Bank of America 500

Hello Angels,

Saturday night’s Bank of America’s 500 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the final night race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The results of the race might be the turning of the tides, if you will, for what could be a Sprint Cup Champion without the name Jimmie Johnson attached to it.

Johnson, as most people know, has won five straight Sprint Cup Series championships. He’s won so many in a row, there’s a movement within the NASCAR fandom, to want ANYONE to win except Johnson. Many of those fans got their wish Saturday night as Johnson, running eighth at the time with about 15 laps left in the race, got loose while trying to pass Ryan Newman. It looked as though Johnson was going to save it when it snapped loose and he hit hard so hard into the outside wall the rear end of his car jumped up a good two and a half feet off the ground – all at about 170 mph or faster.

Who would’ve thought Charlotte would be the racetrack to bring Johnson down? It may very well be that way after Johnson finished 34th.

Kyle Busch started from the rear of the field after having to change a broken engine. The good news for Busch is the engine broke from a crewmember’s mistake rather than a mechanical failure while running. That meant Busch could run wide-open and not wonder if he would have a mechanical failure within his engine. He slowly picked off cars and eventually found himself up front through good pit strategy and hard racing. Busch took the lead mid-race and ended up leading the most laps of the race – except the latter part of the race where Kenseth stole the show.

Carl Edwards finished third, while non-chase contenders Kasey Kahne and Marcos Ambrose round out the top-five. Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Newman round out the top 10.

As for points, Edwards leads the pack by five points over Harvick. Kenseth jumped two spots with his win to third in points, but seven points off the pace. Busch jumped four spots with his second place efforts and to fourth in points, while Stewart jumped two spots to fifth place. Brad Keselowski, who had a horrible race at Charlotte, finished the race down two spots to sixth place, while Kurt Busch lost another spot in the points to seventh place overall. Johnson dropped like a brick down five spots to eighth in points – 35 points off the pace. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Newman, Jeff Gordon and Hamlin make up the rest of the top-12.

For us Angels, if our combined teams’ average finish of 15.62 doesn’t tell you what you need to know, I’ll say it flat out. Our drivers on our teams flat-out finished all over the place.

For Pete and Evelyn, their two teams of drivers finished on the complete opposite end of the spectrum to each other.

Pete, your drivers earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ TOP ANGEL AWARD with their average finish of 10.4. Kenseth led everyone to the checkered flag for his first win of the Chase. Stewart led everyone to the green flag to start the race, but wrong pit strategy; or rather ill-timed pit strategy put him off sequence to which he never recovered. Stewart finished eighth. David Ragan finished 11th, while Greg Biffle, who looked like he was going to run-way with the race early on, had a green-flag pit penalty for not having all five lug nuts on a tire. Eventually he made up the two laps he went down, but then fell back again when he cut a tire and hit the wall. He finished 15th.Paul Menard rounds out your team with his 17th place finish. Congratulations on your TAA this week.

Evelyn, your drivers’ 22.8 average finish earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GODEN CABOOSE AWARD. Richard Childress Racing drivers Paul Menard and Jeff Burton teamed up to be the best two drivers on your team with their 17th and 18th place finishes respectively. Gordon finished 21st after he went for a spin – luckily not hitting anything, but unable to recover none-the-less. RCR driver Clint Bowyer had a tough race of his own but got lucky to finish mid-pack in the field in 24th. Johnson crashed out of the race late and still earned a 34th place finish. Better luck next weeks.

Mr. X, your drivers earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD with their 11.4 average finish. Edwards finished the highest of your five drivers with his third place finish. Stewart finished eighth, while Joey Logano finished 12th. Keselowski and Burton round out your team after they finished off the lead lap with their 16th and 18th place finishes respectively.

Mr. Munday, Kahne was involved in the Gordon spin, but luckily nothing happened to his car. Kahne rebounded and finished fourth. Hamlin had a decent run with his ninth place finish. Logano finished 12th, while Biffle and Bowyer finished well off the pace in 15th and 24th places respectively.

CorWin, for you, Busch and Harvick are the two drivers with top-10 finishes on your team. Busch started 43rd, came back to lead the most laps, but finished second to Kenseth. Harvick avoided a wreck by running in the grass and kept his championship hopes alive and well with his sixth place finish. Keselowski may be in trouble finally with his hopes for a title after the second sub-top-10 finish in a row. He finished 16th. Menard finished 17th, while Regan Smith spent most of the day down a lap and finished down two in 25th place. Your drivers’ average finish is 13.2.

Kris, you had two drivers – Busch and Edwards – finish in the top-10 with their second and third place finishes respectively. Brian Vickers had early pit problems when he left his pit stall with the car jack still attached somehow. He had to make a penalty pit stop under green conditions and went down the second lap in the process. With the late-race cautions, he was able to make one lap back, but finished one lap down in 20th place. Gordon’s hopes of a championship are officially over after he too had a sub-par race after spinning mid-way through the race. He finished 21st. Smith finished 25th to round out your five drivers. All totaled, your drivers’ average finish is 14.2.

Gibbons, for you, Kahne and Stewart finished the highest of your five drivers with their top-10 finishes of fourth and eighth respectively. Ragan finished 11th, while Menard finished six spots behind that in 17th place. Johnson took a huge points hit with his crash late in the race. He finished 34th, but fell to 35 points behind Edwards in the Chase in doing so. Definitely going to be an interesting upcoming five races to see what happens. Your drivers’ average finish is 14.8.

Julie, Edwards and Stewart are your two drivers who finished inside the top-10 with their third and eighth place finishes respectively. Keselowski and Menard finished 16th and 17th, while Trevor Bayne finished 31st after running out of gas mid-way through the race. Too bad for Bayne as he probably had a top-10 car had he not run out of gas. Your drivers’ average finish is 15 even.

Vivian and Sabrina, you both tie for our No. 8 Angels’ spot with your 16.2 average finishes respectively.

Sabrina, for you, had you not had Nemechek on your team, you may have been contending for a TAA rather than being mid-pack in the field like you are because of his 43rd place finish. On the flip side of that is Kenseth who recorded his first win in the Chase. Stewart and Newman finished in the top-10 as well with their eighth and 10th place finishes respectively. Earnhardt rounds out your five drivers with his 19th place finish.

Vivian, for you, Edwards, Stewart and Newman are your three drivers who finished inside the top-10 with their third, eighth and 10th place finishes respectively. Bowyer and David Gilliland finished well outside the top-10 with their 24th and 36th place finishes respectively.

Knox’Ville, you had two drivers – Edwards and Ambrose – finish in the top five with their third and fifth place finishes. Too bad Johnson had his troubles late in the race or I would’ve been talking about a TAA for you this week instead of the No. 10 Angels’ spot. Johnson finished 34th after his crash, while Vickers and Gordon round out your team with their 20th and 21st place finishes respectively. Your drivers’ average finish is 16.6.

Candy Man and Kelly, you both tie for our No. 11 Angels’ spot with your 17.8 average finishes.

Kelly, for you, only one of your drivers finished inside the top-10 – Busch and his second place finish. Ragan finished 11th, while Keselowski finished 16th. David Reutimann was a risky driver choice in my opinion, but his 26th place finish didn’t hurt your team as bad as Johnson’s 34th place finish after he crashed at the house he once owned…could this be a changing of the guard as they say???

Candy Man, for you, Edwards was the only driver on your team who had a top-10 finish. He finished third. Biffle had the car to beat early on, too bad he and his team beat it themselves with a missing lug nut. He finished 15th, last car on the lead lap. Keselowski finished 16th, while Burton finished 18th. Mark Martin had himself a left-front hub issue – something I’ve never heard before. He fell back 47 laps while his team made repairs rebuilding the entire front-end housing (I believe) and he subsequently finished 37th.

For me, well, only one driver for my team finished in the top-10 as well. Edwards had a stellar race going until he and Busch both had horrible restarts at the worst possible time. Busch cut Edwards off and held him off to finish second, but it is Edwards and his third place finish who I have on my team. Keselowski finished 16th, one-lap down while Vickers and Smith finished 20th and 25th respectively. Johnson’s crash really hurt my points standings as well as he finished 34th. All totaled, my drivers average finish is 19.6.

Next week’s race is the wild-card race of the Chase with the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Don’t forget to check to see where your team stacks up after Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie