Bristol Motor Speedway is a half mile high banked concrete speedway. So when you put 43 cars on the track, the winner is likely to be the one who stays out of trouble. Because everybody is going to bang into somebody at some point and there might even be a fight after the race because tempers will boil over. Friday's qualifying for the Food City 500 was rained out so the qualifying order was set by 2005 Nextel Cup owner points. Tony Stewart-#20 Home Depot Chevy was on the pole.
Points leader Jimmy Johnson-#48 Lowe's Chevy had a flat tire on the first lap. After an unscheduled pit stop, he was a couple of laps down. Later on Johnson tangled with Matt Kenseth-#17 USG Sheetrock Ford and smacked the wall. This knocked Johnson's car out of alignment and killed his day. He finished 30th. Greg Biffle-#16 Subway Ford & Kurt Busch-#2 Miller Lite Dodge also had tire problems but both were able to rebound.
The end of the race was a battle between Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth & Kevin Harvick-#29 GM Goodwrench Chevy. Kenseth had the lead and Busch bumped him with five laps left to take the lead. Harvick passed Kenseth for second and was gaining on Busch when the checkered flag flew and Kurt Busch won the race.
So who got mad? Jeff Gordon-#24 Dupont Chevy was running fourth. He bumped Kenseth to take third place. Kenseth retaliated on the final lap and spun Gordon out. Gordon finished 21st. After the race, when Kenseth tried to explain himself to Gordon, Gordon pushed him. Kenseth admitted in an interview that he probably should have waited until Gordon cooled off. Both guys were called to the NASCAR trailer and will likely be fined.
Congratulations to Kurt Busch, crew chief Roy McCauley & car owner Roger Penske for the victory. Matt Kenseth now leads the points. Congratulations to Bobby Labonte for a big top five finish that should get him in the top 35 in points and locked into the field. He needed that finish. Here's the top ten in today's race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.2/Kurt Busch/Miller Lite/Dodge/Roger Penske
2.29/Kevin Harvick/GM Goodwrench/Chevy/Richard Childress
3.17/Matt Kenseth/USG Sheetrock/Ford/Jack Roush
4.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
5.43/Bobby Labonte/Cheerios/Dodge/Petty Enterprises
6.6/Mark Martin/AAA/Ford/Jack Roush
7.16/Greg Biffle/Subway/Ford/Jack Roush
8.5/Kyle Busch/Kellogg's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
9.12/Ryan Newman/Alltell/Diodge/Roger Penske
10.9/Kasey Kahne/UAW-Dodge Dealers/Dodge/Ray Evernham
No comments:
Post a Comment