The top ten drivers in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points are eligible to compete for the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series championship. With only 45 points separating first from tenth any of these drivers can win it all. Whoever has the least bad luck and the most consistent good runs will win the 2004 Championship. Here are the contenders and their chances for glory in 2004.
Leading the points going into The Chase, Jeff Gordon knows how to get the job done. He already has four Championships so he should be able to handle the extreme pressure in a ten race playoff for the title. If Hendrick Motorsports can solve their mechanical problems then Jeff could be tough to beat.
Jimmie Johnson has been at the top of the points for most of the 2004 season. However four finishes worse than 30th in the last six races have dropped him to second. He has all the tools to win, but needs to shake his recent string of bad luck in order to get the big check at the end of the season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr has been improving every year and finds himself in third going into The Chase. The fact that Talladega is one of the remaining races certainly plays into his favor as his DEI team is famous for their strength on the restrictor plate races. However New Hampshire, Darlington and Dover have never been strengths for him. Dale is a racer and has looked better than ever in 2004. Can he do it this year?
Never count Tony out. The 2002 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion has more fire inside him than the other nine guys combined. His Joe Gibbs racing team hasn't been flashy in 2004 but they've managed to stay in the top ten all year long.
In 2003 Matt won the Championship by such a huge margin that NASCAR changed the format of the series into this Chase for the Cup format. Hot early in the season with a couple of wins Matt hasn't been too impressive lately, but he hasn't had to be. There would be a certain amount of justice if Matt won the 2004 Championship too.
Elliott Sadler has taken over as the lead driver for Robert Yates Racing. His team knows how to get the job done, the 38 used to be the 28 car that Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan drove. He's had flashes of brilliance in 2004 but hasn't put together a ten race string of good finishes. If he can do it now he'll have a shot.
Kurt started the season hot and finished up the qualifying races hot but really struggled through the middle part of the year alternating good top tens with terrible finishes in the twenties and thirties. Kurt will need to step it up but his Roush Racing team is certainly capable.
Mark Martin leads the series in second place points finishes with four. In 2004 he has had fast cars but has been plagued by bad luck. A blown tire on the last lap in Indianapolis, electrical problems in Charlotte, a mental error in Bristol have all worked against him. Mark has the experience to get the job done and his team have been giving him the tools. If he can keep the demons away Mark can be a real threat.
Jeremy Mayfield and his Evernham team have been better than average this season, but not excellent. Not excellent until he needed to be. Mayfield needed to dominate in Richmond in order to get into The Chase and that's exactly what he did. Winning the race and leading the most laps Jeremy stormed into the top ten. If his team can keep up that level of performance for ten races he'll make up his 40 point deficit in no time, but he has an uphill battle from here.
If they gave bonus points for qualifying then Ryan Newman would have been the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion already. Unfortunately for Newman the NASCAR points system rewards consistency. His eleven top ten finishes so far in 2004 have been offset by ten finishes of 20th or worse. Ryan can't afford any bad runs for the next ten races if he is going to overcome his 45 point deficit and win the cup.
