The racing was tight and pit strategy had a lot to do with the outcome. For all the hype it was good to see that Bristol was not greatly affected by the new car.
Qualifying
Five time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon scored the first pole for the Chevy Impala SS Car of Tomorrow. Kasey Kahne was on the outside in his Dodge Avenger. Kasey's Evernham Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler rolled off third. Tony Stewart was fourth quick in qualifying. The top Ford in qualifying was fifth place Jamie McMurray.
Drop The Green Flag
Jeff Gordon jumped out to the early lead as the entire field got into singe-file order very quickly. Tony Stewart charged to the front and took over the top stop on lap seven.
Tony Stewart had them covered for the first couple hundred laps before a fuel pump issue dropped him from the lead and into the pits. Tony returned 23 laps down and was never a factor again.
Storylines
Today's race was all about the Car of Tomorrow. This was the first race ever for NASCAR's new body style. Instead of Chevrolet Monte Carlos and Dodge Chargers we now have the Chevy Impala SS and the Dodge Avenger. Big wings replaced the old rear spoiler, the car looks a lot boxier and there is a new air splitter hanging under the front bumper. Many people's first reaction is that it looks like a truck.
Fortunately the new car didn't seem to affect the racing much. The cars look a bit different but Bristol was still Bristol.
Chasing The Checkers
Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton were the top three for the final green-white-checkers restart. Busch was on old tires while the other two had recently stopped for fresh rubber.
Jeff Burton jumped to the outside on the restart and got second from Gordon. Then he tracked down Busch as the white flag flew.
Jeff Burton then got under Kyle Busch for the win as the two went up the backstretch on the last lap but raced him clean to the finish. Kyle was on the outside as the two charged to the checkers. Busch was able to hang on by half a car length to claim the win.
Kudos to Burton for not putting a bumper on Busch and taking the win. There are a lot of other drivers out there that would have taken the win by force.
This was the first win for the Chevy Impala since Wendell Scott won on December 1st, 1963.
Race winner Kyle Busch was still not a fan of the new Car of Tomorrow. Even in Victory Lane Kyle Busch said that he "can't stand to drive these things" and "They suck." Wow Kyle, don't hold back. What do you really think?
Top Ten
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Burton
- Jeff Gordon
- Kevin Harvick
- Greg Biffle
- Jeff Green
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
- Jamie McMurray
- Casey Mears
The Points
Point leader Mark Martin skipped Bristol as he had originally planned. This left the door open for Jeff Gordon to take over the point lead with a solid finish. Gordon finished third and took over the lead.
The top twelve in points are now:
- Jeff Gordon -0
- Jeff Burton -3
- Jimmie Johnson -75
- Matt Kenseth -94
- Kevin Harvick -144
- Kyle Busch -152
- Mark Martin -162
- Clint Bowyer -170
- Denny Hamlin -185
- Carl Edwards -193
- David Stremme -204
- Tony Stewart -216
Next Week
Next week NASCAR's new car (the Car of Tomorrow) returns as the NEXTEL Cup series heads to the shortest of short tracks. Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Martinsville is a relatively flat half-mile paperclip-shaped race track where bumping and grinding is the order of the day. This will be another test of the bumpers on the Car of Tomorrow.
