Matt Kenseth passed teammate Jamie McMurray with four laps to go today at Dover International Speedway and went on to win the Neighborhood Excellence 400 presented by Bank of America for his second win of the season. This was Matt’s 12th career victory (he’s tied for 48th on the all-time win list with Ryan Newman) and #92 for Roush Racing. It was worth $323,591 from the over $5.6M in posted awards. Real racey at the end as we had five or six cars with a shot late….
Tony Stewart got the early caution that team wanted, but you can bet they wished it would have been earlier than lap #37. Ricky Rudd’s substitute role ended up with a 25th place finish, and I would think they’re happy with that.
Jamie McMurray (2nd) had his best finish since he was the runner-up at Daytona last July.
Derrike Cope (37th) had his best finish since he was 33rd at Martinsville last October (only four races).
STREAKIN….Greg Biffle has 4 Top-10’s in a row.
Matt Kenseth has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races.
Jeff Burton has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races.
Jimmie Johnson has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
The Rookie Report: For the seventh time already this season Denny Hamlin (11th) grabs this award. He was followed by: Clint Bowyer (17th), Reed Sorenson (19th), Martin Truex Jr (22nd), David Stremme (41st), and J. J. Yeley (42nd).
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Jimmie Johnson (+36), followed by Kyle Busch (+25) and Reed Sorenson (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Elliott Sadler (-32), followed by J. J. Yeley (-28 ), Hermie Sadler (-27), Joe Nemechek (-22), and Kevin Lepage (-21).
David Stremme led a lap today for the first time in his NEXTEL Cup career. He’s the 40th different driver to lead a lap this season….last year’s number was 51.
Matt Kenseth shaved 35 points off Jimmie Johnson’s lead today….it now stands at 74. No change in our “Stayin’ Alive” line….the spread from 1st to 10th (after penalties) last week was 449, this week it’s 439. Jamie McMurray (18th to 15th) and Ryan Newman (22nd to 19th) made the best moves forward today, while J. J. Yeley (24th to 27th) fell the most spots.(Stock Car Fans)(6-4-2006)
