Richard Childress Racing stormed back in full force with a 1-2-3 finish at Bristol over the weekend. Suffering from a lack-luster start to the 2008 Sprint Cup season, the finish will surely brighten the shops for the next two weeks. Jeff Burton led the RCR contingent to the strong finish, despite another strong showing from Joe Gibbs Racing.
JGR dirvers Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin shared the spotlight this week, as they dominated the majority of the race. Combined, they led almost three-fourths of the race. Tony and Denny had strong chances at the finish, with a bump from Kevin Harvick ending Tony’s chances and a fuel pick-up problem ruining Denny’s. Kyle’s chances, though, ended earlier in the day as he spun by himself and collected the inside wall.
While Jeff Burton seemed to come from nowhere, Clint Bowyer and Harvick had strong runs all day. Burton ran up front, but inherited the victory after Harvick and Stewart got together, allowing him to pass Harvick. With the green-white-checkered finish, Burton got out to a good restart and no one was able to catch him as he led the last two laps, the only laps he led all day.
The finish is sure to help RCR feel better about itself. The start to the season has been troubled as the team seems a little down on horsepower to other teams, especially Gibbs. Bristol, though, is not a horsepower track, allowing the skills of the teams and drivers to shine.
The surprise of the race, though, was the strong run and finish of Aric Almirola. He finished 8th after running in the top 10 for most of the day. The race was only the seventh start in Sprint Cup for Almirola. He ran last season in the Nationwide part-time for Gibbs, with his most famous start being at Milwaukee, where he started the race for Hamlin and was credited as the winner after Hamlin took over after he arrived. During that race, as well as others during the season, Almirola showed enough talent for DEI to hire him to drive the number 8 Army car when Mark Martin takes off.
Notables who struggled, though, are the Roush drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Greg Biffle had a good finish, after pitting for tires late when leaders stayed out, but Gordon and Johnson struggled right to the finish. For Gordon and Johnson, it is just the continuation of a frustrating start to the season, in contrast to RCR. At Hendrick, in fact, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been the lone bright spot. Junior finished fifth yesterday, despite not stopping for tires as others pitted late.
Surprisingly, the top of the field are Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. While these drivers are among the top tier of NASCAR, not many would expect them to be above the likes of Stewart, Gordon and Johnson. In fact, of those three, only Stewart is currently in the Top 12. Seems like we may have a very interesting Chase by the time we reach Richmond in the fall.
At the other end of the field, the teams of Dave Blaney, Kyle Petty, Jamie McMurray and Dario Franchitti are all outside the Top 35 and will be forced to qualify on time in the weeks to come. I detailed this potential problem in a recent article. Now, it seems, it has come home to roost and these drivers will be in the hot seat.
The other interesting event of the weekend was the retirement of Dale Jarrett. Dale seemed to have a rough day, finishing well toward the back of the field. In fact, at the end of the race, he even stated that he was glad for it to be over. Dale will be missed, though, as a quality driver. He did what he was expected to do, though, get the #44 UPS Toyota in the Top 35 for David Reutimann. David will take over the ride when they return in two weeks at Martinsville. Dale will, though, run the All-Star event at Charlotte.
With the week off, many teams will have an opportunity to make changes and get back on course. Will those changes make a difference? Only time will tell, but with the first off weekend ahead, many will now be able to catch their breath and come back focused on the next portion of the season.
Cinch up those belts and let’s go racing. JR
NASCAR Commentary By J.R. 
March 17, 2008 at 9:56 am
Great Video about Nascar from the folks of Rowdy.com , check it out.
March 20, 2008 at 4:06 am
Bristol still remains unique, even with the new track configuration and the new car. I think the fans who don’t like it now will come to appreciate it by the time the Summer race there starts.