Kasey Kahne sat on the pole and was near the front most of the day. His Ray Evernham owned team got him out of the pits first when it counted most and Kasey Kahne was out front when the red flag flew handing him the win.
Qualifying
Jack Roush dominated Michigan last year with his Fords. This year there were no Fords at all in the top five qualifying spots. Kasey Kahne put his Evernham Dodge on the pole. The next three spots were the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers and Jimmie Johnson. Finally, Bobby Labonte rounded out the top five in his Petty Enterprises Dodge.
The top Ford qualifier was Mark Martin who rolled off eighth.
Drop The Green Flag
Rain showers delayed the start of the race by about 45 minutes. When they finally got underway they only made it to lap three before Robby Gordon lost the handle and spun. Jeff Gordon then took the early lead after Kasey Kahne lead lap one.
Big news came early in the race as Tony Stewart got clipped by Jeff Green on lap 23 and hit the wall firmly down in turn three. Tony is still recovering from breaking his shoulderblade in Charlotte a few weeks ago. Tony is ok after the wreck but the bad finish wasn't good for his points standing.
Last year the entire race saw only four caution flags all day long. Today the fourth yellow came on lap 31. This was shaping up to be a very different kind of Michigan race. Finally they settled in and got to racing as Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were the class of the field early in the race.
Storylines
The threat of rain hung around all day long. In addition to the 45 minute delay on the start there were two yellow flags for rain showers early in the race. The radar showed a serious rain system headed towards the track. This caused a lot of strategy calls as teams tried to time the weather and stay out on old tires to get to the front.
It seemed certain that the race would not make it the full 400 mile distance. The remaining question was when exactly the rain would come and who would be out front when the race was called.
Chasing The Checkers
We were deprived of a battle to the checkers because Mother Nature took over for good on lap 125. The red flag finally flew on lap 130 ending the race and handing the win to Kasey Kahne.
Top Ten
- Kasey Kahne
- Carl Edwards
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Reed Sorenson
- Jimmie Johnson
- Casey Mears
- Jeff Gordon
- Kurt Busch
- Kevin Harvick
The Points
Jimmie Johnson continues to lead over Matt Kenseth. Kasey Kahne's win moved him up two spots to third overall. Tony Stewart's crash cost him two spots in the points as he fell to sixth.
Greg Biffle had another strong run today and has climbed up into the top ten in points. Kyle Busch was bumped from the top ten and fell all the way to 12th overall, behind Jeff Gordon who is just eleven points out of the top ten.
The top ten in points are now:
- Jimmie Johnson -0
- Matt Kenseth -74
- Kasey Kahne -244
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -275
- Mark Martin -306
- Tony Stewart -367
- Jeff Burton -407
- Kevin Harvick -446
- Denny Hamlin -486
- Greg Biffle -488
Next Week
The first road race of the year is on tap for next week. The NEXTEL Cup drivers will need to turn right to be fast on the winding road circuit at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.
