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 |
| Is there any reason to pick against him other than the belief that the law of averages eventually has to catch up to him? | ||
| 2 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He's got to be fed up watching his teammate rack up the wins and titles. | ||
| 3 | Kurt Busch | 5 |
| Penske is the only Dodge camp in town. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It will be interesting to see how Busch adjusts to new crew chief Steve Addington, who helped lead his brother Kyle to 12 wins the past two seasons. | ||
| 4 | Tony Stewart | 6 |
| Throughout his career he has been the model of consistency with his first season as driver-owner right on par with his career averages. However, he'll need to step up his game during the Chase if he's to snatch the title away from Johnson. Consistency alone won't get the job done like it did in 2005. | ||
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 9 |
| Of Richard Childress Racing's trio of drivers, he's the one who flies under the radar. But I have a hunch that this could be his breakout season. | ||
| 6 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
| He was dominant at times over the past couple of years, but when his car was off, he tended to pout and his finishes suffered because of it. It's up to Dave Rogers to keep him focused during the bad days. | ||
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 4 |
| Because of his strong finish to end 2009, many consider him the top challenger to Johnson. But his knee injury concerns me and I think it will affect his performance as the season drags on. | ||
| 8 | Carl Edwards | 15 |
| I don't know that I expect him to climb all the way back to 2008 levels when he had nine wins, but he should be much improved from 2009 when he had none. | ||
| 9 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| He had a magical season in his return to full-time racing with Hendrick Motorsports, but I don't believe he'll hit that same level in 2010. | ||
| 10 | Jeff Burton | 11 |
| He was among the hottest drivers the last few weeks of the 2009 season, but we have seen so often that momentum doesn't always carry over. | ||
| 11 | Greg Biffle | 10 |
| He's a lot like Bowyer in that I don't think he gets the amount of respect he probably deserves. He has championship ability; I'm just not sure his crew is up to the challenge. | ||
| 12 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 7 |
| To be honest, I have no idea what to expect of Montoya entering this season. I think he can be in the mix again, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he takes a step back. | ||
| 13 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| He's never been the same since he lost Robbie Reiser as crew chief, and I don't have a whole lot of confidence that he's going to rediscover that magic without him. | ||
| 14 | Kasey Kahne | 14 |
| Like Harvick, he's a pending free agent with many believing he has got one foot out the door. But he has seemed awfully excited about the Roush-Yates power he has under the hood with Richard Petty Motorsports' switch to Fords. | ||
| 15 | Brian Vickers | NR |
| Can the team rediscover the consistency that helped vault him and his Red Bull team into the Chase for the first time or were his dreadful runs during the Chase a sign of things to come? | ||
