2005 RACE TO THE CHASE:  HERE COMES EDWARDS

 

CARL EDWARDS charges to his second win and catapults five spots up to 4^th in The Race to The Chase. Only GREG BIFFLE has scored more Nextel Cup points in the last five races.

 

KYLE BUSCH continues his strong runs of late with a fourth at Pocono.  Busch is about to race his way into serious contention if this keeps up. His stablemate, BRIAN VICKERS, was even more impressive at Pocono, leading the most laps and getting a strong second place finish. This team is not out of contention either, the way they’re now running up front.

 

 

THE HEAT INDEX

(Last 5 Races)

RED HOT                                                                 ICE COLD

1—Greg Biffle                       758                                          1—Sterling Marlin                367

2—Carl Edwards                  713                                          2—Dave Blaney                     380

3—Jimmie Johnson            694                                          3—Casey Mears                  391

4—Ryan Newman                 688                                          4—Scott Wimmer                410

5—Kyle Busch                      682                                          5—Kyle Petty                        411

6—Mark Martin                    668                                          6—Scott Riggs                      428

7—Rusty Wallace                 657                                          7—Ricky Rudd                      439

8—Kevin Harvick                  632                                          8—Mike Wallace                   441

9—Elliott Sadler                    617                                          9—Mike Bliss                       442

10—Joe Nemechek             605                                          10—Kurt Busch                    443

                                                                                               

 

THE TURNAROUNDS

(Position in Race to the Chase Versus Last Year at this time)

GOOD TURNS                                                                                         BAD TURNS

Rank-Driver                           05            04            Diff.                         Rank-Driver                           05            04            Diff.

1—Greg Biffle                       2              23            +21                          1—Bobby Labonte               29            6              -23

2—Carl Edwards (99 car)    4              25            +21                          2—Matt Kenseth                 24            3              -21

3—Mark Martin                    5              14            +9                            3—Dale Earnhardt Jr.          16            1              -15

3—Michael Waltrip               15            24            +9                            4—Casey Mears                  25            16            -9

5—Scott Riggs                      23            31            +8                            4—Mike Bliss (0 car)           30            21            -9

                                                                               

 

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE
After Race #14 of 26:  Pocono #1

Races Left to the Chase:  12 (46%)

 

05/LW/04                                Season  Out of     Out of     Out of     LastRce Gain        Last 5     Finishes                                Top         Top                Bottom   Bonus-

Driver                     Pts.         1^st            10^th          11^th          Fin/Pts    11^th          Pts/Gain 1—2—3                   10s          5s            10s          Penalty Pts

 

1/1/2-Johnson       2062        --            +380        +381        6/150       +31          694/E       2—2—1                   7              11            1              55-25

2/2/23-Biffle           1939        -123         +257        +258        30/73       -46           758/+1     3—0—1                   5              9              1              65-0

3/3/8-ESadler         1781        -281         +99          +100        21/100     -19           617/+2     0—1—0                   2              6              0              25-0

4/9/25-Edwards     1759        -303         +77          +78          1/185       +66          713/+9     2—0—1                   4              6              1              25-0

5/6/14-Martin         1734        -328         +52          +53          7/146       +27          668/+1     0—0—2                   4              7              0              20-0

6/4/10-Newman     1733        -329         +51          +52          34/61       -58           688/+4     0—0—1                   5              6              2              40-0

7/10/9-Harvick       1715        -347         +33          +34          8/142       +23          632/+4     1—0—0                   3              5              0              25-0

8/7/15-RWallace     1714        -348         +32          +33          11/130     +11          657/+6     0—0—0                   2              6              1              20-0

9/11/4-JGordon     1700        -362         +18          +19          9/138       +19          483/-7      3—1—0                   5              6              3              45-0

10/5/5-Stewart      1682        -380         --             +1            29/76       -43           594/-3      0—2—1                   3              6              0              35-0

                                                                                                                Gain

                                                                                                                10th

11/8/7-KBusch       1681        -381         -1             --             22/102     -7             443/-7      1—1—2                   5              6              3              45-0

12/13/12-McMurry1670        -392         -12           -11           10/134     +25          603/-4      0—0—0                   3              6              0              0-0

 

13/12/11-Mayfield 1659        -403         -23           -22           14/121     +12          595/+2     0—0—0                   2              2              0              25-0

14/14/17-Jarrett    1624        -438         -58           -57           13/124     +15          539/-2      0—0—0                   1              3              1              5-0

15/17/24-Waltrip    1579        -483         -103         -102         5/160       +51          543/+2     0—1—1                   3              6              4              35-0

16/15/1-ErnhrdtJr 1558        -504         -124         -123         33/64       -45           488/-7      0—0—1                   3              5              1              10-0

17/16/18-JBurton  1558        -504         -124         -123         19/106     -3             545/-1      0—0—1                   1              2              1              5-0

18/19/19-KyBusch 1514        -548         -168         -167         4/160       +51          682/+9     0—2—0                   4              5              3              20-25

19/18/13-Kahne     1491        -571         -191         -190         27/82       -27           590/E       1—1—1                   4              4              4              25-0

20/21/26-Nemchek1473       -589         -209         -208         3/165       +56          605/E       0—0—1                   1              3              2              30-0

21/24/22-Vickers  1444        -618         -238         -237         2/180       +71          597/+2     0—1—0                   3              3              4              35-0

22/23/20-Marlin     1396        -666         -286         -285         16/115     +6            367/-4      0—0—0                   1              3              4              20-0

23/20/31-Riggs      1362        -700         -320         -319         37/52       -57           428/-2      0—0—0                   1              3              2              10-0

24/22/3-Kenseth  1362        -700         -320         -319         32/67       -42           487/E       0—0—0                   2              1              2              30-0

25/27/16-Mears     1303        -759         -379         -378         18/109     E              391/E       0—1—0                   1              2              3              10-0

26/28/29-Blaney     1284        -778         -398         -397         24/91       -18           380/-4      0—0—0                   0              1              3              10-0

27/31/34-JGreen   1284        -778         -398         -397         15/118     +9            509/+4     0—0—0                   0              0              1              10-0

28/30/32-Schrader1283        -779         -399         -398         20/108     -1             485/+1     0—0—0                   0              2              4              25-0

29/29/6-BLabonte 1277        -785         -405         -404         26/85       -24           563/+4     0—1—0                   1              3              5              15-0

30/25/21-Bliss        1265        -797         -417         -416         35/58       -51           442/-4      0—0—0                   0              0              5              0-0

31/26/35-Petty       1241        -821         -441         -440         41/40       -69           411/-3      0—0—0                   0              1              3              30-0

32/32/30-Kvapil      1228        -834         -454         -453         17/112     +3            451/E       0—0—0                   0              1              1              10-0

33/33/28-Rudd       1171        -891         -511         -510         28/79       -30           439/-3      0—0—0                   0              2              4              5-0

34/34/36-MWallace1122        -940         -560         -559         31/75       -34           441/E       0—0—0                   0              0              3              25-0

35/35/27-Wimmer 1089        -973         -593         -592         36/55       -542         410/E       0—0—0                   0              0              3              10-0

 

LEADER PACE

(The likelihood of the 400-point Wild Card will be determined by the pace set by the leader after 26 races. Here is the pace after 14 races)

 

2005                                        2004                                        2003                                                        2002

1 J Johnson          2062        1 Earnhardt Jr.  2113            1 M Kenseth    2115                             1 S Marlin              2064

10 T Stewart         -380         10 R Newman    -439            10 S Marlin      -492                               10 K Busch             -365

12 teams within 400 pts     9 teams within 400              7 teams within 400                              11 teams within 400

7 teams with 156 of 10^th      7 teams within 156 of 10th 9 teams with 156 of 10^th                      5 teams within 156 of 10th

 

MAY PERFORMANCE (4 Races:  Talladega, Darlington, Richmond, Charlotte)

Driver                                     Pts.             Start of Month       Month Finish                   Spots Gained/Lost

1—Greg Biffle                       624                          3                              2                              +1

2—Tony Stewart                  575                          14                            6                              +8

3—Kasey Kahne                   541                          20                            16                            +4

4—Jamie McMurray            539                          15                            9                              +6

5—Ryan Newman                 536                          7                              4                              +3

6—Kevin Harvick                  534                          11                            7                              +4

7—Elliott Sadler                    533                          5                              3                              +2

8—Bobby Labonte               528                          34                            24                            +10

9—Jeremy Mayfield            513                          16                            13                            +3

10—Jeff Gordon                   489                          4                              5                              -1

11—Jimmie Johnson          487                          1                              1                              E

12—Carl Edwards                480                          8                              8                              E

13—Ken Schrader                472                          32                            26                            +6

14—Rusty Wallace               469                          10                            11                            -1

15—Dale Jarrett                   459                          13                            14                            -1

16—Dale Earnhardt Jr.        450                          12                            15                            -3

17—Jeff Burton                    446                          17                            17                            E

18—Joe Nemechek             433                          24                            19                            +5

19—Michael Waltrip             429                          18                            18                            E

20—Mark Martin                  426                          6                              12                            -6

21—Jeff Green                     406                          29                            31                            +2

22—Matt Kenseth                401                          28                            23                            +5

23—Ricky Rudd                    390                          31                            32                            -1

24—Kyle Busch                    387                          25                            22                            +3

25—Mike Wallace                 371                          36                            34                            +2

26—Kurt Busch                    354                          2                              10                            -8

27—Dave Blaney                   340                          21                            25                            -4

28—Travis Kvapil                 336                          30                            33                            -3

29—Scott Wimmer              334                          33                            35                            -2

30—Scott Riggs                    333                          19                            21                            -2

31—Mike Bliss                     331                          27                            29                            -2

32—Brian Vickers                319                          23                            27                            -4

33—Casey Mears                312                          26                            28                            -2

34—Kyle Petty                      299                          22                            30                            -8

35—Sterling Marlin              246                          9                              20                            -11

 

APRIL PERFORMANCE  (4 Races:  Bristol, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix)

Driver                                     Pts.              Start of Month       Month Finish                  Spots Gained/Lost

1—Earnhardt Jr.                   582                          26                            12                            +14

2—Jimmie Johnson            580                          1                              1                              E

3—Jeff Gordon                     563                          12                            4                              +8

4—Sterling Marlin                530                          16                            9                              +7

5—Elliott Sadler                    527                          8                              5                              +3

6—Michael Waltrip               514                          27                            18                            +9

7—Kurt Busch                      510                          4                              2                              +2

8—Jeremy Mayfield            494                          21                            16                            +5

9—Dale Jarrett                     491                          15                            13                            +2

10—Rusty Wallace               483                          9                              10                            -1

11—Kevin Harvick                482                          11                            11                            E

12—Ryan Newman               479                          6                              7                              -1

13—Jeff Burton                    462                          20                            17                            +3

14—Kasey Kahne                 461                          28                            20                            +8

15—Mark Martin                  458                          5                              6                              -1

16—Greg Biffle                     454                          2                              3                              -1

17—Joe Nemechek             444                          29                            24                            +5

18—Jamie McMurray          437                          10                            15                            -5

18—Ricky Rudd                    437                          39                            31                            +8

20—Kyle Petty                      417                          24                            22                            +2

21—Scott Riggs                    415                          18                            19                            -1

22—Brian Vickers                406                          22                            23                            -1

22—Matt Kenseth                406                          31                            28                            +3

24—Tony Stewart                399                          7                              14                            -7

25—Carl Edwards                386                          3                              8                              -5

26—Kyle Busch                    372                          19                            25                            -6

27—Bobby Labonte             365                          37                            34                            +3

28—Casey Mears                357                          17                            26                            -9

29—Travis Kvapil                 344                          32                            30                            +2

30—Dave Blaney                   340                          14                            21                            -7

31—Ken Schrader                338                          33                            32                            +1

32—Mike Bliss                     307                          13                            27                            -14

32—Jeff Green                     307                          23                            29                            -6

32—Jason Leffler                307                          34                            35                            -1

35—Scott Wimmer              261                          25                            33                            -8