Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson were in danger of being forgotten in the Chase but a win for Busch and a second place effort for Johnson allowed them to vault back into Chase contention.
Qualifying
Parity was in full effect during qualifying. All four manufacturers were represented in the first four starting spots.
Martin Truex Jr. was the only driver to crack 159 MPH and put his Toyota on the pole. Kurt Busch was second quickest in his Dodge. Kurt missed the pole by just three one-thousandths of a second.
Paul Menard represented Chevrolet from the third starting spot while Carl Edwards put his Ford on the outside of row number two. Toyota doubled up in the top five with Kyle Busch rounding out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Martin Truex Jr. took the lead in turn one as the field quickly got into single-file running order.
Kurt Busch charged past on lap three and earned a bonus point for leading a lap. Busch remain out front through the first caution and through to the second caution on lap 20 as the rain started falling on Dover International Speedway.
The rain caution was brief and Kurt Busch continued to lead the rest of the early going. Kurt lead to the competition caution on lap 40 and continued to lead after the race returned to green flag racing until Carl Edwards got past for the top spot on lap 52.
The drivers settled in for a long run then with Edwards showing the way.
Storylines
Tony Stewart came into the 2011 AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway as the point leader after winning both of the first two Chase for the Cup races. Stewart just never got his car quite right and spent his day riding around deep in the field racing with fellow frustrated Chasers Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart ended the day nose to tail in 23rd, 24th and 25th positions. These three were the worst of all Chasers in Dover.
Chasing The Checkers
Jimmie Johnson was still out front when a late caution came to an end with 42 laps to go. However Kurt Busch got a huge run on the outside on that restart and took over the lead.
Kurt Busch held off Johnson on another restart just a few laps later when Jimmie Johnson appeared to spin his tires on the restart.
Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards battled for second down the stretch but nobody had anything for Kurt Busch in the closing laps. Kurt Busch was able to drive it home unchallenged and claim the win. Jimmie Johnson was able to hold off Carl Edwards for second as all three of these Chase drivers had a very good points day.
Top Ten
- Kurt Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Matt Kenseth
- Kyle Busch
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Clint Bowyer
- Marcos Ambrose
- Kevin Harvick
The Points
Three races into the 2011 Chase for the Cup and the points battle is as close as it can possibly be. Tony Stewart's strugges dropped him from the lead back to a tie for third in points.
At the top of the points Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards are tied for the lead with Stewart and Kurt Busch tied for third just nine points behind the leaders.
Kurt and Jimmie Johnson were the big winners on the day as both drivers leaped five positions up into the thick of the points battle. On the other side of the coin Jeff Gordon fell four spots to ninth.
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings:
- Kevin Harvick -0
- Carl Edwards -0
- Tony Stewart -9
- Kurt Busch -9
- Jimmie Johnson -13
- Brad Keselowski -14
- Matt Kenseth -14
- Kyle Busch -15
- Jeff Gordon -19
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -34
- Ryan Newman -41
- Denny Hamlin -68
