And you thought the 400 stood for miles…..it’s minutes! After a nearly 3 hour rain delay we were treated to one of the best plate races we’ve had in years….and when you’ve got the winner leading 151 of the 160 laps, that’s not a stretch! Tony Stewart’s four-wide pass on the outside with 16 laps to go will be talked about for awhile, but the other drivers couldn’t do a thing with him tonight as he was easily the dominant car. He survived the 9-lap shootout at the end (and we’re talking almost 2AM here) to make it back-to- back wins on the season and #21 for his career. He’s now tied for 26th on the all-time win list with teammate Bobby Labonte, Benny Parsons, and Jack Smith.
Tony’s the second driver to win this season from the pole…..Kasey Kahne did it at Richmond in May. Win #41 for Joe Gibbs Racing was worth $368,261 from the over $5.9M in posted awards.
Jamie McMurray (2nd) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Texas in April.
Dale Earnhardt Jr (3rd) had his best finish since he was 3rd here in February.
Mike Wallace (8th) had his best finish since he was 7th at Richmond last September. He’s the 37th driver to score a Top-10 this season…..last year there were 39 drivers to hit that mark.
Jason Leffler (18th) had his best finish since he was 12th at Martinsville in April.
STREAKIN….Rusty Wallace has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Dale Earnhardt Jr (+36), followed by Mike Wallace (+35), Jamie McMurray (+31), Jeff Burton (+31), Ken Schrader (+30), Matt Kenseth (+29), and Ricky Rudd (+22). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Scott Riggs (-39), followed by Kerry Earnhardt (-32), Bobby Hamilton Jr (-26), Boris Said (-24), and Michael Waltrip (-23). You know its a place race when 30% of the field is in the “Shaft”.
The fight for the final qualifying exemption has become a three-way battle. Mike Wallace is back in…..in fact, he’s 34th! Scott Wimmer is now on the bubble as Jason Leffler and the #11 team are on the outside by 17 points going into next week.
Jason Leffler led a lap tonight for the first time since he led twice for five laps at Kansas in October of 2003. He’s the 43rd different driver to lead a lap this season…..last year we had 50 of ’em.
Greg Biffle’s time at the top was short-lived…..one week. Jimmie Johnson reassumes the lead by 73 points as every spot in the Top-10 in the standings changed hands this week.
We’ve still got 13 drivers above the “Stayin’ Alive” line but Jeff Gordon has replaced Kevin Harvick as the last driver within 400 points of the lead. Check out 9th to 12th tho….four drivers separated by “3” points!
We’ve also got our first “Mathematically Eliminated” line of the season this week. Everybody from 40th on down is out of the hunt. Jamie McMurray (10th to 7th) made the best move forward tonight, while three drivers (Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, and Casey Mears) all fell three spots in the standings.(Stock Car Fans Newsletter)(7-3-2005)
