The big thing at the Food City 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Bristol is that it was the first race for what has been called the Car Of Tomorrow. The COT will run a total of 17 races this year, mostly short tracks and it will run the entire 2008 season. Most of the improvements in the car are safety related in the driver's cockpit. You can't see them. The differences you can see are the rear wing replacing the spoiler and a splitter on the front of the car similar to a Craftsman Truck. It remains to be seen if the racing will be any better. I don't think it matters at Bristol or Martinsville but we might see a difference at other tracks. Jeff Gordon won the pole.
Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont Chevy led the first few laps. Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevy took the lead on lap 7 and Gordon dropped back as his car wasn't handling well. The caution is out on lap 43 Dale Jarrett's #44 UPS Toyota crashes and takes David Gilliland's #38 M&M's Ford with him. The leaders pit. A few guys who pitted earlier stayed out but Stewart gets the lead back on lap 70.
Stewart continues to lead until Elliott Sadler's #19 UAW/Dodge Dealers Dodge passed him for the lead on lap 194. Stewart regains the lead on lap 198. Bad luck for Sadler as he pits for a loose wheel on lap 248. He finishes 27th. A caution comes out on lap 282 when Kasey Kahne's #9 UAW/Dodge Dealers Dodge hits the wall. While the leaders are on pit road, Stewart is losing fuel pressure. It turns out to be a defective fuel pump cable. He finishes 35th.
Kyle Busch's #5 Carquest/Kellogg's Chevy leads at the restart on lap 289. But Denny Hamlin's #11 FedEx Chevy takes the lead on lap 298. Kevin Harvick's #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevy moves into second and then takes the lead on lap 408. Then a debris caution on lap 412. Everyone pits and Hamlin gets the lead. Jimmie Johnson's #48 Lowe's Chevy has a flat tire on lap 484. As he's slowing down, the leaders get caught in traffic and Busch regains the lead. The caution comes out. Busch & Hamlin stay out but other lead lap cars pit. Are fresher tires enough to contend for the win?
On the restart, Denny Hamlin starts dropping back. He tells his crew the engine is blowing up. He finishes 14th. Jeff Gordon & Jeff Burton's #31 Cingular Chevy use those fresh tires to roar up through the field. But it looks like Kyle Busch has a big enough lead to hang on. Kasey Kahne spins out David Ragan's #6 AAA Ford to bring out a caution on lap 497. That's not what Busch wanted to see. On the green/white/checkered finish, Burton gets around Gordon and gets close to Busch. He could have spun Busch out but Jeff Burton doesn't do things like that and Kyle Busch hangs on for the win.
Congratulations to Kyle Busch, crew chief Alan Gustafson and car owner Rick Hendrick for the win. Big top ten finishes for Jeff Green, Jamie McMurray & Casey Mears. The COT didn't mean much as it was a typical Bristol race with a great finish. Check out the video of the end of the race. Mark Martin wasn't here so Jeff Gordon took over the points lead. Another short track next week as the Nextel Cup boys head to Martinsville. Meanwhile Bristol will be reconfigured in time for the August race. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.5/Kyle Busch/Carquest-Kellogg's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
2.31/Jeff Burton/Cingular/Chevy/Richard Childress
3.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
4.29/Kevin Harvick/Shell Pennzoil/Chevy/Richard Childress
5.16/Greg Biffle/Jackson Hewitt/Ford/Jack Roush
6.66/Jeff Green/Best Buy/Chevy/Gene Haas
7.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
8.07/Clint Bowyer/Jack Daniels/Chevy/Richard Childress
9.26/Jamie McMurray/Crown Royal/Ford/Jack Roush
10.25/Casey Mears/National Guard-GMAC/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
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