Tony Stewart Beats Chasers For Kansas Win

Kansas Speedway didn't provide many surprises today as ten Chasers filled the top eleven positions at the checkers. When it was all said and done Tony Stewart stood in Victory Lane and there were very few changes in the 2009 Chase point standings.

Qualifying

Mark Martin came into Kansas as the point leader and posted the quickest time in qualifying to claim the pole. NASCAR's Most Popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. started second.

Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray made up row number two and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.

Drop Of The Green

The early laps in Kansas were a mess. Mark Martin lead lap one but the first caution came shortly after when Joey Logano spun off of turn two. The green flag had barely flown once again when there was a four-car melee again in turn two.

They settled down after that second incident and started to put some laps on the board. Dale Earnhardt Jr. got past Mark Martin on the second restart and maintained the top spot for much of the early going.

Storylines

Kansas Speedway is not normally a race track that provides a lot of surprises and today was no different. Ten of the twelve Chasers finished in the top eleven in the race.

The two Chasers that were not at the front when the checkers flew were Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers. Newman ended up 22nd. Brian Vickers had all kinds of trouble including a spin and a blown engine and finished 37th.

Chasing The Checkers

Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson took two tires for the final restart with 26 laps to go. Greg Biffle in fourth was the first car with four fresh tires.

Stewart chose the outside lane and got a huge jump on the restart. Jeff Gordon made his way to second place and was chipping away on Stewart's lead. He ran out of time as the checkered flag flew giving Stewart his first Chase win of 2009.

Top Ten

1. Tony Stewart
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Greg Biffle
4. Juan Montoya
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Mark Martin
8. David Reutimann
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Carl Edwards

The Points

With most of the Chasers finishing at the front of the field there were no big moves in the points. Mark Martin continues to lead the 2009 Chase for the Cup ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya.

The top twelve are now:

1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson -18
3. Juan Montoya -51
4. Tony Stewart -67
5. Kurt Busch -91
6. Denny Hamlin -99
7. Jeff Gordon -103
8. Greg Biffle -114
9. Ryan Newman -164
10. Carl Edwards -165
11. Kasey Kahne -190
12. Brian Vickers -250