Mike Hembree: ‘Dirty Dozen’ would a fine Chase make
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch has fallen out of the top 12 standings in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after finishing 38th at Indy. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
Kyle Busch’s Sunday of big trouble at Indianapolis Motor Speedway added some unexpected sparkle to an unofficial but rather impressive collection of drivers. Call them the Dirty Dozen.
You could put together a pretty neat Chase for the Sprint Cup – maybe a Chase Lite – using the drivers currently in the second 12 in the point standings as the tour moves on to Long Pond, Pa. for this week’s second seasonal visit to Pocono Raceway.
Of course, only the top 12 drivers will make the field for the race toward the championship, but the 13-24 segment is swelling with talent with only six races remaining in the runup to the Chase.
Busch added some glamour to the group by finishing 38th in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and sliding four positions south in the standings to 14th.
Busch currently is the spotlighted driver in the Dirty Dozen. He has three wins this season and is one of only three drivers – Joey Logano and David Reutimann being the others – with at least one victory in the second 12.
There is some other significant talent in the bunch, however, including a handful of drivers who legitimately could have been expected to be in the Chase 12. And, for that matter, still could be.
The Dirty Dozen includes Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. All have known the honors of the Chase in the past, and there will be a certain level of embarrassment attached to their seasons this year if they don’t make it. And some certainly won’t.
Since these guys aren’t currently in the Chase group, some others you might not have expected to be there currently are. Those would be folks like Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin and, perhaps the biggest surprise of all, Juan Pablo Montoya. And the point leader, Tony Stewart, is certainly a surprise – at least in that position.
Perhaps the saddest and most surprising fact about the Dirty Dozen is that fully a third of its residents get their paychecks at Richard Childress Racing. In fact, all four RCR drivers are in the second 12, an accomplishment that isn’t making too many folks in that part of the world happy.
Which driver in the second 12 is most likely to be “clean” when the Chase starts? Put your money on Busch, who is wrestling through a rough stretch but clearly has the talent and team resources to join teammate Denny Hamlin in the 10-race dash for cash.
Reutimann, at 13th, Brian Vickers (15th) and Bowyer (16th) also could slide into qualifying spots.
In the meantime, the Dirty Dozen isn’t necessarily a bad place to be. It’s just not prime territory.
