September 6th, 2010 
T.C. Following Sunday’s race at Atlanta, ten of the twelve Chase drivers are set, with Greg Biffle needing to finish only 42nd or better at Richmond to be in, and Clint Bowyer needing a 28th or better to be in. So with the field all but set, who’s your pick to win the 2010 Cup Series Championship?
Just in case you need a little reminder, here are the twelve drivers that will battle for the title over the final ten races (barring any last minute heroics by Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, or Mark Martin):
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Gordon
- Kyle Busch
- Tony Stewart
- Carl Edwards
- Jeff Burton
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kurt Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Denny Hamlin
- Greg Biffle
- Clint Bowyer
After Richmond, the points will be reset among the twelve, with the number of wins being the determining factor for who starts where in the standings and with how many points. Right now, Johnson and Hamlin have the most wins, each with five, so they will be atop the standings heading to New Hampshire.
Now, with everything we’ve seen this season, and what we know of each of these drivers and how they race, who’s your champion? Does Jimmie win a fifth straight? Will a Childress driver finally break through? Will Ford emerge over the last ten races? Let’s hear it!
Also, both Journo and myself wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!
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Happy, Safe and Fun Labor Day weekend to you two too
It has been a very interesting 2010 for Mr Harvick, as he has been quietly sitting in 1st place for most of it.
Over time, from a distance, it seems like people never really liked Kevin much, but he seems to understand, and he has done his job the best way….. quietly and consistantly. GREAT FOR KEVIN HARVICK …
I have always liked him. I even thought Kevin Harvick did a good job when took over for DE Sr (God bless Sr, I thought I may have heard him doing (more) donuts in heaven the other night, after winning another race ; ) It seemed when he took over for DE Sr that Kevin was just doing what he thought people wanted him to do, and that was drive aggressive, like the man before him…… and I thought Harvick played the Intimidator role just fine, driving very aggressive … BUT NASCAR (and some others) thought otherwise…. and yelled at him for being too aggressive “TSK TSK” thay said…. “Only D.E. Sr can operate like that, WHO THE HECK do you think you are?” )…..
…anyway, I found it all kind of amusing that Kevin seemed to just be doing what he thought people wanted him to do. The good part is he learned fast… when he realized what was up, he chilled out and has had a kind of quiet career since, while doing very well… ESP THIS YEAR… BRAVO K.H.!!
Over time I have come to greatly respect Harvick. Sometime we need role models that show us how to “chill out and play the game” and things will go better … and this year his efforts are coming to fruitition.
So I am going out on a limb…. and picking Harvick to win it all. He is a smart vet who understands the game, and seems to have all the right moves which requires the right PIT CREW, team owner and conditions.
This is such a crapshoot, and I’ll make my pick after saying that I see three teams I’d bet on: Johnson and Knaus are a great team, and I don’t know how you can EVER count them out. Harvick? Garry said it all. And Kyle Busch, who may be as talented as any driver in the world right now, but can he keep his emotions in check?
Busch takes the Cup. (Ask me again in ten minutes and you’ll get a different answer.)
I root for Burton and Montoya and Stewart. Two have had a good, but not spectacular, year, and Montoya is too good to miss the chase next year.
I hate to say it but I’m putting my money on JJ. Gordon seems to have lost it. Harvick’s team can’t match up with JJ in only ten races. Can’t stand JJ but he’ll do it again.
This was the best Cup race I have seen this year. 5 cars could have won that race right up till the end. I don’t understand Jr. He was sitting in the top ten & ends up 22nd.
Wake me up when there are 5 races to go and I’ll let you know. DNFs and wrecks thin the 12-car herd pretty quickly in the first 5 races.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the guys without wins heading into the Chase will drop down a few spots, while race winners will bump up a notch or few.
Right now, you have to go with Happy Harvick, and not because i am a fan of his, but because he has been the most consistent driver by far this year. And when he has a bad race he is usually a contender (case in point Martinsville, and Atlanta).
Johnson of Course is the Man until he is beaten, but i am not impressed with him at all the last 2 months.
Stewart is starting to come on strong.
And without winning a race, Edwards is becoming a major threat.
Add in the the Gibbs Boys, which will be a threat if the equipment lasts.
Kurt Busch will be tough as he runs fairly well on intermediate tracks.
I see Gordon as an also ran…not a contender
The other 2 RCR boys will contend but fade at the end.
If you are talking skill and knowledge, JJ will step up and win it again. Gordon can’t seem to adjust for the end of a race. Tony and Kyle are not consistent enough. The Roush cars are much better, but they still lag the others. Harvick is strong, but appears to be slipping a tad. Clint finishes well, and will be third or fourth. So lets see Jeff Burton win it all with a little bad luck for JJ.
Here’s how I rank the drivers heading into the chase
1)JJ-until someone actually beats him in the chase then he’s #1
2)Harvick-despite how Atlanta ended up he’s still JJ’s top challenger
3)Hamlin-could win a few races in the chase but will he have the consistency
4)Kyle Busch-just like Hamlin. Could win a few but consistency is an issue
5)Stewart-could be heating up at the right time
6)Edwards-the last one that I think has a good shot at winning Cup
7)Kurt Busch-has a shot but I wouldn’t call it a good shot
8)Gordon-he’s second in the points but hasn’t looked like the second best driver this year. 0 wins so far in 2010 and I don’t think he can win the Cup without winning a race. Still has a small shot though.
9)Burton-the last driver that I give even an outside chance to but I don’t think he’s as strong as he needs to be to win the Cup
10)Kenseth-I don’t think he has any chance to win the Cup
11)Biffle-he hasn’t been that strong this year outside of his one win so I don’t give him any shot whatsoever
12)Bowyer-he’ll make the chase but that doesn’t mean that he has a shot at winning the championship.
Now this isn’t necessarily the order that I have them finishing in at the end of the year, it’s just how I rank them going into the chase.
burton is as strong a contender for this years cup as any other one of those drivers in the top 12.it is his pit crew that needs the work.losing spots on pit road on every single pit stop in the past 25 races is not gonna win the title. childress needs to start replacing the mediocre crew with a crew that wants to win the cup as bad as burton does. but it really wont matter if burton wins or not,if he wins it all, the media will probably just interview jj for 3 months on how he lost number 5 than talk to burton on a great job he did to win it, as usual, case in point,atlanta,drove the wheels off his car with 15 laps to go and ended up 4th in that span and didnt even deserve an interview,hamlin who finished dead last,43rd,got more airtime than burton has gotten in the past 10 races. espn’s post race coverage really sux.
The most I’m going to prognosticate is four tiers, so in no particular order in each tier, for the top three:
Stewart, Harvick, Johnson
Second three:
Busch Ku, Hamlin, Gordon
Third three:
Busch Ky, Biffle, Edwards
Fourth three:
Burton, Bowyer, Kenseth
LOL, can’t wait to see how wrong I am! Probably won’t get a single tier right…
I think Harvick’s got both the momentum and the equipment to pull it off this year. It would be fantastic to see; RCR is long overdue for another championship.
Denny Hamlin could also make a charge, but his momentum seems to have evaporated.
I predicted Tony Stewart would win this past weekend to a Twitter post to Brett, Elliott Sadler’s spotter and I predict now that he will win the championship or come in second.
He’s been on the verge of winning the past few weeks and now that he’s climbed the hump, he’s going to hit his stride like he does every year and he couldn’t have picked a better time to do so with the Chase starting after Richmond.
back in April I was in Vegas and put 20 bucks on Denny Hamlin to win it (at 18-1 odds)…I’ll stick with that pick, although my head is saying JJ is probably going to get his 5th in a row.