The Chase for the Nextel Cup turned upside down last week at Martinsville when Jeff Burton's engine failure dropped him from the lead to fifth place. Matt Kenseth leads but the race has tightened up considerably. Anything is possible with four races left. Perhaps the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Speedway would determine the Nextel Cup champion. Qualifying was rained out and owners points determined the starting order. Matt Kenseth was on the pole.
Kevin Harvick-#29 Reese's Chevy starts with the lead. Kyle Busch-#5 Kellogg's Chevy spins on lap 4 and damages his left front bumper when he touches Brian Vickers-#25 GMAC Chevy. Busch finishes 27th. He's been terrible during the chase. Dale Earnhardt Jr-#8 Budweiser Chevy takes the lead on lap 7. Tony Stewart-#20 Home Depot Chevy takes the lead on lap 27. Earnhardt has a vibration and pits on lap 30 and drops two laps down. It was probably a loose lug nut.
Green flag pit stops begin on lap 49. By lap 61, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the lead. He pitted earlier and is off sequence. He's hoping for a caution or he'll go a lap down again. He gets lucky with a debris caution on lap 81. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick is battling an ill handling race car. He'd never be able to get a handle on it and finished 31st and dropped to 6th in the points. Jeff Gordon-#24 Nicorette Chevy takes the lead on lap 114.
Green flag pit stops cycle through on lap 146 and Jeff Gordon is still leading. Tony Stewart gets the lead on lap 157 while Gordon is sueezed into the wall by Joe Nemechek-#01 US Army Chevy. Gordon has minor fender damage. On lap 169, Gordon cuts a tire and while trying to get to pit road, he's rammed from behind by Jamie McMurray-#26 Crown Royal Ford and spins out. McMurray says he was blinded by the sun. He's out of the race. Gordon has minor damage and rebounds for a 6th place finish and moves up to 7th in the points.
Tony Stewart & Dale Earnhardt Jr. swap the lead a few times. Earnhardt starts to have handling problems and drops back. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson-#48 Lowe's Chevy moves up and takes the lead on lap 238. On lap 248, Kasey Kahne-#9 McDonalds Dodge squeezes David Stremme-#40 Coors Light Dodge into the wall. Kahne finished 38th and drops to 9th in the points. Kahne took the blame for the crash and said he forgot Stremme was outside him.
Tony Stewart returns to the lead on lap 260. Jeff Burton-#31 Cingular Chevy hit the wall and cut a tire on lap 281. He pit and would finish 13th. A debris caution came out on lap 290. Replays showed that the debris was a piece of rollbar padding from Robby Gordon's-#7 Jim Beam Chevy. He would get the free pass but I don't think NASCAR can prove he did it delibrately. Everyone makes what will likely be their final pit stops.
A caution comes out on lap 304 when Martin Truex Jr-#1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy hits the wall. So who will pit? Leader Tony Stewart pits and everyone but Dale Earnhardt Jr. follows. He got faked out but leads on the restart on lap 309. On the restart, Kenny Wallace-#78 Furniture Row Chevy has a flat tire. Jeff Green-#66 Best Buy Chevy tries to check up but sends Sterling Marlin-#14 Ginn's Resorts Chevy into Mark Martin-#6 AAA Ford. Martin finishes 36th and srops to 8th in the points. Stewart gets the lead from Earnhardt on lap 314. Johnson passes Earnhardt for second but Earnhardt holds off Matt Kenseth-#17 DeWalt Tools Ford for third.
Congratulations to Tony Stewart, crew chief Greg Zipadelli and car owner Joe Gibbs on the win. Big top ten finishes for Greg Biffle, Joe Nemechek & Robby Gordon. Matt Kenseth still leads the points over Jimmie Johnson by 26 points. Kenseth is very consistent and is capable of getting a good finish from a mediocre car. He will be very tough to beat. All three NASCAR divisions are in Texas next week. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.20/Tony Stewart/Home Depot/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
2.48/Jimmie Johnson/Lowe's/Chevy/Rick Henderick
3.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
4.17/Matt Kenseth/DeWalt Tools/Ford/Jack Roush
5.16/Greg Biffle/National Guard/Ford/Jack Roush
6.24/Jeff Gordon/Nicorette/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
7.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
8.11/Denny Hamlin/Fed Ex Cup/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
9.01/Joe Nemechek/US Army/Chevy/Bobby Ginn
10.7/Robby Gordon/Jim Beam/Chevy/Robby Gordon
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