Updated June 29
While Tony Stewart leading the points in his first season as driver/owner probably tops the list of biggest pleasant surprises up to this point, Kurt Busch's resurgence can't be too far behind.
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| Kurt Busch (with wife Eva) is making last season a distant memory. (Getty Images) |
In 2006, his first season with Penske, he managed just 12 top 10s, his fewest since earning six in his rookie season of 2001. He missed the Chase and finished 16th in the final standings.
He rebounded with a decent season in 2007, but it was still below his Roush standards. But the bottom fell out in 2008, with one win, five top fives, 10 top 10s and an 18th-place finish in the final standings. Only his rookie season was worse across all categories.
But in 2009, Busch has become a weekly contender again. Sunday at New Hampshire, his car was a mainstay in the top five, and the stretch run to the checkered flag was shaping up to be a duel between him and Jeff Gordon -- that is until the skies opened up, allowing rookie Joey Logano to steal the win.
"Overall, last year, to drive into Victory Lane and do it in a rain-shortened race and then today where we were fast enough to win and not get the win, that's how this sport evens itself out," said Busch, who finished third. "You have your good and your bad luck and overall it was a good day for our Miller Lite Dodge."
Considering the experiences of the past few seasons, all in all it was a good day for Busch and his No. 2 team. Through 17 races he has already matched his top five total from a year ago and nine top 10s are just one fewer than he had in all of 2008. Best of all, he has zero DNFs.
"I think consistency is important, and you have to continue to do that if you want to make the Chase," Busch said. "As long as I keep my cushion on 12th, that's the most important part."
Power Rankings after New Hampshire:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Though 2007 will remain his most dominant season for wins (10) and top fives (20), 2009 is his best for laps led. After a dominating run at Phoenix he has led 2,210 laps this season. His previous best came last season when he led 1,959 laps. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| Though he'll need Johnson to have a mishap like he had at Texas, he still has hope of claiming that elusive championship. More than likely though, Talladega looks like it'll be the killer just as many suspected. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| It's been a tough month for Gordon and his 24 team. After running off four consecutive top fives in October, Sunday's ninth-place finish was his best in three November races. | ||
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| When he's not wrecking or losing an engine, he has been pretty good, claiming top-five finishes in five of the nine Chase races. | ||
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| Looked like he was going to have a chance to pull off back-to-back wins, but his car faded in the second half of the race and he had to settle for sixth. | ||
| 6 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Started eighth at Phoenix, but faded quickly and was never a factor. With a 25th-place finish Sunday, he has finished outside the top 10 in four of the nine Chase races. | ||
| 7 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 6 |
| Wasn't quite able to snag another top five, but did manage to walk away with a top 10 after a couple of rough outings at Talladega and Texas. | ||
| 8 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
| "We're not satisfied with finishing 12th, but on the other hand we're excited to start finishing 12th," said Dave Rogers after his second race as Busch's crew chief. "Joe Gibbs Racing made this [crew chief] change with three [races] to go so I can learn Kyle [Busch] and I can learn the guys to get that communication established. We had some valuable lessons today. We learned a lot, some we learned by failures. Our last stop there, me and the guys didn't communicate clear enough and went the wrong way on our adjustments and we tried to balance the car out. I'm disappointed but we know the big picture is 2010. All those little lessons we can learn right now and getting them out of our way will make us that much stronger next year." | ||
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | 11 |
| He has back-to-back seventh-place runs and has finished in the top 10 in four of the past six races. | ||
| 10 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| A tough day at Phoenix made worse by damage he received in the big, multi-car pileup. He has finished outside the top 10 in six of the past seven races. | ||
| 11 | Greg Biffle | 12 |
| A so-so afternoon at Phoenix for Biffle, who started sixth but faded into the teens where he ran most of the day. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 10 |
| Just when it appeared Kenseth and his 17 team were getting their act together, they put in a dud at Phoenix. | ||
| 13 | Kasey Kahne | 13 |
| Despite starting top five in each of the past two races, he wasn't able to parlay that into top 10 runs. | ||
| 14 | Jeff Burton | NR |
| Though results have improved with Berrier as his crew chief, qualifying has not. Burton has started 30th or worse 13 times this season, including 36th on Sunday and 42nd last week at Texas where he finished ninth. | ||
| 15 | Carl Edwards | 14 |
| The 99 team isn't exactly ending the season on a high note. Edwards has just two top 10s in the past 12 races. | ||
