Qualifying
Joe Gibbs Racing's J.J. Yeley took the first pole position of his career. Jimmie Johnson started second in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch rolled off in third. Busch was in the news this week as the odd man out at Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle needs a new ride for next year since he has been forced out of the #5 ride in order to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick.
Ryan Newman started fourth in his Penske Racing Dodge. Joe Nemechek's Ginn Racing Chevy rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Jimmie Johnson jumped out to the early lead as pole sitter J.J. Yeley fell all the way back to sixth on lap one. Martin Truex Jr. took over the top spot on lap ten. The early going was clean and green. The drivers settled into their rhythm on the wide 2-mile speedway.
Storylines
Some of today's favorites had problems while running up front. Ryan Newman had a flat tire early in the race. By the time they got him in and fixed he returned to the race three laps down. Then Newman spun in front of the pack and Martin Truex Jr. was collected along with half a dozen others. Truex had lead over half of the race up to that point but was left with some work to do to get back to the front.
Pit road also claimed a number of victims today. Carl Edwards was caught speeding on pit road. That dropped him to the back from a strong top ten run. Denny Hamlin was in the top five when his car fell off the jack on pit road. That lengthy stop cost him a lot of positions on the race track.
Today in Michigan two of these typically fatal mistakes didn't turn out to be so bad.
Chasing The Checkers
Like many Michigan races this one ended up as a fuel mileage race. Jimmie Johnson was leading and taking it easy to save fuel when Carl Edwards raced back past him with 35 laps to go. Johnson ran out of gas on the track with seven laps to go and limped to pit road under green. Johnson finished 19th.
Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. both had enough gas and were running one two at the finish. Both drivers overcame early problems to post great finishes.
This was Carl Edwards' first win since 2005.
Top Ten
- Carl Edwards
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Tony Stewart
- Casey Mears
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Kevin Harvick
- Jamie McMurray
- Jeff Gordon
- Michael Waltrip
The Points
Once again Jeff Gordon posted a top ten finish and maintained the point lead.
Dale Earnhardt Junior's top five finish moved him up into the top twelve in points. Junior replaced Mark Martin in The Chase.
The top twelve are now:
- Jeff Gordon -0
- Denny Hamlin -264
- Jimmie Johnson -337
- Matt Kenseth -348
- Jeff Burton -473
- Carl Edwards -487
- Tony Stewart -489
- Kevin Harvick -598
- Clint Bowyer -618
- Martin Truex Jr. -620
- Kyle Busch -629
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -701
Next Week
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup stars will have to turn right next week as they visit their first road course of the season. The twisting Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California will host the series next Sunday afternoon.
