Qualifying
Scott Riggs and Kasey Kahne took the top two starting spots as Dodge drivers swept the top four positions. Row two saw Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler starting third and fourth.
Kevin Harvick was the only non-Dodge driver in the top five as he put his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet fifth on the grid. Point leader Jeff Burton started along side his Childress teammate. Burton started on the outside of row three in sixth position.
Drop The Green Flag
Chaser Kasey Kahne lead the first lap as his teammate Scott Riggs helped him get his five bonus points for leading.
The completion of the first lap saw a big crash on the front stretch. Chaser Denny Hamlin was caught up in this wreck and saw his day ruined.
Immediately on the restart for this incident NASCAR somehow managed to wave the green flag while there were still safety vehicles on the track! This could have been a terrible error by NASCAR. Fortunately there was no additional wreck as some drivers accelerated while others heeded the caution. How did NASCAR make this mistake? Normally NASCAR does an excellent job. This was a rare mental mistake by NASCAR race control.
Storylines
NASCAR's solution to last year's tire fiasco was to bring a harder tire and to reduce the size of the fuel cell. These changes were intended to improve the racing and reduce the number of cautions. Tonight's race shows that NASCAR doesn't quite have the magic formula down.
The ultra-hard tires made the race difficult to drive and we saw four cautions in the first 47 laps of racing. Another contributing factor in these incidents is that all of the practice and qualifying sessions were held in the daytime. The green flag for the race was the first time that these drivers turned a lap in the cooler evening hours. NASCAR needs to take a look at this schedule for the 2007 event to get the drivers some practice time under the lights for this race.
Chasing The Checkers
When it came down to the end of the race Kasey Kahne was out front and there was little doubt that he had the best car. Jimmie Johnson had dominated Lowes Motor Speedway for the last couple of years but second place was all he could manage.
Kahne and Johnson repeated their 1-2 finish from May as Kasey Kahne completes the 2006 Lowes sweep and has become the new king of Lowes Motor Speedway.
Top Ten
- Kasey Kahne
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Burton
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Bobby Labonte
- Kyle Busch
- Tony Raines
- Carl Edwards
- Joe Nemechek
- Brian Vickers
The Points
Mark Martin was the point leader for a bit tonight but was caught up in a wreck. This incident cost Mark some points but since this was his first bad finish of The Chase it wasn't fatal to his championship dreams.
Jeff Burton posted another strong top five finish and extended his lead. Jeff is going to be tough to catch if he keeps this up for the last five races.
The top ten in points are now:
- Jeff Burton -0
- Matt Kenseth -45
- Kevin Harvick -89
- Mark Martin -102
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -106
- Denny Hamlin -137
- Jimmie Johnson -146
- Kasey Kahne -160
- Kyle Busch -195
- Jeff Gordon -216
Next Week
Next week the Chase For The Cup takes on the only short track in The Chase. The tight half mile race track at Martinsville Speedway will definitely feature some beating and banging as the drivers will spend all 500 laps in close quarters.
