After yesterday's Craftsman Truck race, I was not looking forward to Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Martinsville. But it was actually a very good race with a great finish. I don't like races that aren't competitive or crash filled and the truck race was a mess. The second Car Of Tomorrow race showed that there are some issues and NASCAR needs to make some adjustments. One good thing is the splitter at the front of the car makes it a lot more costly to bump guys and it may cause drivers to be more careful. Oh and rain was in the forecast. Denny Hamlin won the pole.
Denny Hamlin's #11 FedEx Chevy leads at the start with Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont Chevy second. Bobby Labonte's #43 Cheerios Dodge lost his brakes and hit the wall on lap 37. Everyone pits but Elliott Sadler's #19 UAW/Dodge Dealers Dodge stayed out to lead. Hamlin & Gordon passed him and then Gordon took the lead on lap 55. Hamlin gets the lead back on lap 139.
One recurring problem was brake heat melting tires. That happened to Dave Blaney's #22 Caterpillar Toyota on lap 151 and to Jeremy Mayfield's #36 OTC 360 Toyota on lap 217. On the ensuing pit stops, Denny Hamlin had trouble with lug nuts and dropped to tenth. Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevy led off pit road. Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 225 and then Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #8 Budweiser Chevy took the lead on lap 234. Gordon thinks he has a problem and drops to 11th. He pits during a lap 244 caution from a Kasey Kahne spin and his car is OK. Jeff Green's #66 Best Buy Chevy is on pit road with brake problems.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. stretches his lead. Kevin Harvick's #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevy is in fourth but comes to pit road on lap 288 with a fuel pump line problem similar to what happened to Tony Stewart last week. Stewart takes the lead on lap 304. Robby Gordon's #7 Ford has a flat tire and brings out a caution on lap 306. Stewart has a bad pit stop and drops to fifth. Earnhardt leads. David Stremme's #40 Coors Light Dodge spins to bring out a caution on lap 335. Some leaders pit but others stay out with rain on the way.
The rain comes and the red flag is thrown on lap 357. The rain stops and after about 20 minutes, they get started again. Some leaders pit but others stay out including Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Raines' #96 DLP Chevy hits the wall to bring out a caution on lap 375. The leaders pit but those who pitted on the previous caution stay out. Kyle Busch's #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevy leads with Jimmie Johnson's #48 Lowe's Chevy second. Johnson takes the lead on lap 388. Dale Jarrett's #44 UPS Toyota loses a tire to bring out a caution on lap 422. Meanwhile, the foam in the right side door panel on Kevin Harvick's car catches fire. It's supposed to be fireproof so that's something NASCAR has to look at.
Half of the lead cars pit but others including leaders Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin & Jeff Gordon stay out. Gordon gets around Hamlin for second on lap 448. JJ Yeley's #18 Interstate Batteries Chevy locks up his brakes and hits the wall on lap 474 to bring out a caution. This tightens up the field. Not only are Johnson & Gordon teammates, Gordon is a part owner of Johnson's car and he recommended Johnson to owner Rick Hendrick. You can be sure Hendrick was very nervous. Will Gordon bump his protege to win the race. On the final lap, he does touch him but Jimmie Johnson holds on to win the race by a nose. Check out the video footage of the finish.
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and car owner Rick Hendrick. Big top ten finishes for Scott Riggs & Jamie McMurray. Jeff Gordon still leads the points. The Nextel Cup boys will be in Texas in two weeks. No Car Of Tomorrow there. The Busch Series is in Nashville next Saturday. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.48/Jimmie Johnson/Lowe's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
2.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
3.11/Denny Hamlin/FedEx/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
4.5/Kyle Busch/Kellogg's-Carquest/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
5.8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
6.31/Jeff Burton/Cingular/Chevy/Richard Childress
7.20/Tony Stewart/Home Depot/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
8.10/Scott Riggs/Valvoline/Dodge/Ray Evernham
9.26/Jamie McMurray/Irwin Industrial Tools/Ford/Jack Roush
10.17/Matt Kenseth/USG Sheetrock/Ford/Jack Roush
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