It was every crew chief’s worst nightmare…. A fairly long overtime led to fuel nerves up and down pit road today, but Kyle Busch had enough to outlast Carl Edwards and win the Lenox Industrial Tools 308 at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the 3rd career win for the younger Busch, his first of 2006 (we’ve had 11 different drivers grace Victory Lane this season), and moves him into a tie for 86th on the all-time win list. Win #146 for Hendrick Motorsports was worth $242,175 from the $5.2M+ in posted awards.
Greg Biffle (3rd) had his best finish since he won at Darlington in May.
Mark Martin (4th) had his best finish since he was 4th at Lowe’s in May.
David Stremme (11th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 16th twice….at Daytona in July and at Chicagoland in July of ’05.
Dave Blaney (13th) had his best finish since he was 6th at Homestead last November.
Sterling Marlin (16th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Richmond in May.
Scott Wimmer (20th) had his best finish since he was 19th at Bristol in March.
Kevin Lepage (30th) had his best finish since he was 28th at Talladega in April (only six races).
STREAKIN….Jimmie Johnson has 8 Top-10’s in the last 9 races. Kevin Harvick has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
This Week’s Elevator…UP: The Operator of the Week is Scott Riggs (+32), followed by Greg Biffle (+23). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Ryan Newman (-38 ), followed by Tony Stewart (-32), Kurt Busch (-28 ), Joe Nemechek (-25), and Kenny Wallace (-23). Newman’s BD is #3 for the season….he’s now tied for the top spot in that category.
We’ve got a race for the final exempt spot….that all-important 35th place on the owner points list. The #40 car of David Stremme is now only 13 points behind the #21 of Ken Schrader. The pressure could shift after next week, and with Indy coming up in two weeks there might be some sleepless nights in the offing.
It’s looking more and more like 12 guys for 10 spots in the “Chase”. Greg Biffle moves in this week and Tony Stewart falls out. 9th to 12th is now separated by just 12 points! Jimmie Johnson pads his lead by 17 markers….it’s now 68. Kyle Busch (8th to 4th) makes the best move forward this week while Dale Earnhardt Jr (3rd to 7th) and Tony Stewart (7th to 11th) fall the most spots.(Stock Car Fans)(7-16-2006)
