Qualifying
"Front Row Joe" Joe Nemechek put his U.S. Army car on the pole. Beside him, Jeff Gordon put his desperate championship hopes on the front row. Jeff started the day 13th in points, 67 markers behind tenth place and he is rapidly running out of time.
Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Saturday's Busch winner Ryan Newman rounded out the top five starting spots.
Drop The Green Flag
Nemechek lead the first few laps before Kasey Kahne took over the lead on lap four. Kyle Busch also took a long turn at the front during the early racing before Joe Nemechek reclaimed the top spot and stretched out a strong lead.
Unfortunately for Joe he cut a tire while leading on lap 73 and slapped the turn four wall. This effectively ended his chances for a good finish.
Storylines
Garbage seemed to be the big story of the race. Lots of hot dog wrappers and other loose paper was flying around in the breeze and getting stuck in the grills of the race cars. This caused lots of overheating problems and some unscheduled stops for teams to clean the grill to let the air in.
This often seems to be a problem at Michigan and its sister track California. Both of those big two-mile ovals seem to have the same type of trash problems. I don't know what the solution is for this but it is a shame to have a small piece of garbage from a fan ruin a good run.
Once again tire problems were also big factor in the race. It was unusual this time in that left rear tires seemed to be the problem instead of right front or right rears which had been causing trouble earlier in the season.
Goodyear needs to get this fixed. There is no tire competition in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing so they don't need to try to make them fast. They just need to worry about making them safe. There is no reason that Goodyear can't bring a tire every week that is sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of racing.
Chasing The Checkers
On the last yellow the Roush drivers of Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards were leading but opted to stay out when the rest of the pack pitted. The drivers that pitted were very close on fuel, the drivers that didn't definitely had to pit. Personally I think that the Roush drivers made a mistake in not pitting under caution with the rest of the field.
Once again a race at Michigan International Speedway would come down to fuel mileage and pit strategy. With only four races to go until the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup the teams in the points battle had to play it safe and pit. The teams that have struggled this season were making the gamble.
With only three laps to go Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs were gambling on fuel and leading while Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards were trying to make up for their strategic error. Mayfield had enough fuel to pay off on his gamble and took the win.
Top Ten
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Scott Riggs
- Matt Kenseth
- Carl Edwards
- Tony Stewart
- Greg Biffle
- Kurt Busch
- Joe Nemechek
- Brian Vickers
- Jimmie Johnson
The Points
Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have now clinched a spot in The Chase. At the same time everyone from Casey Mears in 23rd on back is now mathematically eliminated from the 2005 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. Other eliminated drivers include Bobby Labonte, Ricky Rudd and Sterling Marlin.
The top ten remained the same with two position swaps as Mayfield moved ahead of Kurt Busch for sixth and Carl Edwards got by Jamie McMurray for ninth.
- Tony Stewart -0
- Jimmie Johnson -126
- Greg Biffle -252
- Rusty Wallace -289
- Mark Martin -369
- Jeremy Mayfield -399
- Kurt Busch -420
- Ryan Newman -495
- Carl Edwards -510
- Jamie McMurray -566
Next Week
Next Saturday night is the Saturday night shootout under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway. This is short track battle can bite you in an instant as there is barely room for 43 cars on the high-banked half mile. Tempers grow short as drivers battle for position all night long. This is the race of the year and not to be missed.
