Qualifying
Chevy drivers dominated qualifying as Hendrick Motorsports drivers swept the top four starting spots. Jeff Gordon and Jimmmie Johnson swept the front row with Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. lined up behind them in row number two.
Paul Menard's Chevrolet rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
When the green flag flew the Hendrick teammates immediately executed their pre-race plan and hooked up to take the early lead with Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin moving to the front. The held the lead for a few laps before restrictor plate racing kicked in and the lead changed hands many times.
They stayed green until lap 28 when Brian Vickers crashed on the backstretch after Kurt Busch turned Landon Cassill down into him. The field scattered around Vickers' car and they avoided "The Big One," this time.
Storylines
On lap 90 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was caught up in a big mess with Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose crashed. For the second time today Kurt Busch turned the driver he was pushing, caused a wreck and drove away. This time Busch's own teammate Keselowski was the victim while earlier in the race it was Landon Cassill.
In the closing laps Kurt spun out Dave Blaney as well but Blaney saved it and didn't bring out a caution that time.
I'm not sure that Kurt Busch quite has a handle on this new two-by-two style of restrictor plate racing.
Chasing The Checkers
The final restart came with eleven laps to go. After lounging all day at the back Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin returned to the lead. Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were also near the front along with Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The lead continued to swap every lap as they came to the white flagwith Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin back out front.
clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick went to the top and Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to the bottom. They came to the checkered flag three wide for the win.
Jimmie Johnson nipped Bowyer for the win by .002 seconds (about 4 inches). Wow. This was an incredible finish and tied the all-time record for closest finish in NASCAR history.
Top Ten
- Jimmie Johnson
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Gordon
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Mark Martin
- David Gilliland
- Joey Logano
The Points
Carl Edwards posted a solid sixth place finish and maintained the point lead.
Clint Bowyer found his way into the top ten as he replaced Tony Stewart who fell back one spot out of the Chase.
The Unofficial 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings:
- Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson -5
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -19
- Kevin Harvick -27
- Kurt Busch -27
- Kyle Busch -38
- Ryan Newman -41
- Matt Kenseth -43
- Juan Pablo Montoya -49
- Clint Bowyer -50
