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Defending champion is once again perched atop the heap
Jimmie Johnson was the big winner Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
The defending Nextel Cup champion captured the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at RIR, giving him an additional 10 bonus points. It was his second victory on the ¾-mile racetrack this year, a track on which he only had one top-10 finish in 10 previous starts.
It also meant he was seeded alone in first heading into the Chase for the Nextel Cup, which starts Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway. He has a 20-point cushion over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon.
Twenty points may not seem like much, but that's four spots at the top or up to seven spots further down the field. With all drivers being consistent enough to be top-12 in the points, making up that kind of room barring a catastrophe for one of the others is not a given at any time.
Had the points not been reset at 5,000 with 10 bonus points given for every regular-season victory, Johnson would have started the Chase 410 points behind Gordon and in fourth place. That's a lot more to make up than just the 20 Gordon has, and the stranglehold Gordon had on the championship has wasted away to nothing.
"I think the racer inside of me feels bad," Johnson said of Gordon. "He's had an amazing 26 first races, but we all knew coming into the season it was going to be this way. We were able to maximize the seeding process on the 48 car. We're doing everything we can to be a champion, but I do in the back of my mind feel something for him."
The big loser? That's easy. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in such a hole that even a typically stellar run at Richmond through 394 laps wasn't enough to get him into the Chase.
Earnhardt came into Richmond needing to make up 128 points on Kevin Harvick to reach the playoffs. Earnhardt did his part, spending the vast majority of the race in the top 10. The problem was, Harvick and fellow bubble boy Kurt Busch were always right around him.
"I can turn anything into a positive. I always do," Earnhardt said. "There ain't no reason to get all upset and bent out of shape about anything because there's cooler stuff right around the corner and there's all kinds of things to be excited about and I'm not just talking about next year. I'm saying every day in life, you know? We'll have fun and laugh and enjoy ourselves as we race for the rest of the season."
In addition to Johnson, who moved up three spots in the points standings with the seeding, other big winners were Busch and Truex.
Busch would have been 10th in points before the seedings, and he'll start tied for fourth with Carl Edwards. Also making a jump is Truex, who would have been 11th but will be seeded tied for sixth.
"It's great that we've positioned ourselves and got a couple of wins to be fifth overall, that's how you have to work the system," Busch said. "Bonus points move you up when the Chase starts, so you'd better have some wins. Jimmie Johnson is just on a tear right now and he's going to be tough to catch."
While Busch might be the hottest driver -- his ninth-place finish Saturday night was his ninth straight race in which he's finished 11th or better -- Truex is excited about the races coming up.
He's qualified 11th or better in all three starts at Loudon, and was third this year. Then he heads to Dover, where he picked up his first career victory in June and where he finished sixth last fall.
Truex, however, knows there's no substitute for talent and experience.
"The favorite has got to be Jimmie Johnson," he said. "Obviously he is the defending champion and those guys just seem like no matter what happens they can find a way to get a good finish. Somehow, someway. They can run [poorly] all day and all of a sudden, he's in the top 10 with 20 to go. Where'd he come from? Nobody knows. But they're really good at doing that and that's going to be hard to beat."
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