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Rating the Race: Atlanta

by Tim Zaegel on October 29th, 2007

Another “race in the Chase”, and another Hendrick win. If you’re a Jimmie Johnson fan or a Jeff Gordon fan, I’m sure that this year has provided you with one of the most entertaining Championship runs in recent memory – especially since NASCAR rolled out with their current playoff format. However, I am in no way, shape, or form a fan of any Hendrick-run car (with the exception of possibly Casey Mears), and I’ve gotta tell ya that I’ve found it extremely tough to maintain any level of focus on these Cup races these past few weeks. Perhaps if Carl Edwards didn’t lock up the Busch Series Championship back in like May, I’d be able to find some reprieve there … but, since he did, I’ve found those races to be equally dull.

Be that as it may, this Sunday’s race at Atlanta did have its moments … at the end of the race. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr were undoubtedly the class of the field all day long, yet with the race coming out from under a caution with seven laps to go, Denny Hamlin runs out of gas while leading the field and took out several cars including two of the most dominant cars. The incident led to a 20th place finish for the younger Busch brother and a 31st place finish for Truex. Kurt Busch managed to avoid the mele, but still wound up finishing only 8th. Instead of seeing the teams who ran well all day be rewarded with the finishes they deserved, we were instead “treated” to Jimmie Johnson (who led a total of 8 laps on the day) leading the field to a green-white-checkered finish. After another accident ended the green-white-checkered run for the third week in a row, Johnson brought home the checkered flag (again), followed by Carl Edwards, Reed Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, and Jeff Burton … none of which led a lap the entire day. In fact, besides Johnson, the highest finishing driver that led any laps was Kurt Busch – who, as previously stated, finished 8th.

Okay, so I know I can only gripe about this stuff so much, because most of what I’m complaining about is in fact what racing is all about. And, I know that much of the reason that these Hendrick cars keep coming away with the victories is because the drivers in that camp are amongst the absolute elite that NASCAR has to offer. But, c’mon, isn’t this becoming just a bit ridiculous? This year’s pretty much a lost cause for anyone whose loyalties lie outside the Hendrick organization, but I’ve got to believe that there’s something that NASCAR can do to shape up a more level playing field heading into 2008.

Honestly, though, I can’t hold my bitterness against Atlanta Motor Speedway, as they truly did once again put on a decent finish to a long day of racing. Plus, I was admittedly excited to see the rematch of Edwards and Johnson at the track where Edwards bumped the 48 to pickup his first career Cup victory. To top the day off, despite the fact that I can appreciate a guy like Dale Earnhardt Jr, I found it quite amusing to watch his tire roll around the track on the very last lap of the day. Maybe “ironically amusing” is a better term to sum up my feelings on that one, actually. Altogether I’m going to give this one a 3 out 5 as well.

Top 10 Results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Carl Edwards

3. Reed Sorenson

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Jeff Burton

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Brian Vickers

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POSTED IN: NASCAR, Rating the Race