With three races left before the Chase for the Nextel Cup starts, it's time for drivers in the top ten to build momentum for the stretch run. Though Jimmy Johnson still leads the points, Matt Kenseth won last week's Nextel Cup race in Michigan and Friday's Bristol Busch Series race. Can he keep it going at the Sharpie 500 at Bristol? Kurt Busch won the pole.
Jeff Burton-#31 Cingular Chevy started second and led most of the first half of the race. He faded and finished ninth. This has been a pattern for Burton but eventually he'll get it right. He's in the top ten and that's the most important thing. Chase contenders Kevin Harvick-#29 Reese's Chevy & Mark Martin-#6 AAA Ford both had trouble. Harvick blew a tire and hit the wall on lap 203. He recovered and finished 11th. Martin was penalized a lap for pitting outside the box on lap 65. In trying to get his lap back on the lap 211 restart, Martin ran into the back of Scott Wimmer-#4 Food City Chevy when Wimmer missed a shift. Martin finished 28th and dropped from fourth to tenth in the points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.-#8 Budweiser Chevy started 40th but used pit strategy to get to the front. By lap 387, he was battling Burton & Matt Kenseth-#17 DeWalt Tools Ford for the lead. Burton started to fade and Kyle Busch-#5 Kellogg's Chevy moved into contention. Elliott Sadler-#19 UAW Dodge Dealers Dodge hits the wall and brings out a caution on lap 445. Everyone makes final pit stops. Kenseth's crew gets him out first and his fresh tires are enough to hold off Busch & Earnhardt to get him the win.
Congratulations to Matt Kenseth, crew chief Robbie Reiser & car owner Jack Roush for the win. Big top ten finishes for Scott Riggs & Ryan Newman. Kenseth gets to within 7 points of leader Jimmie Johnson but they're both locked in to The Chase so it doesn't matter. But things are very close from fourth to tenth place. Kasey Kahne is only 90 points out of tenth place. He has two races to move up. He finished 12th in this race and he needs to do better to get in and hope that somebody has another bad race. More will be told next Sunday night in California. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.17/Matt Kenseth/DeWalt Tools/Ford/Jack Roush
2.5/Kyle Busch/Kellogg's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
3.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
4.10/Scott Riggs/Valvoline/Dodge/Ray Evernham
5.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
6.11/Denny Hamlin/FedEx/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
7.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
8.12/Ryan Newman/Alltel/Dodge/Roger Penske
9.31/Jeff Burton/Cingular/Chevy/Richard Childress
10.48/Jimmie Johnson/Lowe's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
No comments:
Post a Comment