Qualifying
Dodge drivers captured three of the top five spots in Phoenix. Ryan Newman sat on the pole in his Penske Dodge. The outside of the front row went to Elliott Sadler's Gillette Evernham Dodge.
Row number two went to Carl Edwards's Ford while Mark Martin started on the outside if row two in a Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevy.
Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five in another Gillette Evernham Dodge.
Drop Of The Green
We missed the actual green flag but Ryan Newman had a couple of carlengths on second place Carl Edwards when they completed lap one.
The first caution flew on lap eleven. Newman and Edwards battled side-by-side on the restart before Newman in the outside lane was able to get clear. Newman's joy was short lived as Jimmie Johnson was able to get past them both and set sail to a comfortable early lead.
Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch,and Mark Martin were all fast in the early going.
Storylines
Fox had a tough decision on their hands. Because of a rain delay at Fenway Park the end of the Yankees - Red Sox game cut into the NASCAR pre-race show. As the start of the race loomed as still showing the ninth inning of baseball.
The Yankees were batting in the top of the ninth. They were down by one run with two outs and a full count to Robinson Cano. Without warning they quickly cut back to NASCAR, but they had already missed the green flag.
This decision by Fox sports makes no one happy. They didn't stay with baseball long enough to determine the winner and they didn't cut away quickly enough to catch the start of the race. This was the worst of all possible decisions by the executives at Fox Sports. Fox should either have finished the baseball game or switched back to NASCAR early enough to see the start.
Chasing The Checkers
With 40 laps and one more pitstop remaining Dale Earnhardt Jr. held onto a narrow lead over Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. The handling went away on the 88 and Junior gave up the lead to Mark Martin who drives Junior's former #8.
Fuel mileage played a big role as the race winded down towards the finish. Mark Martin pitted from the lead for two tires and gas with ten laps to go. That handed the lead to Jimmie Johnson. Would Johnson try to make it to the end without stopping?
Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton were the top three with five laps to go. Johnson had a massive ten second lead and was able to back way off the throttle and nurse his fuel all the way to the finish.
Top Ten
- Jimmie Johnson
- Clint Bowyer
- Denny Hamlin
- Carl Edwards
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Burton
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Kyle Busch
The Points
Point leader Jeff Burton posted another 2008 top ten finish and maintained his point lead. Kyle Busch moved up to second place as Kevin Harvick fell all the way to fifth in points.
The top twelve are now:
- Jeff Burton
- Kyle Busch -80
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -86
- Jimmie Johnson -99
- Kevin Harvick -103
- Tony Stewart -137
- Denny Hamlin -137
- Clint Bowyer -171
- Carl Edwards -174
- Greg Biffle -176
- Kasey Kahne -286
- Ryan Newman -300
Next Week
The Sprint Cup series has next weekend off. They will return to the track in two weeks as the Sprint Cup stars will visit the massive Talladega Superspeedway on April 27th.
This will be the second restrictor plate race of the year. Can Ryan Newman back up his Daytona win with another restrictor plate victory?
