Johnny Benson

There was no keeping up with Kyle Busch over the first half of the Sprint Cup season. In his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing the 23-year-old had a series leading seven wins after his July 12th triumph at Chicagoland Speedway – his third trip to Victory Lane in his last four races. Carl Edwards was next in wins with three.

NASCAR’s top circuit is just past the halfway point in its season and although there is a one-week break in the schedule following Chicagoland (racing resumes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27), the chances are slim that the brief hiatus for the Cup drivers will do anything to cool off Busch, who came away from his Windy-City win in first place in the standings, 262 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Starting with Indianapolis, there are just seven events remaining before the field is set for the Chase for the Championship, NASCAR’s 10-race, season-ending playoff to determine who wins the Sprint Cup title. Unless things go decidedly different for Busch over the next couple of months than they did over the first half of the season, he’s a good bet to enter the Chase as the driver to beat for the Cup title.

Throw out any thoughts that in just his fourth full Cup season Busch is too young to win a championship this year. Or that he doesn’t have enough time and experience in a Cup car to pull off the feat. Busch can get it done as with JGR he has continued a pattern he established during three years at Hendrick Motorsports, where he just got better every season. He was 20th in the standings in 2005, climbing to 10th in 2006 and fifth last year.

The biggest key to Busch’s title chances is for him and his crew chief Steve Addington not to change their mindset or their approach. They are taking chances and going for wins. Stay with that and avoid the temptation to turn to points racing at some juncture down the line. They can’t lose the focus on the method of racing that has put them on top in the standings.

Busch’s aggression has brought him some controversy and criticism, including earlier this season when he was involved in some on-track incidents that just added to the belief of more than a few that he has some growing up to do. Well, of late he’s begun to show he is maturing a bit and if he can keep on that path it only makes him more of a title threat.

While Busch has been the most impressive behind the wheel, Brian Vickers has been the most improved driver. Since the middle of May Vickers has brought excitement to Team Red Bull Racing. His No. 83 Toyota has emerged as a car that consistently runs well and Vickers went on a surge which after his impressive sixth-place result at Chicagoland had him 14th in the standings, only 95 points out of the No. 12 spot, which is the cutoff position for qualifying for the Chase.

In his second season with TRB Vickers is working with his third crew chief, Kevin Hamlin, and the pair has really clicked. Vickers has always had abundant talent and it appears Hamlin has found a way to bring that talent out on the track. This season could very well be a coming-out party for Vickers and expect him to make a serious run over the next seven races at making the Chase for the first time.

When the Cup drivers left the Windy City for their one-week break David Ragan was just four points back of Vickers in the standings. Last year Ragan finished second to Juan Pablo Montoya in the Rookie of the Year voting and this season he’s improved. Give a bunch of credit to his crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, who has brought this young driver a long way in a short period of time.

Ragan had big shoes to fill when he took the seat of Mark Martin at Roush Fenway Racing in 2007. But he’s gone toe-to-toe with the challenge of producing the kind of success Martin did in the No. 6 Ford. Ragan’s quiet and he hasn’t received much media attention but he could change that by turning some heads in the second half. He’s a young driver who could win some races before the year is out and that may land him in the playoff.

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As in every season there have been some notable disappointments in the performances we’ve seen since the Daytona 500. Casey Mears moved into the No. 5 car that Kyle Busch vacated at Hendrick Motorsports after last season. Mears struggled and was racking up more frustration than points. So he didn’t last long in his new seat, released by Hendrick Motorsports after just 16 races.

Mears will finish out the season with the organization but no doubt with a bitter taste over how things didn’t come together for him at one of NASCAR’s top organizations.

Reed Sorenson had a lot of promise when he began as a full-time Cup driver for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2006. But through the first half of this season he still had not won a race with that organization and after points finishes of 24th in 2006 and 22nd last year, he stood 32nd in the standings after Chicagoland.

While Vickers has really come on at Team Red Bull Racing, his teammate A.J. Allmendinger has had mostly tough times this season. He made it into just 11 of the first 19 races and was 40th in points after Chicagoland. Allmendinger’s hopes of building on a difficult first season with TRB have yet to be realized.

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