Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR
Tony Stewart took top honors at the Sylvania 300 this weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire. The victory came a reversal of fortunes from one year ago, and made him only the second driver to open the Chase with two-straight victories. Furthermore, he completed a Stewart-Haas sweep of the New England-based facility for the 2011 season.
In a nutshell, Loudon's finish reflected what has been common on many an occasion this Cup season so far: many drivers rolled the dice on fuel strategy (several of them running out), and a driver who was solid all day long came from a late deficit to claim the victory based on the porr luck of others. That's not to devalue the accomplishment by any means though, as a win in any form is a win. Furthermore, Stewart has historically been very successful at New Hampshire, and undoubtedly deserved to win today.
In recap, the 2011 Sylvania 300 ended with Tony Stewart in victory lane after taking the race lead with 2 laps to go, and he was followed to the checkers by Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, and Brian Vickers in the top five. The ride-hunting Clint Bowyer led Stewart by several tenths of a second in the closing stages of the race but ran out of gas coming to 2 laps to go. The big Chase casualty this weekend was Denny Hamlin, who ran out of gas with less than 5 to go and came home in 29th position, 66 points behind Tony Stewart. With 8 races remaining in the Chase, Stewart holds a 7-point advantage over longtime friend Kevin Harvick, with the ever-consistent Brad Keselowski stepping up to claim 3rd place in the standings, 11 points behind. 5-time and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson used up his chase "mulligan" and came home in 18th to fall two more spots in the title fight to 10th, 29 points behind Stewart. Many believe that this could be the year that Johnson is dethroned as Sprint Cup Champion, and this blogger agrees with that sentiment. Look at the facts: in 28 races this season to date, Johnson has 1 victory, 11 top-5's and 18 top-10's. Only 1 driver has posted a stronger record, that being Carl Edwards. While Johnson's record has quietly been a very strong effort, he hasn't had the same dominant tune coming from his camp as he's had in seasons past. Perhaps he will surprise us, but I have a sneaking suspicion we'll see another face on top come Homestead.
Credit: AFP PHOTO / Saeed Khan
On the other side of the world, on the Marina Bay GP Circuit in Singapore, Sebastian Vettel won his 9th race of the season in 14 attempts, and came within a single world championship point of clinching this year's World Drivers' Championship title. Let me rephrase that: with one more championship point, Vettel could have clinched the WDC five whole races before the conclusion of the 19-race 2011 season. We haven't seen dominance like this since Schumacher won 13 of the 18 events back in 2004! Jenson Button managed to stay alive in the title fight by finishing second, but it is highly unlikely that he will catch the dominant Vettel. Fernando Alonso finished 3rd, 29.2 seconds adrift of the 2010 World Champion.
'Til Next!
- K
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