Qualifying
Matt Kenseth made a strong case during qualifying as he put his Roush Racing Ford on the pole. Elliott Sadler qualified on the outside of the front row.
Jeff Gordon and Scott Wimmer made up row number two and Matt Kenseth's teammate and fellow Chaser Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Drop The Green Flag
As the race got underway Matt Kenseth slipped away to a comfortable lead. Once again the Roush brigade made a strong showing early as the Roush Racing team held down the top four spots for a while after the first round of stops.
Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch were all running well in the early going.
Storylines
On lap 16 Dale Earnhardt Jr. touched the apron and got up into Brandon Ash. That wreck collected a number of others including Ryan Newman who came into the race second in points, just four points off the lead. While this is a huge setback for his title hopes it is not a fatal blow.
Kurt Busch, already a victim of bad luck in the first two Chase races continued his frustrating Chase as he had a flat tire during green flag racing. This stop knocked him off the lead lap.
When the halfway point came both Newman and Busch had made it back onto the lead lap. Neither finished as badly as they might have but neither driver was able to make it back to the top ten.
Chasing The Checkers
Mark Martin had lead the most laps during the race and had a comfortable lead when it came down to the end. His teammate Greg Biffle started to close the gap and really put the heat on over the last 25 laps. Mark was able to hold on to score the 35th NEXTEL Cup win of his career.
This was a great win for a sentimental favorite at the end of what may be his last NEXTEL Cup season.
Top Ten
- Mark Martin
- Greg Biffle
- Carl Edwards
- Tony Stewart
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Rusty Wallace
- Casey Mears
- Ricky Rudd
- Jeff Gordon
The Points
Consistent top tens is what it is all about and so far only Tony Stewart has been able to accomplish that in 2005. Tony now enjoys a 75 point lead over Ryan Newman.
The Chase points are now:
- Tony Stewart -0
- Ryan Newman -75
- Greg Biffle -88
- Rusty Wallace -90
- Jimmie Johnson -92
- Carl Edwards -95
- Mark Martin -113
- Matt Kenseth -116
- Jeremy Mayfield -157
- Kurt Busch -224
Next Week
Lowes Motor Speedway hosts the only night race in The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup next week. The NEXTEL Cup drivers return to the heart of NASCAR country for a Saturday night race on their home track. In May Jimmie Johnson was able to dominate on this race track but all of the Chasers run well at Lowes.
