Chase drivers were the story this week. Six of the Chase contenders had problems tonight. Some were tripped up by their teams, some by their equipment and some tripped themselves.
Qualifying
Chevrolet topped qualifying as Martin Truex Jr. sat on the pole. Kasey Kahne started second in his Budweiser Dodge.
The second row was all Hendrick Chevrolets with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon qualified third and fourth. Kyle Busch rounded out the top five in his Toyota.
Drop Of The Green
When the green flag flew the inside line moved first and Martin Truex Jr. lead Kasey Kahne on lap one.
The racing was clean and green early on as drivers were strugling with the handle on their cars. Loose seemed to be the order of the day. Many drivers were doing all they could to simply not wreck.
Martin Truex Jr. lead the early going ahead of Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers.
Storylines
The Race to the Chase is coming to a close. Only Richmond remains before the top twelve in points are locked into the 2009 Championship battle known as the Chase for the Cup.
Many Chase contenders struggled tonight in Atlanta. Tony Stewart had an issue with his crew as they had a lug problem on pit road and Tony had to pit again to correct it.
Some had mechanical problems. Jimmie Johnson had an axle issue and spent some time in the garage repairing it. Brian Vickers also had an axle problem but fixed his on pit road. Carl Edwards went to the garage early in the race and returned more than 20 laps down.
A couple other Chase contenders had self-inflicted issues. Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth both found their way into the wall during the race. Kenseth was able to recover for a decent finish but Kurt went to the garage.
For these Chase contenders the hope is that their bad luck ends here. Once the Chase begins there is no room for errors if you want to win the 2008 Sprint Cup title.
Chasing The Checkers
With 25 laps to go Juan Pablo Montoya was out front but Kevin Harvick was closing in on his bumper. Montoya was up top and Harvick was working the bottom. Harvick made the pass under Montoya with twenty laps to go but a yellow flag four laps later set up a short sprint to the checkers.
When they restarted with eleven laps to go Harvick was the leader and chose the outside lane. Kasey Kahne was on the inside. David Reutimann and Juan Montoya made up the second row.
Harvick got a good restart but Kahne came like a rocket on the bottom and took the lead into turn three. Kahne, Harvick and Montoya were the top three with ten to go and it would stay like that through the checkered flag.
Top Ten
- Kasey Kahne
- Kevin Harvick
- Juan Montoya
- David Reutimann
- Mark Martin
- Denny Hamlin
- Brian Vickers
- Jeff Gordon
- Ryan Newman
- Greg Biffle
The Points
Kahne's big Atlanta win jumped him up five spots in the point standings to sixth. He will be able to breathe a little easier next weekend in Richmond as he has a 96 point lead on thirteenth place Brian Vickers.
At the bottom of the top twelve Matt Kenseth finds himself on the bubble just twenty points ahead of Vickers with one race remaining before the Chase.
The top twelve are now:
- Tony Stewart
- Jeff Gordon -237
- Jimmie Johnson -290
- Denny Hamlin -398
- Carl Edwards -532
- Kasey Kahne -541
- Kurt Busch -542
- Juan Montoya -549
- Ryan Newman -556
- Mark Martin -568
- Greg Biffle -569
- Matt Kenseth -617
