Qualifying
Robert Yates Racing swept the front row as David Gilliland put his #38 on the pole. His teammate Dale Jarrett qualified second. Row two was made up of Hendrick Motorsports teammates and Cup Chasers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. The fifth starting spot went to Roush Racing's Greg Biffle.
Drop The Green Flag
When the green flag flew Dale Jarrett dropped down from the outside line to lead lap one. However he quickly got shuffled back as Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon traded the lead back and forth.
The smooth repaving job seemed to really help stabilize the cars. The drivers made it all the way to lap 72 before the first yellow flag flew. That incident was for a blown tire and not "The Big One."
Storylines
Talladega Superspeedway was repaved this summer. The new pavement is much smoother than the old surface. Before, the cars would bounce around as they went over the bumps. This would unsettle the cars and sometimes would even cause a wreck.
With the new surface drivers seemed to have much more control and this UAW-Ford 500 was a safer race because of it.
We still had "The Big One" as Jimmie Johnson got into the back of Carl Edwards causing him to wiggle and make contact. This triggered a multi-car wreck that damaged Chasers Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
This the story of restrictor plate racing. One car has to lift off the gas, then somewhere five or six cars behind him someone can't check up in time and the wreck is on. Maybe the "Car of Tomorrow" that NASCAR is working on will allow NASCAR to be done with the plates? We can only hope.
Chasing The Checkers
With 22 laps to go Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled low and took the lead with a strong three-wide move. What made this so impressive is that Dale Jr. made that pass without any drafting help! Clearly Jr. had a fast horse and was biding his time for most of the day.
The final restart came with just ten laps to go. Dale Jr. lead them to the green over Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and point leader Jeff Burton. On that final restart Jeff Burton pulled down out of line with a flat tire. This was a big event for the point standings.
On the backstretch of the final lap Jimmie Johnson got a run and pulled down to pass Earnhardt for the win. Johnson's teammate Brian Vickers pulled down to go with him but misjudged it. Vickers clipped Johnson and both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Junior wrecked.
The yellow flag flew and froze the field while Brian Vickers was still leading. This victory was Vickers' first in the NEXTEL Cup series. Unfortunately it was won on a mistake. The fans were brutal as Vickers tried to celebrate his first NEXTEL Cup win.
Emotions are running high now, but it is important to remember that this was clearly just a mistake. Vickers had no intention of wrecking his teammate or Earnhardt to take the win.
Top Ten
- Brian Vickers
- Kasey Kahne
- Kurt Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Green
- Mark Martin
- Carl Edwards
- Bobby Labonte
The Points
Jeff Burton's late race problems allowed his Chasers to cut into his point lead significantly. We now have a real battle on our hands as the top five drivers are only 51 points apart. This battle is going to come down to the wire.
The top ten in points are now:
- Jeff Burton -0
- Matt Kenseth -6
- Mark Martin -10
- Kevin Harvick -33
- Denny Hamlin -51
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -106
- Jeff Gordon -147
- Jimmie Johnson -156
- Kasey Kahne -185
- Kyle Busch -185
Next Week
Next week the NEXTEL Cup series heads back to Lowes Motor Speedway for the only night race in The Chase. This Saturday night shootout under the lights is in NASCAR's backyard. The majority of NASCAR teams are based in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Everybody wants to win at Lowes because all of the teams' friends and families are able to make it out to the race. The pressure is on as The Chase points have tightened dramatically.
