Richard Childress had his big press conference Friday to announce that Kevin Harvick has re-signed with RCR until 2009. Meanwhile the Toyota sweepstakes continues. Dale Jarrett says he will make a decision in a couple of weeks and Casey Mears is the next target as his contract with Chip Ganassi is up at the end of this season. But Harvick is staying at RCR and he is hot. He won the Nextel Cup race at Phoenix and has been dominating the Busch Series. He won Friday's Busch Series race and was looking to sweep the weekend by winning the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Polesitter Greg Biffle-#16 National Guard Ford led the first 50 laps and then Kevin Harvick-#29 GM Goodwrench Chevy took the lead. Biffle would get caught a lap down on a green flag pit stop but would recover for a top ten finish. Contenders Kasey Kahne-#9 UAW Dodge Dealers Dodge & Matt Kenseth-#17 DeWalt Ford both have problems and go behind the wall for repairs.
Karvick dominates for most of the race. The turning point of the race came when Martin Truex Jr-#1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy blew an engine on lap 287. On the ensuing caution, all the lead lap cars made pit stops...except leader Harvick. Crew chief Todd Berrier made the call and Harvick knew immediately the he gave the race away by staying out.
Harvick still had the lead but Dale Earnhardt Jr-#8 Budweiser Chevy, Denny Hamlin-#11 FedEx Kinko's Chevy & Kyle Busch-#5 Kellogg's Chevy were breathing down his back. Hamlin passes Harvick for the lead at lap 330. Harvick is shuffled back to fifth on his old tires. The leaders make their final pit stops when Robby Gordon-#7 Menards Chevy hit the wall on lap 346 and brings out the caution. Kyle Busch led on the restart on lap 352. Earnhardt takes the lead on lap 356 and holds Hamlin off for the win.
Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr., crew chief Tony Eury Jr. & car owner Theresa Earnhardt for the victory. Denny Hamlin had a career best second place finish with a throbbing left hand that required 19 stitches after he sliced it open earlier in the week. Harvick finished third but was very upset and hid from the media. Great top ten finishes for Greg Biffle & Ryan Newman who have both had problems this year. And a top ten finish for Sterling Marlin celebrating his 30th anniversary in NASCAR. Rookie Clint Bowyer had a top ten as well but that doesn't seem very surprising anymore. Jimmie Johnson's 12th place finish kept him on top of the points standings. His car was terrible so that's pretty good. The Nextel Cup boys are in Darlington on Saturday night. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
2.11/Denny Hamlin/FedEx Kinko's/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
3.29/Kevin Harvick/GM Goodwrench/Chevy/Richard Childress
4.16/Greg Biffle/National Guard/Ford/Jack Roush
5.5/Kyle Busch/Kellogg's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
6.20/Tony Stewart/Home Depot/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
7.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
8.12/Ryan Newman/Alltel/Dodge/Roger Penske
9.14/Sterling Marlin/Waste Management/Chevy/MB2 Motorsports
10.07/Clint Bowyer/Prilosec OTC/Chevy/Richard Childress
No comments:
Post a Comment