you really begin to see how much some of these groups have been able to learn from the first six months of the season. More importantly, however, is the fact that there are now only six races remaining before NASCAR determines their top-12 competitors that will go onto compete in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Recent Winners:
2008 - Kasey Kahne
2007 - Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon
2006 - Denny Hamlin (x2)

Recent Polesitters:
2008 - Kasey Kahne
2007 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman
2006 - Denny Hamlin (x2)

The Usual Suspects:
All the top drivers in our sport have that track that they seem to “own”, and if that’s the case, then Denny Hamlin owns Pocono. 2 of his 4 career victories came at Pocono when he swept there during his rookie campaign in 2006, and since then he’s ran a staggering 6th, 3rd, and 3rd. With those numbers, he holds far and away the best average finish and highest driver rating here amongst all active drivers.

Jeff Gordon has four wins at Pocono, which runs second to only Bill Elliott for the series lead. The no. 24 team has had their share of struggles this season, but a 5th place run last weekend at Indianapolis may have given Gordon’s group enough momentum to improve on the 14th place run they had here back in June. Gordon had three consecutive Poncono finishes inside the top-five prior to that race.

Kurt Busch is a guy that you’ve always got to watch out for when we come here. He’s a two-time winner at the track, and absolutely dominated this race last Fall when he set the record for leading the most laps (175) at Pocono. He also has five finishes of 8th or better in the last six Pocono races, five of which are finishes of 1st or 2nd. He finished 8th here in June.

Kasey Kahne came into the June race with one top-20 finish in the previous six Pocono races, but absolutely dominated that race. He took the pole, led the practice sessions, and then went onto lead the most laps en route to picking up his first Pocono victory ….. Jimmie Johnson, fresh off an Indy win, is also a two-time Pocono winner with an average finish of 10.3 and 7 top-ten’s in his last 9 visits to the track. He finished 6th in the June race ….. After winning here in the Spring of 2003, Tony Stewart’s Pocono numbers took a dive as he rattled off four consecutive finishes of 29th or worse. Since then, however, he’s managed to turn things around with five straight top-ten’s before a pit road misque ruined a perfectly good day for Smoke after running near the top-five all day in the June race, which resulted in a 35th place finish.

the Unusual Suspects:
It’s beginning to get hard to keep thinking of Brian Vickers as a sleeper pick - especially considering that he’s not even eligible for the Sleeper in my own Six-Pack Challenge - but, until he’s able to get a couple W’s on the board, or at least put together a series of runs near the top-five, that’s exactly how he’ll continue to be treated. Regardless, Pocono is not only one of his better tracks, but he’s also one of the better drivers here. He’s earned 4 top-five’s in the last 7 Pocono races, which culminated in a 2nd place run here in June.

Bobby LaBonte is a 3-time Pocono winner, but his move to Petty Enterprises a couple seasons back has relegated him out of the weekly contenders list and into the occasional sleepers group. But, the team’s been able to gain some momentume with Bobby behind them, as was evidenced with a solid run last week. They also ran good at Pocono in the June with an 11th place finish.

If you’re looking for a true sleeper pick this week, though, look no further than AJ Allmendinger. AJ’s been a steady hand behind the wheel ever since he got his driving duties handed back to him over at Team Red Bull, and he’s made the most of it. He also earned his first career top-ten last week at Indy, but he looked as though he was going to accomplish that feat earlier in the year right here at Pocono. But, alas, he faded in the closing segments of the race and wound up 12th. Still, the team’s getting better each and every week, so don’t be surprised to see AJ walk away with another top-ten this weekend.

the Unusual Slackers:
Though he does have two top-ten’s at Pocono to his credit, Pocono has also presented its share of challenges for Clint Bowyer. The third year driver for Richard Childress Racing finished 21st and 41st in his first two starts here back in 2006, but was able to rebound with a pair of top-ten’s last season. He finished 39th here in June.

Not that anyone’s likely to put too much stock into it, Kyle Busch has only 2 top-ten finishes through 7 races at Pocono, and hasn’t finished in the top-five since his first race here back in 2005. In fact, his average finish of 20.0 is actually worse than JJ Yeley’s average of 19.5. But, then again, some of Kyle’s best runs this season have come at some of his worst tracks - historically speaking, anyway.

Martin Truex Jr. appeared to be getting this Pocono thing down a little earlier in his career, finishing 24th, 10th, and 3rd in his first three Pocono starts, but has since ran 22nd and 17th ….. Kevin Harvick has only 2 career top-ten’s through 15 career starts at Pocono, but oddly enough, he also only has six finishes outside of the top-15. His average finish at the track is 16.1 ….. Greg Biffle hasn’t finished in the top-ten here since the Spring of 2006, and has finished 24th, 30th, 23rd, and 15th since then. He hold an average finish of 18.8 at Pocono.

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Denny Hamlin - 130.4
2. Kurt Busch - 113.5
3. Tony Stewart - 102.2
4. Ryan Newman - 98.7
5. Brian Vickers - 97.9

Best Average Finish (from racingone.com):
1. Denny Hamlin - 2.8
2. Jeff Gordon - 10.0
3. Jimmie Johnson - 10.3
4. Mark Martin - 11.6
5. Brian Vickers - 13.0

Pocono Facts:
- 5 of the last 6 Pocono races have been won from the front row, with Jeff Gordon being the only exception when he won from the 18th starting position in the Spring of 2007. 35% of all the Pocono races have been won from the front row.
- The deepest starting position the race has ever been won from was Carl Edwards from 29th back in 2005.
- Jeff Gordon leads all full-time active drivers with wins at Pocono with four. Bill Elliott has the most all-time with five. Elliott is entered for the race, but will have to qualify on time, as he has no more past champions provisionals remaining.
- Mark Martin has 19 top-five’s and 27 top-ten’s at Pocono, but has never won a Sprint Cup race there.
- A Cup race at Pocono has finished with only 2 drivers on the lead lap on two separate occasions - most recently in 1982.
- There have been six season sweeps at Pocono in the past. Kasey Kahne will have an opportunity to make it seven this weekend.
- Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with Pocono victories, counting 11 of them to their credit.
- Kurt Busch holds the record for the most laps led in a race at Pocono with 175 of them in the Fall of 2007.

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner - Denny Hamlin
2nd Place - Kurt Busch
3rd Place - Jimmie Johnson
4th Place - Tony Stewart
5th Place - Brian Vickers
6th Place - Kasey Kahne

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin
Sleeper Pick - AJ Allmendinger
Steer Clear of - Kevin Harvick

Be sure to check out the Recap from the Pocono 500 held at Pocono Raceway back in June.

Also, check out the following video of the closing laps from the 2007 Pennsylvania 500:

Image details: Coke Zero 400 served by picapp.com

With only eight races remaining until NASCAR sets the field for their Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2008, only 223 points separates 8th place Kasey Kahne from 18th place Kurt Busch in the points standings. While that may seem like a lot and perhaps too much to overcome for some, keep in mind that at this time last year, those two positions were separated by 416 points, and 18th place at that point time was consumed by Mark Martin, who was running a part-time schedule and had already missed five races. Something else to keep in mind, though, is that the only driver that sat outside the top-12 in points following the Pepsi 400 at Daytona last year and still went onto make the Chase was Kurt Busch, who then ranked 15th and sat 121 points behind then 12th place, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Now, after a very rocky start to his season, Busch is 18th in the standings and lags 191 points behind Tony Stewart for that 12th spot in the Chase. The bright side? Three weeks ago, Kurt left Sonoma in 23rd, but has since managed to put together a mini-rally for himself with a win at New Hampshire and then a fourth-place effort last week at Daytona. Now, the schedule appears to be headed in Kurt’s favor. Next week, the series will make a stop in Chicago where he has 5 top-ten’s in the seven races run at the track. Kurt also finished 11th or better last year in each of the seven races on the schedule following Chicago, picking up wins at Pocono and Michigan in the process.

Despite currently being “stuck” in 16th place, Brian Vickers is another driver on the move. Ever since the disappointing ending to his strong run at Lowe’s back in May when the wheel fell off of his car, Brian has put together a string of six consecutive finishes of 16th or better. Included in that span of races were 2 top-five finishes at Pocono and Michigan - both races that he had a shot to win late in the race - and, Chicago ranks as one of his better tracks. He has an average finish of 10.3 in three trips to Chicagoland, though he did fail to make the show here last year.

Both Busch and Vickers could be in an excellent position to capitalize on the misfortune of quite a few drivers ahead of them. Though Martin Truex Jr. currently sits 14th in the standings, his team is awaiting word from NASCAR this week as to the severity of the penalty that they will incur for the infractions that occurred prior the race in Daytona. Should Truex be hit with a penalty of 150 points or more - as many suspect he will be - that would immediately drop him down in 18th in the standings, giving him a very long road of recovery.

Just as encouraging for Busch and Vickers fans is the recent slump of Ryan Newman (17th) and Kevin Harvick (13th). Newman has picked up only one top-ten in the last 8 points races, and Harvick’s last top-ten came at Richmond all the way back on May 3rd, a big reason why both drivers have slipped outside of the top-12 in points in recent weeks. David Ragan (15th) could potentially be a threat in hindering either driver’s march towards the Chase, but many people feel that his inexperience is shown with the inconsistency of his finishes, and that will ultimately give the advantage to the other drivers looking to lock onto that spot.

There’s also opportunity for Vickers and Busch with some of the cars that currently reside in the Chase transfer spots. While Greg Biffle (11th) and Tony Stewart (12th) have been two of the most dominant cars on the track this season, they’ve also had arguably the worst luck of any of the drivers in the garage, and there teams could be ready to switch to survival mode at any moment now.

Clint Bowyer (10th) and Kasey Kahne (8th) could also be two of the wildcards in the race for the Chase. After a strong run through the first leg of the season, Bowyer’s progress got hindered somewhere along the way and he’s plummeted through the rankings. After winning at Richmond, he then hit a six-race skid where he failed to finish in the top-ten before rebounding in the past three weeks with a 4th at Infineon and then a 9th last week at Daytona. Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne has managed to save his season with 2 wins, 3 top-five’s, and 4 top-ten’s in the last 7 races, but he also finished 30th or worse in the other three events, proving that the inconsistency of his race team has not gone away completely.

In fact, the only driver currently 8th or worse in the standings that seems to be an inevitable lock for the Chase is the no. 17 team of Matt Kenseth, who is currently in 9th. Ten races into the season, Matt was all the way back in 22nd, and few people were giving him a legitimate shot at rebounding to make the Chase. Now, with 7 top-ten’s in the last 8 races, Matt has gained 14 spots in the standings and has the look of a bonafide championship contender.

But, the good news for Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers is that they don’t need ALL of the other drivers from 8th to 18th to hit a rough patch and hand their points over to them … but, it would certainly help.

Okay, so they’re actually pretty good friends and probably the furthest thing from being rivals with one another, but still. It’s pretty abnormal for Smoke to run this deep into the season without a Sprint Cup win to show for it, but so far in 2008, he’s managed to do just that. Of course, the racing Gods haven’t really seemed to help Stewart out much in that department, either. What … a pit road speeding violation during the last round of stops at Pocono … the cut tire at Charlotte … the late race wreck at Talladega … the mid-race wreck at Vegas … and, of course, the last lap pass at Daytona … all races that Stewart could have won - but, didn’t.

But, wait … I believe there’s two more, the most recent of which came this past Sunday at Infineon Raceway at the Toyota Save/Mart 350. With only a small handful of laps remaining and Stewart 2nd and Kevin Harvick in 4th, Harvick got into the turn to fast and clipped the no. 26 Ford of Jamie McMurray. McMurray then got into Stewart, once again taking a winning opportunity out of Smoke’s hands, though he did somehow manage to come back for a top-ten finish.

That wasn’t the first time that Harvick took the race out of Harvick’s hands this year, though. When the series ran at Bristol back in March, Harvick was racing Stewart for 2nd place in the last five laps of the race when Harvick got down on the apron going through turn 2, and he climbed up the track and got into Tony, sending him from 2nd to 14th just like that.

Despite attempts from the media, Stewart refused to show any angst towards Harvick following the incident at Sonoma this past Sunday, and all indications are that the two are still on good terms. But, of course, anytime they feel that their friendship has hit a rough patch, I’m sure Kevin will be more than willing to wax Tony again. Eeeewww.

In a combined 10 starts at Infineon Raceway, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson have a total of two top-ten finishes, but that didn’t stop them from running the two fastest laps during Friday’s Sprint Cup qualifying session. Kahne, whose best Sonoma finish was 23rd last year, turned a lap of 77.740 seconds to take his second Coors Lite Pool Award of the season, with the first coming just a couple of weeks ago at Pocono in a race that he dominated. Johnson has a top-five and 2 top-ten finishes in his six starts at Infineon, but he finished just 17th here last year.

Kahne and Johnson are two of only four drivers currently in the top-12 in points that will start Sunday’s race from one of the top-ten starting spots. Qualifying 3rd and 4th were Kurt Busch and Bobby LaBonte, whom sit 19th and 20th in points Qualifying 5th was Jeff Gordon, and 6th went to Elliott Sadler. Marcos Ambrose, making his first start in the Sprint Cup Series, ran his Wood Bros no. 21 Ford fast enough to start 7th on Sunday and was the highest qualifier of all the “ringers.” The next quickest in line was Robby Gordon, and starting 9th and 10th are Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle.

Last week’s race winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr, qualified 15th. The winner of the Save Mart 350 last year, Juan Pablo Montoya, will start 21st. Meanwhile, things are not looking so bright for the camp over at Joe Gibbs Racing, where points leader, Kyle Busch, qualified 30th and Tony Stewart earned himself his worst starting position of the season and will start 39th. The other Gibbs driver, Denny Hamlin, did manage to qualify 13th, however.

Of this year’s Road Course Ringers, Ambrose is the only one starting from a top-ten position. Boris Said will start from 14th, but all of the other ringers qualified outside of the top-20. Failing to qualify for the race were Brandon Ash, Dario Franchitti, JJ Yeley, and Scott Riggs.

Click here to view the complete Starting Grid for Sunday’s race.

*Credit photo to Newscom.

Image details: LifeLock 400 served by picapp.com

It took 15 races with Hendrick Motorsports, and 76 races since Richmond in 2006, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finally once again reached Victory Lane - silencing his critics and giving Junior Nation something to cheer about. Earnhardt led five times on the day, last taking the lead from Jamie McMurray on lap 195. With the majority of the field making green flag stops for fuel in the last 20 laps of the race, Earnhardt fans watched nervously as the no. 88 team decided to stretch their fuel. Originally guesstimating themselves to be 2 laps short of the pit window, they were hoping that Dale had saved enough fuel during the last run to make the tank last … and then the caution flag waived on lap 197 when Sam Hornish Jr. spun through the infield, sending the race into overtime for a green-white-checkered finish.

Lining up for the restart for the 2-lap shootout, Earnhardt led the field to the green flag followed by Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin (both of whom were also gambling on fuel mileage), and then Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth. Junior was able to get a monster restart, putting some distance between he and the no. 9 car of Kasey Kahne. Mark Martin ran out of fuel on the first lap of the restart, making Earnhardt fans even that much more nervous. Then, on the final lap, contact between some cars a little deeper in the field sent Michael Waltrip and Patrick Carpentier spinning. The caution came out, and just like that, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had finally snapped his winless streak. He coasted to the finish, and then ran out of fuel heading down pit road.

The win is very symbolic for Earnhardt Jr, being that it came on Father’s Day. As car owner, Rick Hendrick, joined him in Winner’s Circle to celebrate the win, and the two hugged, Dale took the time to wish a Happy Father’s Day to everyone. This is now the 8th Father’s Day since the passing of Junior’s father, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Last week’s race winner, Kasey Kahne, went onto finish 2nd as he was hooked up on the same fuel strategy as Earnhardt Jr. Matt Kenseth was perhaps the most dominant car in the second half of the race, but was forced to settle for 3rd. Brian Vickers started the race in 18th, but moved up inside the top-five by lap 15, and then took the lead for the first time on lap 34. The strategies, however, did not work in his favor, and he finished fourth, giving the team their second consecutive top-five finish. Tony Stewart had a very quiet day and led only 1 lap during the race, but he grabbed a much needed 5th place finish.

Jimmie Johnson led the most laps on the day, but a bad pit stop on lap 182 forced him into a 6th place finish. 7th place went to Carl Edwards who run up in the top-five for almost the entire day. David Ragan ran outside of the top-ten for most of the day, but as things shuffled out in the end, he found himself in 8th and just 10 points out of the Chase field. Elliott Sadler had a quiet and solid day. After starting in 27th, he went onto finish in 9th, giving the no. 19 team only their third top-ten finish of the season. And, Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-ten after looking as though he could finish 1st or 2nd until the lap 197 caution forced him to pit for fuel.

Points leader, Kyle Busch, got lost in the shuffle of things. After starting the race from the pole position and running near the front in the final segment of the race, he found himself in 13th when the checkers waived in the air. It was still enough to add to his points lead, however, as Jeff Burton finished in 15th. The run was a disappointing one for Burton, who started the race in 2nd, but it did keep his streak alive as he is still the only driver in the series to finish every race running inside the top-15. Busch now leads Burton in the standings by 32 points, while 3rd place, Dale Earnhardt Jr, has closed the gap between he and the leader to just 84 points.

Late race mishaps cost the cars of AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, and Sam Hornish Jr. some very valuable track position. After climbing into the top-ten, Allmendinger overshot his pit entrance during the last round of stops and wound up finishing 19th. For Biffle, it was another costly penalty late in the race. After running inside the top-ten all day long, Biffle made his final stop with just 15 laps to go. Greg received the command to go as soon as the jack dropped, so he did just that, but he ran over the air hose, and NASCAR penalized him with a drive thru penalty. He finished 20th. Sam Hornish Jr. led the first laps in his Cup career and was running inside the top-ten until he spun on lap 197 to bring out the sixth caution of the day, resulting in a 22nd place finish.

Earnhardt Jr’s victory gives Hendrick Motorsports only their second victory of the season - both of which were won on fuel mileage (the other being Johnson’s win at Phoenix). As previously mentioned, it also snaps a 75 race winless streak for Earnhardt and gives him his first points victory since making the move to HMS at the beginning of this year.

Michigan Grades:
the Race: 85%
the Drama: 99%
Coverage: 85%
Pre-Race: 84%

Overall Grade: 87.7%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Welcome everyone to yet another rendition of your favorite weekend blogging series.  I’m joined here by Bruce Simmons from Bruce’s NASCAR Bits & Pieces, and the infamous Charlie Turner from On Pit Row for our weekly rendition of “Loose in Turn Three”.

This week here at Do You NASCAR, we’re going to determine what effect - if any - the big penalties handed out by NASCAR to Haas CNC Racing will have on Tony Stewart’s future in the sport. Over at the Bits & Pieces, with Pocono now in the rearview mirror (temporarily), we talk about whether it’s time for them to repave the track, and On Pit Row, Charlie poses an interesting potential solution to reviving some of the races at the “less popular” tracks.

So, sit back and buckle up tight. Three questions, three voices, and three different answer … we’re about to get Loose in Turn Three!

Assuming that he was seriously contemplating the move, do the recent penalties awarded to Haas CNC Racing deter Tony Stewart from pursuing future ownership with that organization?

TZ: I really think it does. Granted, Stewart’s highly regarded as a guy that can drive the wheels off virtually anything, but we’re seeing a trend in NASCAR where drivers’ careers seem to be tapering off at an earlier age than they had in the past. With Joe Gibbs Racing - or really any top-tier team - Stewart can still contend for championships, but it would be a real challenge for him to find a high level of success with any below average team, just as it would be difficult for any driver. He can find ownership otpions with a number of organizations, so with the financial blow that the team’s just been dealt with - not to mention a tarnished image - I just don’t see this as an appealing offer for Smoke anymore.

Bruce:  I don’t think a little thing as a fine / penalty would deter anyone if they were serious about a perspective team.  A plan is a plan, regardless.  As far as a tarnished image, any press is good press, so it would be a turn-around fairy tale story if Tony went there.  It would be an incredible “human-adversity” story the media would eat up.  Would he really go there?  Probably not.  It’s not an impossibility.  Look at when Mark Martin went to the 01 car.  It was a total surprise that they put him up at the front more than anyone ever expected.  But I can’t see him going to Haas.  He’s said in the past that he’s going to finish out his career at Gibbs.  Now we’ll see if that was just company talk or real loyalty.

Charlie:  If none of those Haas cars are in the top thirty five in owner’s points at season’s end - and with the penalties, they probably won’t be - then the Haas CNC team is worth much less than it was when both cars were top thirty five. That might be a key reason for Stewart to put on the brakes in a purchase bid. The fact that the Haas team tried to push the rules won’t - in itself - be a negative. That’s the job of the crew chief - get an edge where ever you can. The owner’s concerns are not necessarily the same. You need some cars in the top thirty five.

Follow the rest of this discussion:
- If NASCAR retains two races at the facility, (And I don’t see why they won’t) do you think the track management should at least repave the track or is there something they can do to change up the action?

- Would requiring race tracks that host multiple races, to have different race lengths for each race resolve the complaints of those who want to take races away from the Poconos and Californias?

*Credit photo to Newscom.

Coming into Sunday’s Pocono 500 race, both Sam Hornish Jr. and Patrick Carpentier found themselves in 33rd and 38th place in the standings, respectively, as both drivers continue to fight in a bid to make the cut for the top-35 in owner’s points. In Hornish’s case, it’s an effort to keep the car inside the top-35, while Carpentier’s quest is to make in over the hump after the car was sidelined for a handful of the events earlier on in the season. Both drivers are also competing for Rookie of the Year honors amidst a rookie field that is top-heavy with former open wheel stars.

During Sunday’s race, the two drivers became acquainted with one another on the track not once, but twice. The two first got together when they both spun on lap 57 as they battled for position:

The two then collided once again as they spun out on lap 68, this time collecting David Gilliland and Terry LaBonte in the process:

Hornish went onto finish the race in 42nd place and has now dropped to 34th in the points standings. Carpentier managed a 32nd place finish, but remains in 38th overall, 397 points out of the top-35.

We all know that Joe Gibbs Racing has established themselves as the powerhouse of the field at this point in time. We know that Roush-Fenway Racing has come a long way in figuring out this new car and that Hendrick Motorsports seems to have lost the edge that they had on everyone else last year. We’ve analyzed potential contractual signings every which way we could, and still found ourselves locked in a guessing game. Been there, done that, but perhaps one of the stories that we haven’t talked nearly enough about are two teams that are holding out hope of getting a driver into contention for the Chase for the Cup for the first time in their team’s history, and another that hasn’t fielded a Chase contender since 2004.

Once considered one of the top organizations in NASCAR, Yates Racing last visited Victory Lane back in the Fall of 2005 when Dale Jarrett drove the no. 88 car to a win at Talladega and the last time they were able to land a driver inside the top-12 in points was with Elliott Sadler back in ‘04. Since those days, the team has gone through a horrendous rebuilding stage and continue to struggle week in and week out to find primary sponsorship of their cars driven by Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland. Both are highly regarded as “underdogs” every Sunday when the series hits the track, and both have failed to land a top-five finish all season long. Still, they’ve continued to push forward, and have managed to turn a few heads along the way, particularly Kvapil. Coming into the season as a driver that nobody really paid much attention to, Travis admittedly got off to a rather slow start. But, something seems to have clicked within this team ever since a solid run at Phoenix turned sour and he finished 22nd. After that race, Kvapil sat 24th in points, but four finishes of 16th or better in the last six races - highlighted with a 6th place run at Talladega and an 8th place run in Darlington - have now moved Travis up six spots in the standings. He’s now 18th in points and trails 12th place, Tony Stewart, by only 150 points.

Red Bull Racing has been the team that quite a few people have been talking about as of late. With Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel for the organization, the team managed to qualify for only 40 races in a combined 72 attempts in their inaugural season in 2007. Coming into the season with both cars outside of the top-35 in points and forced to qualify on time, Allmendinger again missed out on the first three events of ‘08 before being replaced temporarily by veteran driver, Mike Skinner. Despite failing to finish inside of the top-25 in any of the five races that Skinner filled in, the move appears to have paid dividends. AJ has been able to take what he’s learned from Skinner and put it to good use on the track, first winning the All-Star Showdown at Lowe’s to make the cut for the All-Star event itself, and then scoring a career best 12th place finish last week at Pocono. Still, the focus of the media on this team has been placed with Brian Vickers, who appears to be on the verge of scoring the second Cup victory of his career. After a disappointing 2007 that brought him only 1 top-five and 5 top-ten’s, Vickers has been impressive on several occassions this year, though it may not always show up in the results column. He’s been strong on all of the superspeedways, but the team really started to turn heads when they established themselves as one of the dominant cars in the Coca Cola 600 before an equipment failure ended their day. Since then he’s bounced back with a 13th place effort at Dover and finished 2nd last week at Pocono. Brian has now moved up to 17th place overall and trails 12th by a mere 112 points.

Rounding out the list of underdogs making a charge towards the Chase is non-other than Petty Enterprises. Despite the fact that this team has more wins than any other organization in the history of the sport and a slieu of championships from when “the King” himself, Richard Petty, drove the car, the company hasn’t celebrated a win since 1999 when John Andretti won at Martinsville, and the closest they’ve come to a bid for the Chase was an 18th place finish in the standings last year from Bobby LaBonte. Now, nobody’s really sure who will drive the no. 45 car next year as Kyle Petty, Chad McCumbee, and Terry LaBonte have all failed to do much with the ride, but Bobby continues to press forward. Though he’s failed to score a top-ten all season long, he does have seven top-15’s and has gone the entire year without a DNF, something that has hindered the team in recent years. Additionally, he’s got six finishes of 18th or better in the last eight races, which started with a 12th place run at Phoenix, and LaBonte now resides in 19th in the standings, trailing his former Gibbs teammate in 12th by 159 points.

As many of the drivers in the top-12 continue to experience their share of misfortunes as they bounce back and forth between the bubble spots, this could be a prime opportunity for one of these teams to capitalize. But, with the recent emergance of guys like David Ragan, the resurgance of Matt Kenseth, and other perrenial Chase hopefuls such as Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. standing between them as well, the guys currently in the top-12 may not be all they’ll have to contend with.

DYN Imposes:
This week, Do You NASCAR also asks its readers …

1. Which driver in these 3 organizations will be the first to score their first / next win?
2. Are consistent top-15 and top-20 runs going to be enough to land a driver in the Chase field?
3. Which of these teams has made the best organizational move(s) in the last 2 years?
4. Will any of these 3 teams get a driver into the 2008 Chase? If so, who?

*Credit photos to Newscom.

Kasey Kahne comments on the race after scoring his ninth career Sprint Cup victory on Sunday at the Pocono 500. Hear comments from him following the race, as well as runner-up, Brian Vickers, who scored his best finish since moving to Team Red Bull in 2007.