AdvoCare 500

Hello Angels,

Sunday’s, err, Tuesday’s AdvoCare 500 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was well worth the two-day rain delay — just for the last 10 laps of the race alone.

Five-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and Four-time Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon put on a show for a fraction of the race-day crowd as the two battled back and forth to see who would win what turned out to be a very entertaining race. The rain-delayed race was run on a Tuesday for the first time since 1978 and for only the second time in NASCAR history.

The two champions raced each other cleanly and with as much vigor as the two cars would allow for – at 180 mph there was several times both cars were so out of shape there was no way they should’ve been able to keep going the way they did. It was a cat and mouse game ultimately with the mouse, in this case Gordon, winning as the cat (Johnson) lost grip coming off the last corner too far out of shape to get anywhere near Gordon. With this win, Gordon, who dominated the race and led the most laps, earned his place of third all-time in Cup-series wins at 85. In doing so, he surpassed Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison breaking the tie with those two drivers who now find themselves tied for fourth place all-time. Gordon is only surpassed by Richard Petty’s 200 wins and David Pearson’s 105 wins – both during an era with little parody the likes of today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

With Johnson’s second place finish, he moves into the overall points leader heading into the final race of the regular season 21 points ahead of Kyle Busch who finished 23rd Tuesday. Unless Gordon, Kevin Harvick or Brad Keselowski wins Saturday night’s Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Busch will shoot to the top of the leaderboard for the start of the Championship Chase with four wins. Gordon and Harvick will  be tied for second place and Keselowski will start the Chase in either 11th place by taking the first wild-card spot or if he makes it into the top-10 after Richmond, will jump to either tied for second with three wins or tied for first with Busch (if Keselowski wins Richmond). Let’s just say there are still many scenarios that can play out with the Wonderful Pistachios 400 race on Saturday.

Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., are the only drivers currently in the top-10 in points not locked into the Chase. Stewart needs to finish 18th or better next week while Earnhardt needs to finish 20th or better. This week however, Stewart did pretty much all he could to solidify his Chase berth by finishing third overall. Earnhardt didn’t have as easy a time after being lapped early in the race. He fought back though and finished 19th on the lead lap.

Busch was in the top-five for the better part of the race, but a brush against the wall and then a pit-road violation sent the aspiring champion down a lap to a 23rd place finish.

The top 10 drivers were Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards for the top-five. Keselowski finished sixth – his first time out of the top-three in five races – then Harvick, Denny Hamlin Matt Kenseth and A.J. Allmendinger make up the sixth through 10th place drivers.

For us Angels, our combined teams’ average finish of 12.91 pretty much sums up how all of our Angels’ teams’ drivers did this week. Point-six points separated our top-three Angels from each other, while less than eight points separated our Angels’ top and bottom average finishes.

This week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS TOP ANGEL  is Vivian and her team’s 8.8 drivers’ average finish. Stewart, Edwards and Harvick finished third, fifth and seventh respectively, while Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray finished 13th and 16th respectively. Congratulations Vivian on your TAA this week.

Madison, your drivers earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD with their 17.4 average finish. Edwards, Hamlin and Kenseth finished in the top-10 with their fifth, eighth and ninth place finishes respectively. Both David Reutimann and Kasey Kahne, who started on the Pole Tuesday, had mechanical issues affect their respective days. Reutimann finished 31st, while Kahne finished 34th. Better luck next week!

Gibbons, there was only point-four points separating you and Vivian this week. That said, because of it, you earned this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD. Johnson finished second, while Hamlin finished eighth. Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, and Burton finished one-two-three of sorts with their 11th, 12th and 13th place finishes respectively. Congratulations on your RUA average finish of 9.2 this week.

Mr. X, point-six points separated you from our No. 3 Angels’ spot and this week’s TAA. You had three drivers – Edwards, Keselowski and Kenseth – finish in the top-10 with their fifth, sixth and ninth place finishes respectively. Burton and Martin Truex Jr., finished 13th and 14th respectively to help your team earn a 9.4 average finish this week.

Kris, you had four drivers – Gordon, Edwards, Keselowski, and Harvick finish inside the top-10 with their first, fifth, sixth and seventh place finishes respectively on Tuesday. Had Kahne’s car’s mechanical issues not happened, you would’ve taken the TAA easily this week. Unfortunately for you, they did and you didn’t as your drivers’ average finish ended up being 10.6 this week – still not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

For me, Gordon and Johnson were my top-two drivers with their one-two finish respectively. Keselowski finished sixth, while Busch and Landon Cassill finished well outside the top-10 with their 22nd and 23rd place finishes – both one lap down to Gordon. My team’s drivers’ average finish is 10.8.

Julie, for you, Stewart, Edwards and Keselowski finished inside the top-10 with their third, fifth and sixth place finishes respectively. Vickers finished 11th, while Kahne finished several laps down in 34th place. Your drivers’ average finish is 11.8.

Knox’Ville, your drivers of Gordon, Johnson and Keselowski finished inside the top-10 with their first, second and sixth place finishes respectively. Busch finished 23rd, while Andy Lally started last and was only able to muster a 30th place finish after brushing the wall and falling several laps down to Gordon. Your team’s average finish is 12.4.

Evelyn, for you team, Gordon and Edwards finished in the top-five with their first and fifth place finishes respectively. Burton finished 13th, while Marcos Ambrose finished 21st. Reutimann rounds out your team with his 31st place finish. Your drivers’ average finish this week is 14.2.

CorWin, your top-three drivers of Stewart, Edwards and Keselowski finished in the top-10 with their third, fifth and sixth place finishes. Ambrose finished well outside the top-10 with his 21st place finish, while Bobby Labonte brought out the caution twice – one for a solo spin through the grass and then again later in the race after he crashed into the inside SAFER Barrier ending his team’s day early. He finished 38th. Your drivers’ average finish is 14.6.

Pete, Edwards needed to have a good run Tuesday to show that he belongs in the Championship Chase. While he didn’t get the win, he did lead a lap or two and finished fifth in the process. Not the finish he was looking for, but he’ll take it going into this weekend’s race at Richmond. Keselowski continues to run well and finished sixth. Vickers had a decent run with his 11th place finish, but Busch could’ve done better had he not had the pit-road penalty while entering the pits. He finished 23rd. Reutimann rounds out your team with his 31st place finish. Your drivers’ average finish this week is 15.2.

Candy Man, only one of your drivers – Edwards – finished in the top-10 with his fifth place finish. Biffle finished 12th, while Burton finished one-spot behind in 13th place. Mark Martin finished 17th, while Kahne rounds out your team with his 34th place finish. Combined, your drivers earned your team a 16.2 average finish.

Kelly, had it not been for David Ragan blowing and engine and Labonte crashing out of the race, your team could’ve been contending for this week’s TAA instead of finishing in the No. 12 Angels’ spot. Ragan finished 35th, while Labonte finished 38th. On the flip side is Stewart finishing third, while Penske Racing teammates of Kurt Busch and Keselowski teamed up to finish in the fourth and sixth places respectively. Your team’s average finish is 17.2.

As mentioned before, Saturday night’s and final regular season race of 2011 is the Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see where you stack up against the other Angels after Tuesday’s AdvoCare 500 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie