| Racing Ruminations |
| Any hack columnist can predict the top five Sylvania 300 finishers. I predict the top five and the guy who will finish 17th! |
| LAST WEEK Top five: 2/5 17th: 0–1 |
| SEASON Top five: 43/130 17th: 0–26 |
| 1. Mark Martin |
| 2. Kevin Harvick |
| 3. Ryan Newman |
| 4. Matt Kenseth |
| 5. Jimmie Johnson |
| 17. Dave Blaney |
Seven months ago I made my predictions for the 10 Chase contenders. As for my success&133;let’s just say I got caught in the Big One at Talladega. But don’t worry, just like Jeff Gordon, nothing is ever my fault. Here are the excuses for why my predictions didn’t work out:
My genius predictions:
Jimmie Johnson
Jeff Gordon
Matt Kenseth
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Slightly Less Than Perfect Picks:
Jamie McMurray¿I knew Roush would get several drivers in the Chase. I just wouldn’t have guess Mark Martin would be one of them. I honestly thought he would be dead by now. I blame the Grim Reaper for this mistake.
Kurt Busch
I wrote Kyle Busch when I made this pick but one of my editor’s got confused and changed it. Really, I am not kidding. I swear. I blame my copy editor for this pick.
Ryan Newman
Ryan and Rusty Wallace spent years blaming each other for their individual problems as teammates. I’m blaming Rusty for this bad pick. Without his feud to fuel him, the Rocketman ran out of gas.
Tony Stewart
I could make another cheap fat joke at Tony’s expense here. But for the first time, I’m going to learn from Jeremy Mayfield and take the high road. I’m blaming Erin Crocker!
Carl Edwards
I blame Staples. They hit that damn Easy Button and totally screwed over the Office Depot driver. The lesson, as always, never bet against the Staples Mafia.
Greg Biffle
Greg’s from Vancouver, Washington. That’s sounds suspiciously like Vancouver, Canada. I don’t trust Canadians so I think they somehow brought Biff down. I’m blaming Canada for this pick.