Wonderful Pistachios 400

Hello Angels,

Saturday night’s Wonderful Pistachios 400 race at Richmond International Raceway was quite the crash-fest – especially for those drivers trying to make it into the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Champion.

There was some very good racing happening at times, but that was too sporadic because of all the caution flags that flew – 15 total, with most of them happening before the 200-lap mark of the 400 scheduled.

I believe every one of us Angels had a driver or two or three mixed up in some drama Saturday night. Kasey Kahne was involved in three wrecks before he finally was crashed out. Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch renewed their rivalry just in time for the Championship Chase to begin. Marcos Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr., couldn’t keep themselves out of contact with other cars.

The biggest wreck of the night happened on lap 8 when 15 or so drivers piled into each other after Clint Bowyer spun while trying to pass a car – craziness ensued and the pile-up happened. Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt, and other drivers trying to make it into the Chase were involved and that crash set the tone for the night.

Most drivers were able to continue – including Earnhardt and Hamlin who somehow managed to stay on the lead lap despite heavy damage to both of their vehicles. Between the two of them, I heard they made at least 16 or 17 stops on pit road throughout the night each. Earnhardt fell off the lead lap many times and each time kept himself in contention for the Lucky Dog Award. In doing so, he continued to get back on the lead lap every time a caution flag would come out.  Hamlin, for his part, stayed in contention all night long regardless of the damage and managed to finish in the top-10.

Of the few drivers who stayed out of trouble all night long – Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon, they were the class of the field and finished in that order, even though Gordon was poised to pull off the win with 15 or so laps remaining. Gordon, like last week, was battling Harvick hard with the both of them on old tires. Harvick had nothing for Gordon and his lead was building until Paul Menard spun to bring out the caution.  Harvick beat Gordon out of the pits and that set up the 12-lap shootout for the win. Harvick got a good restart and Gordon did not. Edwards who was in third on the restart was able to pass Gordon and that’s how they finished with Harvick in first, Edwards in Second and Gordon in third.

David Ragan did all he could to win and make it into the Chase, but he, and everyone else not already in the top-12, fell short of making the Championship Chase – even with his fourth-place finish.

Kurt Busch managed to stay on the lead lap despite being intentionally spun by Johnson mid-way through the race. Earlier in the race, with Johnson and the older Busch brother running in the top-five, the two made contact battling for position. Kurt drove into the corner too hard and locked his tires up causing his car to drift up and make contact with Johnson. Johnson spun into the outside wall and crushed the rear of his car. After making repairs on pit road, Johnson was able to get back out on the track and spin Kurt for what Johnson perceived as an intentional act. In the process, Johnson spun into the outside wall and damaged his car even worse, while Kurt didn’t hit anything during his spin, got fresh tires because of the caution and continued to run his race to finish fifth. Johnson’s stunt landed him behind the wall for many laps and a 31st place finish.

Kyle Busch ran a decent race, but had his own tire issues when a lug nut wasn’t properly applied. He came down pit road for an unscheduled pit stop and fell a lap down. With all the cautions, the younger Busch brother was able to make up the lost lap and then took full advantage of it to finish sixth.

The rest of the top-10 has Tony Stewart in seventh, Ryan Newman in eighth, Hamlin in ninth and Mark Martin in 10th.

So, with all the melee happening on the track, none of the drivers already in the top-12 in points fell out setting the field for the 10-race Championship Chase.

With the new points system, the 12-driver Chase field is reset by number of wins. Kyle Busch and Harvick are seeded one and two because of their four wins in the regular season. Gordon is third with three wins and is three-points behind. Matt Kenseth is fourth with two wins and is six-points behind, while Edwards is fifth, Johnson is sixth, Kurt Busch is seventh and Newman is eighth – all of whom have one win this season. They are all nine-points behind Kyle Busch and Harvick. Because Stewart made up so many points on Earnhardt Saturday night, he jumps up a spot to ninth place in the standings and is 12-points behind first place. Earnhardt is seeded 10th – also 12-points behind first place. Brad Keselowski, despite his three wins leading up to the Chase takes the first wild-card spot for 11th place and is 12-points behind first place, while Hamlin and his one win earned him the final Chase spot and is 12-points behind first place as well.

For us Angels, the Wonderful Pistachios 400 race at Richmond marks the end of Segment Two. Kris, not only did you win the CHARLIE’S ANGELS SEGMENT TWO TOP ANGEL AWARD, but you did it by completely dominating the Segment and won by nearly 150 points over my team who made a charge late in the segment to finish second. Congratulations on your Segment Two TAA!

Speaking of TAA’s, the final CHARLIE’S ANGELS TOP ANGEL AWARD for Segment Two goes to Vivian, who had three drivers finish in the top 10. Harvick and Edwards finished one and two respectively, while Stewart solidified his Chase berth with a seventh-place effort. Jamie McMurray started on the outside Pole, but quickly fell from contention and finished 14th. Jeff Burton tried very hard to have a good run Saturday night, but like his season has gone this year, he blew a tire and hit the outside wall hard. He went from a possible top-10 run to a 29th place finish. Vivian, your TAA winning average finish this week is 10.6. Congratulations!

This week’s and Segment Two’s final CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD goes to Gibbons, whose five drivers all had issues Saturday night. Hamlin managed a ninth place finish, while Greg Biffle struggled with his car all night long. He finished 13th. Burton came home 29th, while Johnson finished 31st. Marcos Ambrose ruined both Brian Vickers and Kahne’s night when Ambrose got into Vickers which sent him spinning, taking out Kahne’s car (already wrecked from an earlier incident) in the process. Vickers made repairs and then paid the favor back to Ambrose a lap or two later – sending Vickers to the NASCAR hauler with his car parked for 60 or so laps of the race. Vickers finished 33rd. Your GCA earning average finish Gibbons is 23 even. Better luck next week.

Kris, you earned yet another CHARLIE’S ANGELS RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD that helped you to earn the Segment TAA award this week. Had it not been for Kasey Kahne’s crashes – none of which where his fault, by the way, you would have easily been this week’s TAA winner as well. Harvick won the race, Edwards finished second and Gordon finished third. Keselowski had a decent race, but finished outside the top-10 in 12th place. Kahne finished 38th after his three crashes. Your RUA average finish is just point-six off the pace with Vivian at 11.2.

Julie, for you, Edwards, Stewart and Hamlin are the drivers who had the best finishes of your five drivers with their top-10 efforts. Edwards finished second, Stewart finished seventh and Hamlin came home in the ninth position. For Keselowski, Richmond isn’t one of his best tracks, but he made the best of it by being in contention most of the night. His car faded in the end to finish 12th. David Gilliland was involved in the early-race melee and only managed a 27th place finish. Your average finish is 11.4.

CorWin, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin managed top-10 finishes with their sixth and 10th place runs. Keselowski finished 12th, while Ambrose, despite his early-race incidents, managed a 21st place finish. David Reutimann, who won his fourth-career Coors Light Pole award to start the race, never led a lap Saturday night. His car was ill-handling from the beginning and while he managed to stay out of trouble for most of the night, trouble found him in the likes of Clint Bowyer when the two made contact on lap 309. Reutimann had heavy damage after slamming into the wall, but his team managed to make repairs to allow for a 26th place finish. Your drivers’ average finish is 15 even.

Knox’Ville, you and I have the same drivers and in doing so, tied for the No. 5 Angels’ spot Saturday night with a 15.4 average finish. Gordon and Kyle Busch finished in the top-10 with their third and sixth place finishes respectively, while Keselowski finished in 12th. Landon Cassill had an eventful night with two spins, but still managed a 25th place finish overall. Johnson too had an eventful night and finished many laps down in 31st place.

Pete, for you, Gordon was the only driver of your five with a top-10 finish. He placed third. Keselowski and McMurray finished 12th and 14th respectively, while Bowyer didn’t have the night he was looking for and finished 22nd. Burton rounds out your team with his 29th place finish. Your team’s average finish is 16 even.

Evelyn, for you, Gordon gave it a shot for the win, but fell short after the restart with 12 laps remaining. He finished third. McMurray had an up-and-down race, and finished in the middle with a 14th place showing. Ambrose and Bowyer had their adventures on the track and finished 21st and 22nd respectively. Reutimann rounds out your team with his 26th place finish. Your drivers’ average finish is 17.2.

Kelly and Candy Man, you both tie for the No. 9 Angels’ spot this week with your 18.4 average finishes.

Candy Man, for you, Edwards and Martin finished in second and 10th, while Biffle finished 13th. Burton had his issues again and finished 29th, while Kahne couldn’t avoid trouble not of his making and finished 38th.

Kelly, for you, Gordon finished third after his attempt to a back-to-back win. Hamlin finished ninth to solidify his berth into the Championship Chase. Keselowski finished 12th, while Vickers found himself in a NASCAR equivalent of a time-out after he purposely wrecked Ambrose after an earlier incident between the two. Vickers finished 33rd. Joey Logano was the only driver to have an engine issue (that I know of anyway) and finished 35th.

Mr. X, your top driver is Edwards and his second-place finish. Keselowski did his best to finish in the top-10, but fell short of that goal with a 12th place finish. Kenseth finished 23rd, while Burton and Martin Truex Jr., finished well outside the top-10 (and the lead lap for that matter) with their 29th and 30th place finishes respectively. Your drivers’ average finish is 19.2.

Madison, you had two drivers – Edwards and Hamlin – finish in the top-10. Edwards finished second, while Hamlin finished ninth. Kenseth and Reutimann both had on-track incidents and finished well-off the pace in 23rd and 26th places respectively. Kahne’s race was over after his first incident, but it wasn’t until the third incident with his own teammate that took him out of the race all-together. He finished 38th. Your average finish Madison is 19.6.

And so the Chase for the NASCAR Champion begins next week at Chicagoland Speedway near Chicago with the running of the Geico 400 on Sunday.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see where you stack up against the other Angels for Segment Two.

With the start of Segment Three next week, don’t forget to pick your drivers prior to Sunday’s Geico 400 race.

Good luck in the Chase, Angels!

Charlie