Qualifying
Two of the contenders in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup cracked the top five in qualifying as Tony Stewart showed strength in qualifying to take the pole. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr are looking to salvage a disappointing season and qualified second and third. Chaser Matt Kenseth started fourth and Scott Riggs rounds out the top five starters.
Drop The Green Flag
Big news right off the bat as Scott Riggs got loose and took out Kurt Busch on lap 2. Last year Busch won the Championship with 9 top tens and one bad finish so he's still not out if it, but it's a tough haul to the top from where he is now. For as upset as Kurt was, he handled the press exceptionally well. That was a tough situation and Kurt did a really nice job of getting his point across without crossing the line.
After they settled down Tony Stewart established himself at the front of the pack and easily dominated the early portion of the race.
Storylines
One third of the ten Chasers had an eventful afternoon. After Kurt Busch's problem teammate and fellow Chaser Matt Kenseth had a problem during his pit stop under caution and dropped to the back of the pack. Rusty Wallace pitted outside of his pit stall and incurred a one lap penalty. Both drivers had a real scare there but were able to recover for top ten finishes.
There were a lot of tempers evident on the track today. Kasey Kahne and Robby Gordon were victims of racing incidents but let their frustration show through. Kahne hit Kyle Busch under caution and Robby Gordon threw his helmet at Michael Waltrip.
Robby followed up his incident by calling Michael "a piece of s#%&" on national television. Robby's use of the word was much more offensive than when Dale Jr said "it don't mean s#%&" about winning Talladega last year. Lets see how NASCAR handles this incident when penalties are announced next week.
Chasing The Checkers
Ryan Newman gambled on pit strategy and had the lead over Tony Stewart with 75 laps to go. However, Ryan had to make a green flag pit stop with 63 laps to go and that handed the lead back to Tony.
A late caution changed everything and Ryan Newman had the lead on the restart with Tony Stewart hot on his bumper as only 18 laps remained. Tony had the faster car but was having a hard time getting around Stewart.
With eight laps to go Tony dove under Newman, slid up just enough to get his car hooked up and took the lead. Newman got back past him with two laps to go and held on for the win. This was some of the best racing that New Hampshire International Speedway has ever seen in a NEXTEL Cup race.
Top Ten
- Ryan Newman
- Tony Stewart
- Matt Kenseth
- Greg Biffle
- Dale Earnhardt Jr
- Rusty Wallace
- Mark Martin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Burton
- Kevin Harvick
The Points
Seven of the ten Chase contenders finished in the top ten. Jeremy Mayfield and Carl Edwards finished in the teens. Only Kurt Busch really had a disappointing day with his lap two wreck and resulting 35th place finish.
When Kurt Busch won the title in 2004 he had nine top tens (mostly top fives) and one 42nd place finish over the last ten Chase races. Consistent top tens are what you need to win it all. Seven of the top ten are off to a good start.
The Chase points are now:
- Tony Stewart -0
- Greg Biffle -20
- Ryan Newman -40
- Rusty Wallace -40
- Matt Kenseth -50
- Jimmie Johnson -53
- Mark Martin -54
- Jeremy Mayfield -95
- Carl Edwards -109
- Kurt Busch -142
Next Week
Next week the NEXTEL Cup circus invades Dover Delaware as the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup continues with race two of ten. Dover is a high banked concrete one-mile oval that saw Greg Biffle win there in June of this year.
