Qualifying
Kurt Busch was fastest in qualifying in his Penkse Dodge with Juan Montoya starting along side in second. Kurt's little Brother Kyle Busch rolled off on the inside of row two while Brian Vickers qualified fourth. Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Kurt Busch and Juan Montoya battled on lap one with Montoya beating him back to the line. Kyle Busch made his move on lap two and took over the top spot until Montoya took it back on lap nine.
Ten laps later Kurt Busch got around Montoya for the lead. Kurt continued to lead the rest of the early going as this race stayed green through the first round of pit stops.
Storylines
The biggest story of the weekend didn't happen during the Sprint Cup race. In fact, it didn't happen during any race.
After the Camping World Truck Series race Richard Childress apparently had Kyle Busch in a headlock and some punches were thrown. Witnesses say that the 65 year old Childress hit him three times and Kyle did not fight back.
Team owner Childress had warned Kyle Busch that if he hit any more of his cars he was going to teach him a lesson. During the truck race RCR rookie Joey Coulter passed Kyle on the last lap.
After the race Kyle pulled up beside Coulter and sideswipped him. Apparently this was the last straw for Childress.
NASCAR did not allow Richard Childress to be on pit road during Sunday's race and I expect that there will be more penalties handed out later this week. NASCAR was not at all pleased with Childress' actions.
Chasing The Checkers
Kurt Busch lead over half of the race and had a huge lead over Jeff Gordon as the laps were winding down. This race was set up as a fuel mileage battle.
Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were running side-by-side for third and fourth with ten laps to go. Both drivers had plenty of fuel when Kurt Busch gave up the lead to hit pit road for fuel.
Busch's pit stop left the lead for Brad Keselowski as Earnhardt completed the pass on Hamlin for second. Keselowski was in the hot seat now pushing his fuel mileage to the limit, actually shutting the car off on the straightaway to save a few ounces of gas.
Keselowski's motor was still running as he took the white flag and he was able to nurse it back around to the checkers for the win.
Top Ten
- Brad Keselowski
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Jeff Gordon
- Carl Edwards
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Tony Stewart
- Kurt Busch
- Greg Biffle
The Points
Carl Edwards' maintained the lead while Jimmie Johnson regained second with his second place finish. No new drivers cracked the top ten.
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings:
- Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson -40
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -41
- Kevin Harvick -43
- Kyle Busch -60
- Kurt Busch -71
- Matt Kenseth -73
- Tony Stewart -92
- Clint Bowyer -94
- Ryan Newman -103
