Tiers from three on down: the championship is over (cont'd)

TIER 4

Hamlin

Busch

Biffle

Newman

Kahne

Denny Hamlin (-1)
Once again in the Chase, Denny Hamlin probably had the best car last week but a mechanical problem took him out of the race. Hamlin has pretty much been the strongest competition for the 48 team in the Chase but after going the entire regular season with just one DNF, they have managed to ring up three of those in the past four races. Talk about poor timing. Once again this week, don't be surprised if Hamlin is the guy to beat. He is brining the car that ran so well at Charlotte a few weeks ago until the engine let go. When this team strings together 10 consecutive races without problems in the Chase (and it will happen), they can and likely will win a championship.

Kurt Busch (-1)
Depsite two early accidents it looked like Kurt Busch might be able to rally for a top-10 finish at Talladega, until his third accident of the day, which finally did in the 2 team. The question I am getting all of the time about the 2 team is, why have they not hired their 2010 crew chief yet? Simple answer: They don't know who they want. Penske is full of engineers and that likely is the direction management would like to head in hiring a new front man. Meanwhile, Busch would rather have a race-proven, common-sense head man. Unless they can convince Steve Addington to leave Joe Gibbs Racing, don't expect a new hire with this team in the next three weeks.

Greg Biffle (No Change)
To be honest, Greg Biffle should have one win at least this season and that should have come at Texas in the spring. Biffle probably had the best car at the end but on the last stop of the day, his crew was very slow -- he had to rally to finish third. This time around Biffle is bringing the car he led the most laps and finished third with at Kansas a few weeks ago. This could be a good weekend, at one of his best tracks.

Carl Edwards (No Change)
This time last year Carl Edwards was trading wins with Jimmie Johnson, battling for the championship. After this race last year, Edwards had two wins in the Chase. So far in 2009, Edwards has two top-10s. What a difference a year makes. It's a hard adjustment when you go from expecting to win to wishing you could finish in the top 10.

Ryan Newman (No Change)
To the surprise of many, the Chase was actually going pretty well for Ryan Newman until last week at Talladega. I'm sure Newman is not really looking forward to climbing into the car on Friday at one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. At least there's something for which to look forward. The intermediate tracks have been very solid for the 39 team this season. A nice top-10 finish this weekend without incident would do wonders for Newman.

Kasey Kahne (No Change)
Kasey Kahne was the surprise of Talladega. His second-place finish was just his second career top-10 at Talladega. Kahne could surprise once again this weekend. In fact, Texas may be Kahne's best shot at a win in the remaining races of 2009. Kahne always has been strong at this type of track. Don't be surprised to see the 9 up front again this weekend.

Brian Vickers (No Change)
Seven races into the Chase. Zero top-10s.

Three weeks until vacation.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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