Updated July 28
As big as the debacle was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, the impact on Chase contenders was minimal, with just two -- Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth -- taking major hits, only one because of the tire issues that plagued the event.
Harvick was the first of the two to suffer misfortune at a track at which he had excelled over the years (he won from the pole in 2003 and had five top 10 finishes in seven starts).
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| A blown tire ruined Matt Kenseth's chances of victory Sunday at Indy. (Getty Images) |
"I was just trying to hold position waiting for the competition yellow to fly when I got loose and just overcorrected into the 29 car," Busch said.
Harvick, who entered the race ninth in points, had to spend several laps in the pits for repairs. He finished the day 12 laps down in 37th and dropped out of the top 12 in the standings, two points behind his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer.
"My guys did a great job getting me back out there after the accident so early in the race," said Harvick, who was able to extend his streak of races without a DNF to 64. "I want to thank the fans for supporting us and the other cars and staying out here today to watch despite the situation that we had out there. We will just go on to Pocono. Hopefully we will be good and I think we will be fine for the Chase."
Kenseth, who had four top fives in his eight previous trips to Indianapolis, had high hopes of winning his first Brickyard after qualifying 10th and putting his car toward the top of the charts in practice. But his afternoon took a turn for the worse on Lap 46 when he became a victim of the blown tires everybody was so concerned about.
"It's a really, really, really disappointing situation," said Kenseth, who finished 38th and dropped three spots in the standings to 11th, just six points ahead of Harvick.
"This one of the two biggest races of the year, and to never have this tire here before and not come and do an open test and to work on these things and work on the tires, it's pretty darn disappointing. We had a great car today."
Power Rankings after Indianapolis:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Even if Johnson were to finish last and Mark Martin were to win and lead the most laps in the next race at Texas, he would still hold the points lead by 23 points. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| There was a time when Martin had a bit of luck at Talladega. From 1988 through 2001 he had 18 top 10s in 28 races. In 12 races since 2002, he has just two top 10s with nine finishes outside the top 20. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He has four victories in his past 12 trips to Talladega. However, he finished outside the top 10 in the eight races he did not win, with finishes of 19th or worse in his past four visits. | ||
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He captured second at Talladega in the spring of 2008, but has finished no better than 15th in his other five visits to the track. | ||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Though he won last fall at Talladega, he has finished 22nd or worse in five of his last seven trips to the track with three DNFs by way of crash. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He has led at least one lap in all eight of his visits to Talladega, but has just two top 10s to show for it with six finishes of 21st or worse. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| He has three finishes of 21st or worse in his past four visits to Talladega after finishing outside the top 10 just three times in his first 14 trips. | ||
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| Sunday marked his second second-place finish at Talladega. In 12 starts at the track, those are his only top 10s. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| His 36th-place finish Sunday was his sixth of 33rd or worse in 16 starts at Talladega. "We had this race back here in the spring and complained about cars getting airborne and now ironically I'm the guy that gets upside down," Newman said. "I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see; at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here." | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| His win in the spring of 2008 is his lone top 10 finish in 10 starts at Talladega. | ||
| 11 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| After three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, he has finished outside the top 10 in his past six trips to the track, but at least he wasn't flying into the catchfence like in his last visit. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Like his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, he had three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, but has failed to finish in the top 10 at the track since. | ||
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Finished a Talladega career-best fourth on Sunday, his second consecutive top 10 at the track after finishing no better than 13th in his first 12 visits. | ||
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| He won't complain too much about a 12th-place finish considering he has finished 35th or worse in four of his eight visits. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| His 21st-place finish Sunday was his fifth consecutive finish of 20th or worse at Talladega. He has been running at the finish of all 18 of his starts at Talladega. | ||
