Samsung 500: Winners and Losers

Well Texas turned out to be one of the best races this season and it turned out how nobody expected. See which drivers were the Winners and which were the Losers.

Winners

Jeff Gordon

We all know how Texas has wronged Gordon, but Sunday was different. Early on this team led, but quickly struggled with a loose race car.

They fell behind on adjustments, but pit stops and a caution helped this team work on the car, and from that point on Gordon ran in the top six the rest of the day.

A late caution after Gordon had lost the lead to a charging Carl Edwards and then lost second to Tony Stewart allowed Gordon’s crew to take advantage of Edwards’s poor pit stop and regain the lead for good.

Gordon and company have been the best team all season, coming to the track each week with strong cars and finally closing the deal. The win gives Gordon his biggest points lead this season and the momentum heading into Phoenix in two weeks.

Points: First

Jimmie Johnson

In the first 100 laps Johnson didn’t look good, in fact he looked awful. Once again this team used every opportunity to work on the car and nearly won the race. This team week in and week out proves why they have won three championships in a row.

A strong second place finish helped boost them in the points and allowed them to be sitting comfortably in the top 12 in points.

Heading to Phoenix, a track where Johnson won last fall, in dominating style.

Points: Second

David Reutimann

No he didn’t win, but he did battle back from falling off the lead lap and came back to finish 11th.

They were running in the top five for most of the day. The key to this race for them was surviving pit road. They almost accomplished that but avoiding a collision on pit road and then pitting outside the box put them into a hole. They worked the rest of the day to finish on the lead lap.

They are one of the biggest surprises this year with their strong finishes  and are clearly ready to contend this year.

Points: 11th

Paul  Menard

Last week, Menard was struggling to stay in the top 35 in points. He just barely was in the top 35.  Fast forward to Texas, Menard was fast in practice, fast in qualifying and ran within the top 15 all day long.

This was a strong run, for a driver that needed a strong run. They head into the off week with momentum and a small cushion between the top 35 and himself.

Points: 32nd

Mark Martin

It wasn’t just a few weeks ago Martin was teetering on the edge of falling outside the top 35 in points before Bristol. After consecutive top 10 finishes at the short tracks, Martin came to Texas hoping to prove why he was a contender this year.

Martin's poor qualifying effort forced him in the back of the pack, but he worked his way through traffic and was steadily in the top 15 for most of the race.

He never could get to the front of the pack but used pit strategy and worked on their car. Overall this was a good day for a team that is still rebounding in the points, from some tough luck early on this season.

Points: 18th

Losers

Kyle Busch

In 2008, Busch was just plain dominant. You could count on him being up front every week. Fast forward to 2009, he has had some strong races like Daytona and Bristol.

But then he has races like Martinsville and Texas, where they look nothing like the team that dominated at Bristol, or even the same team we saw last year.

Busch was never happy with this car, his frustration came to head when he and John Andretti wereracing each other and Busch—in retaliation for a move he apparently didn’t like—rammed into the side of Andretti and effectively cutting his tire and forcing him to pit.

It was here when Busch's day was over. He struggled to get his laps back and settled for a 18th place finish.

Points: Seventh

Kevin Harvick

I thought this team was going to run better this weekend. They haven’t been all that bad this year. They have been consistent, but they haven’t led many laps and they haven’t been able to get it done on pit road.

The only way to get it done on pit road is if you are a contender. That Harvick has not been.

Today he was bad from the start he dropped back immediately, and they never caught up. He was never even a factor.

This race team last year was consistent, but this year they seem to be struggling with the setups. They should be fine, but finishing 27th today; they were looking forward to the off weekend.

Points: 14th

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I think I got to optimistic when Earnhardt had a strong finish at Martinsville. They looked good on Friday during practice. They were at or near the top of the speed charts. A poor qualifying hurt them and they worked their way to the front.

But once again, Earnhardt struggled on pit road, making mistakes both by himself and the crew. He worked his way back to the front, but after a dust up with Busch on a restart his day quickly turned south. He hit the wall and was forced to pit. He finished 20th.

If Earnhardt could make no mistakes on pit road, who knows what would have happened today.

Points: 16th

Martin Truex Jr.

Many figured coming into 2009 would be a better year for this team. A merger with Ganassi Racing gave Truex another driver to work with on the track in Juan Pablo Montoya. Instead, 2009 has seen this team struggle right out the gate.

Texas was no different. They weren’t very good in either practice, nor qualifying and certainly during the race.

They were lapped early and were never able to rebound. A disappointing finish of 25th leaves you wondering that because Montoya is running well every week, apparently there is still no sharing of information.

Points: 24th

Final Lap

Overall, the race was pretty good. There was plenty of lead changes and good racing throughout the field. The stands were filled with fans from every state, they weren’t disappointed.

One thing that is hurting NASCAR is the fact that they are racing three weeks and another off week. I am sure the first off week could have been better placed in June instead of after four races.

With the Easter holiday, momentum coming out of Texas and the story of Gordon win will get sidetracked as fans focus on the holiday weekend.

With fans struggling to attend races and the flip flop of start times early what momentum they built the last couple weeks has now been stalled.

NASCAR needs to work on the scheduling this off season particularly the off weeks.

Happy Easter and Enjoy the off week see you at the season’s first night race at Phoenix, April 18.