Once again the Chase begins with a similar script from past seasons. Most of the favorites finish near the front, an upstart contender wins the race and a few drivers begin in a large hole. It’s been a similar plot line since the chase began in 2004. The biggest difference this year is that the points leader coughed up his large lead right off the bat. Kyle Busch suffered a parts failure that put him 2 laps down by lap 35. Then Busch, still battling a poor handling car, spun out in a one car incident-or so he thought. After Busch successfully avoided hitting anything and was trying to get out of the infield grass, Jamie McMurray careened into the side of the #18 car and finished him off Mortal Kombat style. By lap 100 Kyle Busch’s 40 point lead had transformed into a 74 point deficit to Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile Greg Biffle entered Sunday with an 80 hole, but thanks to his win he whittled it down to a 30 margin behind Edwards and Johnson.

The biggest thing to remember for the rest of the Chase is that while some might say Busch is in trouble or Biffle is in great shape, it’s a long time until Homestead. What happened to Busch at Loudon, or Richmond for that matter, means very little at Dover, Kansas or Talladega. Busch is good at all three tracks and by the time things get to Lowe’s the Loudon incident could be irrelevant.

Quote of the Day: Carl Edwards after the race, “My guys did awesome. Everything worked. The Vitamin Water even tastes good right now.

Oops. Vitamin Water is an associate sponsor of Edwards. Not that I disagree with Edwards’ assessment.

Quote of the Day Pt II: Dale Earnhardt Jr explaining what caused his precipitous drop mid-race. “We were leading the race, we were the fastest car on the track and we put on a set of tires and fell all the way to 10th or whatever. Where are you going to point the finger other than the racing tires we just put on the car.

• Joey Logano made an inauspicious debut. He finished 32nd and I don’t remember his name mentioned during the broadcast.

• 9 of the top 12 finishers were Chase drivers, including the top 5. It follows suit with Loudon’s history in the Chase. Last year the top 7 spots were captured by Chasers. Five in the top ten in 2006, 7 of the top 8 in 2005 and five in 2004.

• Is there a more annoying guy on TV than the TGI Friday’s guy?

• Despite the lead pack being almost exclusively filled with Chasers, I thought ESPN did a decent job of covering the other drivers on the track. They even had a segment that capped all of the non-Chasers inside the top 20. The notables from outside the Chase include Kurt Busch (6th), Martin Truex Jr (7th), Kasey Kahne (11th), Bobby Labonte (13th) and David Reutimann (15th).

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