Qualifying
Ford Motorsports teams again struggled in qualifying as Ryan Newman took the pole in his Dodge. The next seven spots all went to Chevrolet drivers as Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top eight.
The next few spots were a mixture of Dodge and Chevy drivers until we finally get to the first Ford qualifier. Mark Martin was the top Ford starter as he put his Roush Racing blue oval thirteenth on the starting grid.
Drop The Green Flag
Ryan Newman slid up the hill in turn one but the drivers around him gave a little extra space and everyone came through it cleanly. Newman managed to hang on and lead the first few laps as the drivers got in line.
Brian Vickers had a very fast horse early in the race and took over the top spot on lap 12. He was stretching that lead out when the first yellow flew for a minor spin. Vickers took four tires on the pit stop when others only took two. this caused him to drop back into the pack.
After they returned to green flag racing Jeff Burton took over the lead and controlled the rest of the early part of the race. Jeff Burton came into the race as the all-time winningest drivers at New Hampshire International Raceway with four NEXTEL Cup series wins.
Storylines
Tony Stewart was leading the race on lap 91 when Ryan Newman caught him on fresh tires to unlap himself. Newman dove under him and slid up, causing Tony to spin and hit the wall. Stewart and proven that he had a car capable of winning the race but that damage ruined his day.
On the ensuing restart pole sitter Ryan Newman found his own trouble. Newman had to check up in tight traffic and Michael Waltrip got into the back of him and spun Newman up the track where he also took on significant damage. Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon were also involved in the aftermath of that incident.
Another Chase driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., blew the motor and fell out of the race hurting his points position. Dale Jr. finished dead last in 43rd today.
Chasing The Checkers
Kenny Schrader crashed late in the race setting up the final green flag run to the checkers.
Kyle Busch restarted in first over Elliott Sadler and Denny Hamlin as there were just 29 laps to go. Kyle got a good restart and made good use of the clean air and clean racetrack to get away cleanly. It looked as if Kyle Busch was going to coast home easily for his first win of 2006.
Fuel mileage was a concern for some teams as some teams were cutting it very close on fuel. Then the yellow flew with two laps to go which set up an overtime green-white-checkers finish. Teams that were already low on fuel had a real problem as the race was going to go more than the scheduled 300 lap distance.
When the green flag flew Elliott Sadler ran out of gas and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas coming to the checkered flag. Kyle Busch stayed ahead of the mess and had enough fuel too hang on for the win.
Top Ten
- Kyle Busch
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Mark Martin
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Jeff Burton
- Kasey Kahne
- Jimmie Johnson
- Scott Riggs
The Points
Tony Stewart has been free-falling in the points and now finds himself in eleventh and not qualified for The Chase. Greg Biffle was able to move up one spot to take over the tenth and final Chase spot. There are only seven races left until the cutoff for The Chase as the top ten will be locked in.
The top ten in points are now:
- Jimmie Johnson -0
- Matt Kenseth -68
- Jeff Burton -311
- Kyle Busch -334
- Mark Martin -338
- Kasey Kahne -344
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -361
- Kevin Harvick -381
- Jeff Gordon -447
- Greg Biffle -447
Next Week
Pocono Raceway returns to center stage next week as the NEXTEL Cup stars return. Denny Hamlin picked up the win when we were last here. Will the rookie complete the sweep? Can Tony Stewart get his season back on track and muscle his way back into the top ten?
