Johnson takes Chase class to school, earns the grade (cont'd)

Kasey Kahne C+

Kahne

If you were shocked by the previous grade you're probably floored by this one...no it's not a typo. Let me start by saying, I know the Chase performance of the 9 team probably does not deserve a C+ mark, with just four top tens and four finishes of 32nd or worse in the Chase. But I would also argue that the behind the scenes picture at Richard Petty Motorsports is much uglier than we all know. The mere fact that Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis were able to show up at the track and still deliver some decent results deserves a ton of credit in my opinion. Firing 50 people the week the Chase starts? All told by the end of the year approximately 200 people who started the year at RPM will likely be out of a job? Can you imagine going to work in that environment? How can you be dedicated to winning a championship when people you work with are losing jobs left and right? You have to wonder if you are next and what kind of job can you do then? Sure, I understand the business side of this industry and layoffs are sometimes necessary but what has taken place late this season at RPM has been a travesty. So in that context, the No. 9 team actually hasn't been that bad have they?

The rough part is that with all of these layoffs, the soon to be merger with Yates Racing and all of the change this team will have gone through in 12 months, it's hard to imagine Kahne having a tremendous amount of success in 2010. The one thing that is for sure, this team is not trending in a way that would indicate they will be a championship contender next season.

Ryan Newman C

Newman

If you base it off recent performances it might be tempting to give Newman a lower grade but this really has been a tale of two Chases for Newman. The first half of the Chase went fairly well, starting with two top tens but lately it has been rough going culminating last week with Newman leaving the track saying "nothing went right this weekend." Throw in an upside down ride at Talladega and it would seem as though this has been a bad Chase for Newman. But if you take a step back and are truly honest with yourself, it might not be so bad. Was this team really supposed to make the Chase in their first year of existence anyway? So just by being in the Chase is the battle not already won? Plus not only did they make the Chase but the No. 39 team ran fairly well at times. So my take is that this team did surprisingly well by not only making the Chase but also setting themselves up to be a perennial Chase player. The one thing I am sure Newman would love to have though is a good run this weekend at Homestead, nobody wants to wrap the season on a bad string of races. There's one shot left to fix that.

Greg Biffle D

Carl Edwards D

Biffle

Edwards

I've gotta be honest, it is very, very, very tempting to give these teams an "F." But in handing out the year-end Chase grades I have never given an "F" because if you make it to this level you are not a failure no matter how bad things are...but how can you give Roush Racing any other grade for the 2009 Chase? Granted, Greg Biffle had the best car at the Kansas race a few weeks ago but finished 3rd and Carl Edwards did finish sixth at California a few weeks ago, amazingly still his best finish so far in the Chase. Really? Those are the Roush Chase highlights we are talking about? Is that what they want to hang their "hat" on in the off-season? That is not the Roush Racing we have come to appreciate over the years.

I get emails all of the time that Jack Roush should just blow up the organization and switch all of the personnel around in an effort to shake things up. The best thing Roush could do honestly? Nothing, at least for now. If it was one or two teams that were behind then that scenario might work. But the problem is that the entire organization is in a slump. The best thing Jack Roush and team President Geoff Smith did a few years ago was put Robbie Reiser in charge of the performance side of the team. The worst thing they can do is deviate from that plan now. I know it sounds goofy considering the lack of performance this year but trust me, Reiser is the best man for the job, so leave him alone and let him do his job. Give Reiser time to work some personnel and performance magic. If Roush management gives Robbie Reiser the latitude to do his job they way he wants, there is no way that Roush Racing will be down in the dumps this far next year. I may eat those words in 2010, but knowing how hard Robbie Reiser works and the effort he will put in this off-season, I doubt it.

Brian Vickers D-

Vickers

Sticking with my promise, I am not going to give anyone an F but...wow, where did this team go? Was Brian Vickers even in the Chase? It baffles me how this team stormed into the chase with nine straight finishes of 12th or better and then followed that up with only two finishes better than 12th and zero top tens in the Chase itself. What happened? This team is true mystery heading into the 2010 season. Should we expect the team that bowled their way into the Chase? Or will we see the team that failed to show up during the Chase? I bet this team will spend the next two months wondering the same thing.