After they settled in this became a typical Michigan race. There were long green flag runs and Matt Kenseth was able to dominate. Matt coasted home to take the convincing win and solidify his spot in The Chase.
Qualifying
Jeff Burton continued the Richard Childress resurgence with a strong pole qualifying run.
Elliott Sadler started second in his first drive ever in the Ray Evernham #19. Sadler replaced Jeremy Mayfield this week as he was going to leave Robert Yates Racing at the end of the season anyway. David Gilliland took over the #38 Yates ride for this week, and for the foreseeable future.
Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman started on the front row. These two drivers have dominated Michigan racing for the last couple of years but don't have the long list of wins to show for it.
Last week's winner Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five qualifiers.
Drop The Green Flag
As the green flag flew they were four wide in turn two of the first lap. Ryan Newman went way up top from his fourth starting spot to lead lap one.
Also on lap one point leader Jimmie Johnson got loose and slapped the wall. There was no caution and Johnson went a lap down getting it fixed. Robby Gordon crashed right after that bringing out the yellow and Jimmie Johnson got the Lucky Dog free pass.
Whew, this race started out with lots of excitement.
When they went back to racing Matt Kenseth got past Newman for the lead and dominated the early portion of the race.
Storylines
As The Race to The Chase winds down four drivers in the top ten in points had problems early in the race. Two drivers were stuck with bad finishes while two were able to rebound for solid finishes.
Jeff Burton had motor trouble and ended up 42nd. Burton dropped five spots in the points to ninth. Kyle Busch also hit the wall early with a flat tire but his car was damaged too badly to salvage a good finish. Kyle ended up finishing 39th.
Point leader Jimmie Johnson hit the wall but recovered to finish 19th. Kevin Harvick spun attempting to pass for the lead but had a fast enough car to bounce back for an eleventh place finish.
Chasing The Checkers
Much like June Matt Kenseth had the car to beat for most of the day. With twenty laps to go Kenseth had a healthy lead.
Jeff Gordon had a fast car and was closing the gap but there just wasn't enough time.
Top Ten
- Matt Kenseth
- Jeff Gordon
- Tony Stewart
- Kasey Kahne
- Mark Martin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Reed Sorenson
- Denny Hamlin
- Elliott Sadler
The Points
Matt Kenseth closed up a little on Jimmie Johnson. Those two have pretty well solidified the top two spots going into The Chase. The specific order doesn't matter much.
At the back of the top ten no new drivers cracked the Chase spots. Kasey Kahne gained a little bit in his quest to catch Dale Earnhardt Jr for tenth, but just a very few points.
The top ten in points are now:
- Jimmie Johnson -0
- Matt Kenseth -58
- Kevin Harvick -317
- Mark Martin -395
- Tony Stewart -406
- Jeff Gordon -434
- Kyle Busch -443
- Denny Hamlin -445
- Jeff Burton -449
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -484
Next Week
Bristol Motor Speedway is up next week. This Tennessee short track features some of the most exciting racing on the entire NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. Bristol is a high-banked half-mile oval with hot racing and overheated tempers. August in Bristol is the toughest ticket in all of NASCAR. Strap in! This is going to be a good one.
