Harvick virtually guaranteed a chase spot now. No chance 2 other teams win 3 races and still don't make the top 10.

I see what you did there.

:-)

It has been fairly well covered by journalists -- Some of Earnhardt Sr fanbase root for Junior and Tony Stewart. But the majority root for Harvick & RCR.


Quick Google -Excerpts from Harvick on Dale Earnhardt, Sr's Legacy (2010):

“I embraced it zero in the beginning,” Harvick said Thursday. “I wanted to change the color of the car, I wanted new sponsors. If he wore a white suit, I wanted a black suit.

“I wanted zero to do with it. … You had all these fans and all this pressure from the media. I put my guard up immediately and said I don’t want to hear anything about Dale Earnhardt, I don’t want to hear anything about his fans, I don’t care about his fans.”

Now, nearly 10 years after Earnhardt’s death, Harvick has the backing of many of those fans who rooted for the No. 3 car and its legendary driver.

Harvick has embraced that role. RCR has not won a championship since Earnhardt’s last Cup title in 1994. All six titles won by RCR came with Earnhardt behind the wheel.

“It’s impossible to get away from that [legacy],” Harvick said. “It’s not something that, I’ve learned, you really want to get away from. It’s something that is a great part of what RCR has done in this sport. And it’s great to be a part of that now and it’s great to be a part of that team to carry that legacy on.”

“You realize that those people are still out there and still love the sport and still love everything that happens at RCR and have kind of found that hole, I guess, that’s been missing, and that’s been the competitive nature of what used to be the 3 car in the 29 car,” Harvick said. “And it’s very rewarding to know that those people are still out there and still care enough about the sport.”

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/artic...Cup_title.html

Standings have been updated in OP

His dad who was my driver...(I am one of the #3 fans that follows the #29) would have drove hard and put the bumper on the 29 and won the race. Jr showed class and drove Mark Martin old school at the end, and like Martin that gets you 2nd place~

This. I mean this is exactly correct. Senior would have come right back at the 29 and tapped him out of the way. No doubt.

Hammond even mentioned in the post race that Jr. should worry less about hurting other's feelings.

I always root for Jr. but he doesn't have the heart of a champion in the sport. It might be because of growing up at the track with his dad and listening to others whine about him but Jr. will never win a championship if he's afraid to go after it if someone in front of you is slower.

I miss Dale Sr.

In this case the 29 was faster but the win was still there for the taking~

I have to disagree.

If you remember, in the closing laps, Kevin Harvick had a super fast car. He ran down 5 or 6 cars before he got underneath Junior to make the pass. If Junior would have bumped Harvick and turned him sideways, it would have left the door open for Kyle to pass them. Junior's car was not fast enough to pass Harvick. You can't find speed. I believe Junior made the right decision and raced clean.

It's also worth noting, Junior didn't have a problem being aggressive with Kyle Busch. He used his bumper twice on Kyle to loosen him and make a pass in the closing laps. At that point, Junior had a faster car.

Jimmie Johnson found himself in the same situation in Fontana last week. Kyle Busch dominated the race. But in the end, Harvick had the fastest car. Actually, Johnson was leading, when Harvick bumped him loose, and passed him on the lead. Johnson also made the right call -- instead of wrecking Harvick, he raced him clean.

In case you missed the race on Saturday, Johnny Sauter bumped Kyle Busch, passed him on the last one or two laps of the race. Instead of wrecking Sauter, I'm (finally) happy to report, Busch raced him clean and came in second.

Drivers really want to win the championship. Drivers realize it's about points, staying focused and having patience. Just ask JimiJo... lol

In order to win the championship, I feel you're going to need friends on the track.

A lot has changed since 2001.

just my opinion.

Thanks, truebigdog.

Standings (Top 20) after Martinsville wins in parenthesis

1 Kyle Busch 219 Leader (1)
2 Carl Edwards 214 -5 (1)
3 Jimmie Johnson 207 -12
4 Kurt Busch 205 -14
5 Kevin Harvick 204 -15 (2)
6 Ryan Newman 203 -16
7 Juan Montoya 201 -18
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 199 -20
9 Matt Kenseth 195 -24
10 Mark Martin 181 -38
11 Tony Stewart 180 -39
12 Jeff Gordon 170 -49 (1) above line would be in the Chase
13 Paul Menard 170 -49
14 A.J. Allmendinger 168 -51
15 Kasey Kahne 163 -56
16 Clint Bowyer 158 -61
17 Martin Truex Jr. 151 -68
18 David Ragan 147 -72
19 Denny Hamlin 145 -74
20 Greg Biffle 142 -77


Pretty close ... Would you want to risk intentionally taking out a driver?

The smart drivers are point racing right now.

What I meant was Jr. could have easily gotten the 29 out of the gas by nudging him when he did the cross over. Sr. would have, realizing the 29 was faster and it was his only shot to hold on to the win.