NASCAR: NHIS AFTERMATH

by CC Rider, The Black Flag Blog

Bowyer Busts His Nut
Clint Bowyer is the guy who has never been laid, but finally manages to lose his virginity when it counts -- on prom night.

If there was ever a time for the #07 to go from boy to man, it would be the first race in The Chase.

As is typical for how these things seem to work out, Sports Illustrated says Bowyer is dating the woman his fellow drivers would most want to bang.

As good as it was for Clint, the rest of us just kind of had to lay there and not fall asleep.

Eight days earlier, Richmond gave us the most exciting COT race yet. Richmond at night has become the new Bristol. Hard fighting, bumping and banging. Sadly, the first race in The Chase didn't live up. One of the five most boring of the year.

Clint Bowyer started from the pole, led the most laps and won the race by a huge margin. No one else had anything for him.

So, let's break down the Chasers....

1. Jimmie Johnson - Co-Leader Started 4th, finished 6th.
His Day at NH: A good solid race. Nothing flashy. Stayed out of trouble. Started in the top five and finished in the top ten. Lost ten points to Gordon.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's still the champ and he's got the momentum. He's got Hendrick Motor Sports equipment. Crew chief Chad Knaus can replace the engine with a Flux Capacitor and get away with it most of the time.
Why He Won't: The #24 has HMS equipment too and isn't going to make it easy on him. He can put together some rather bad streaks.

1. Jeff Gordon - Co-Leader
Started 18th, finished 2nd.
His Day at NH: A very nice patient race. Starts in the middle and finishes at the front. At the end, enough to hold off the #20, but nothing for the #07.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's a former champion. He's been solid all season long and would have the championship already locked without a chase. HMS hardware. Low DNF risk.
Why He Won't: He got a bit cool at the end. Johnson, Stewart and Kurt Busch came in with more momentum.

3. Tony Stewart - 10 behind
Started 6th, finished 3rd.
His Day at NH: Good car, good race. Without Bowyer running away with it, he probably would have fought Gordon harder going for the win. Post race he had a big scare during inspection when NASCAR officials said his car measured too low. They made a judgment call and called it "race damage".
Why He'll Win the Cup: He comes in with good momentum. He's dating a NASCAR official (that might help buy him some more judgment calls). Good start to The Chase. A win at Dover puts him in first. He doesn't know what life will be like with Toyota, so this may be his last shot. So he's going to let it all hang out.
Why He Won't: Because he's The Cry Baby. He is due for another melt down. Chevy isn't going to be giving Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota all the help that they are going to be giving to HMS and Richard Childress Racing. Contrary to popular belief, he's only the second best driver at JGR this year and will only be the third best next year. He stands a good chance of having multiple DNFs during The Chase.

4. Clint Bowyer - 15 behind
Started 1st, finished 1st.
His Day at NH: Pretty close to as perfect a weekend as you could have.
Why He'll Win the Cup: Nobody saw him coming. He's only 15 back of the lead and is in the top group. He's had a great season.
Why He Won't: If an RCR driver is going to win, it is going to be Burton or Harvick. If it is going to be a young driver, it is going to be Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin. Losing his cool with 30 laps to go doesn't bode well for when things actually do get tough. He can throw out some DNFs.

5. Kyle Busch - 35 behind
Started 12th, finished 4th.
His Day at NH: Too little too late for the win, but a great job to make the play in the pits that gave him a top five.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's aggressive. He's fast. He's got HMS equipment, even if it isn't their best. He's got a decent start to the chase.
Why He Won't: Fighting with his brother and publicly fantasizing about his sister-in-law takes too much energy. HMS isn't going to give him everything they've got. He's the ugliest driver in the history of NASCAR.

6. Martin Truex, Jr. - 40 behind
Started 2nd, finished 5th.
His Day at NH: He fell back a little, still kept a top five. Great qualifying run.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He and his team have something to prove.
Why He Won't: The DEI engine fairy will get lost on the way to the #8 car and sprinkle some magic dust on the #1 instead.

7. Matt Kenseth - 54 behind
Started 30th, finished 7th.
His Day at NH: Kenseth is not a great qualifying driver. But when it comes time to move through the field, he's the man. Biggest mover among the Chasers from green to checkered.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's driving well, even if not great. Very consistent -- a key to winning the Cup. He's got a cool looking car.
Why He Won't: He's got a weird accent. Where is that from? Does anyone actually think anything other than a Chevy is going to win this thing?

8. Carl Edwards - 63 behind
Started 11th, finished 12th.
His Day at NH: Typical of the race as a whole, it was a ho hum race for Edwards. Better than some, but could have been better. Finished almost where he started.
Why He'll Win the Cup: Backflips are cool. He's got an owner who is one smart cat in the hat. He's will probably finish all ten Chase races.
Why He Won't: Ford just doesn't act like they really care anymore. It's like they put some guy in charge of Ford Racing who is a union guy on one of Tony Soprano's no show jobs. No great momentum coming into The Chase.

9. Denny Hamlin - 82 behind
Started 14th, finished 15th.
His Day at NH: Blah. Top 20 start. Top 20 finish. Never really in a fight for the top after winning there earlier this year.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's going to finish every race in The Chase. He's the best driver at JGR. He's a Redskins fan and the Skins are 2-0. He's flown under the radar this year to an absolutely outstanding sophomore season. Being free of his long time girlfriend, he's free of outside distractions. He can now team up with next year's JGR driver Kyle Busch.
Why He Won't: Being free of his long time girlfriend, he's inundated with distractions now that he is getting more tail than a cat box. Tony Stewart won't help him. Not a great start. A bit of a hill to climb being 82 back (along with having to recover from anything he caught in Paris).

10. Kevin Harvick - 88 behind
Started 8th, finished 17th.
His Day at NH: The Chase came very close to coming to an end twice for Juan Pablo Montoya's sparring partner. Two blown tires usually is enough to take you out. He dodged another bullet when he barely missed a crashing Reed Sorenson. A rough day that he is thrilled to get out of still in the hunt.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's the Daytona 500 champion. He's aggressive. He drives hard and fast.
Why He Won't: JPM is gonna get him some payback. He risks DNF disaster. Delana Harvick will steal the radio and start messing with his head in the middle of a race. He's 88 points back with nine to go.

11. Jeff Burton - 91 behind
Started 23rd, finished 18th.
His Day at NH: The best thing you can say about it is that he finished better than his car was. In a rare display of frustration, he left the track without talking to reporters. As excited as he was for Bowyer, he isn't at all happy with how things are going for him.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's the grown up in The Chase. He's got the maturity. He's consistent. He'll probably finish all ten races. RCR is a team on the rise.
Why He Won't: He's second to last and has absolutely no momentum.

12. Kurt Busch - 102 behind
Started 3rd, finished 25th.
His Day at NH: As bad as it was, it came close to being so much worse.
Why He'll Win the Cup: He's a former series champion. He came in with solid momentum.
Why He Won't: He's in last place now. Karma's can be one bad mother. His brother is gonna do his part in their Cain and Abel act to keep him away from another cup. He doesn't drive Chevy. He'll have a DNF.

JPM Stats Update:
Last week, TBF did an in depth analysis titled The Juan Pablo "Crash" Montoya Record. While he didn't wreck anyone at New Hampshire, he failed to finish on the lead lap for the 18th time in his 29 starts. Here are his updated stats.

JPM NNCS Starts: 29
Races Finished Not On Lead Lap (NOLL): 18 (62%)
Incidents (INC): 19 (66%)
2007 Running on Lead Lap (ROLL): 5,026 of 7,699 (65%)