Qualifying
Ryan Newman set the fastest time in qualifying in his Penske Dodge. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second quick in his Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevy. Row number two saw a pair of Dodge Chargers as Bobby Labonte and Kasey Kahne started third and fourth. Carl Edwards rounded out the top five in his Roush-Fenway Ford.
Storylines
Kurt Busch was parked by NASCAR after a run in with Tony Stewart. While battling for position Kurt slid up in front of Stewart but Stewart didn't give him any room at all. They touched and both cars hit the frontstretch wall ruining both drivers' chances of winning.
Kurt was obviously unhappy with Tony Stewart and pulled along side Tony on pit road to express his displeasure. However when Kurt pulled up next to Tony there was a crew member standing beside Tony's car looking at the damage. This crewman was nearly hit by Kurt's car.
Kurt's dangerous driving on pit road and exceptionally poor judgement got him parked by NASCAR. Kurt was also invited to the "Oval Office" where NASCAR officials were not happy with him. You can assume that Kurt will receive some more penalties when they are announced on Tuesday.
Chasing The Checkers
The final caution flag flew with less than fifty laps to go. The top five stayed out while the rest of the lead lap cars all came to pit road for four tires and some final adjustments. This split pit strategy set up a great battle to the finish.
Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer had been the class of the field and were looking like the drivers to beat. They restarted in that order when the green flag flew with forty laps to go. The drivers on fresh tires hoped to be a factor before this race found the checkers.
Martin Truex Jr. got clear of traffic when the green flag flew and put some daylight between him and his pursuers. The drivers who had fresh tires couldn't get through traffic and Truex was able to cruise home for the first win of his NEXTEL Cup career.
Top Ten
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Denny Hamlin
- Matt Kenseth
- Greg Biffle
- Mark Martin
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Gordon
- Robby Gordon
The Points
Jeff Gordon posted another top ten finish and maintained the point lead. The top five all remained the same.
At the back of The Chase Mark Martin moved into twelfth in points and now holds down the final Chase qualifying spot. This is remarkable since Mark has done it while running only ten races while the rest of the competitors around him have competed in all thirteen NEXTEL Cup events.
The top twelve are now:
- Jeff Gordon -0
- Jimmie Johnson -152
- Matt Kenseth -190
- Denny Hamlin -217
- Jeff Burton -355
- Carl Edwards -475
- Tony Stewart -486
- Clint Bowyer -534
- Kevin Harvick -541
- Kyle Busch -588
- Kurt Busch -620
- Mark Martin -624
Next Week
Next week the NEXTEL Cup stars visit Long Pond, PA where the 2 1/2 mile tricky triangle called Pocono Raceway awaits. The triangle-shaped track has three different corner lengths and banking making it very difficult to set up a car and to drive well. Pocono is, in a word, unique. As difficult as it is to set up and drive Pocono frequently hosts some great racing with races often decided within the last couple of laps.
