(Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
With just 89 points separating seventh through 14th in the points and two races remaining before the Chase field is set, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' 43 best drivers prepared for a clash in Atlanta for the Pep Boys Auto Parts 500.
Martin Truex, Jr. won his second pole of 2009 with a speed of 184.149 and Kasey Kahne led the field to the green flag at 7:49 local time.
Truex, Jr. jumped out to an early lead while Kahne battled side by side with Johnson before pulling away. On the outside, the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge of Kurt Busch tried to make a move on the No. 48.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who started 22nd, wasted little time in his quest to pick up positions, making it three wide on lap four with Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip. Four laps later he split the cars of David Gilliland and David Ragan to move to the 17th position.
The No. 44 of A.J. Allmendinger was also making headway threw the pack, gaining ten spots to 25th in the first 10 laps of the race.
By lap 21, the leader Truex, Jr. began looking like Kevin Harvick did in Saturday night's Nationwide event, pulling out to an over eight second lead over second place Kahne.
"Whatever you've done, you've flipped the switch to pull away, nice job," he told crew chief Kevin Manion.
Clint Bowyer was on the other end of the spectrum; the No. 33 Cheerios Chevrolet dropped from it's 20th place starting spot to 37th and off the lead lap in 32 laps.
The day's first caution came out on lap 37 when Sam Hornish, Jr. went sliding into the infield. Chase hopeful Matt Kenseth was the recipient of the lucky dog after being lapped just before Hornish's spin.
"On lap five or six, I drove into (turn) one, and that time it didn't hit the splitter. Frickin turned sideways & pasted fence," Kenseth told his crew. The damage to the side of his car caused him to lose a lap.
The leaders hit pit road a lap later, with Kahne beating Truex, Jr. off pit road. Gordon, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Vickers, Martin, Kurt Busch, and Montoya rounded out the top ten.
On lap 42 Kahne, choosing the outside lane, led the field to the green but was quickly passed by Truex as Johnson and Busch battled two behind him for position. Kahne's own side by side battle with Gordon, which he lost on lap 43, allowed Truex, Jr. to pull out to a substantial lead once again.
Third, fourth and fifth went three wide as Busch passed the Hendrick teammates of Gordon and Johnson on lap 44.
On lap 60, Gordon had slipped back to 15th saying he couldn't "believe it can be this bad."
The No. 77 Mobil One Dodge of Hornish, Jr. once again spun in the infield bringing out the day's second caution on lap 61. Part of his tire was also on track. Scott Speed was the lucky dog.
The leaders once again came down pit road the following lap, with Kyle Busch winning that battle off of pit road. Truex, Kahne, Johnson, Hamlin, Martin, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, and Carl Edwards made up the top ten.
Choosing the inside lane, Busch led the field to the restart on lap 65. While Hamlin, Kahne and Johnson went three wide behind him, Busch was able to pull away from Truex, Jr. and the rest of the field.
Johnson made a challenge for the lead on lap 72, trying to make a move to the outside. He was able to lead lap 73, and completed the pass as the two entered turn two.
On lap 83 the night's third caution came out when the No. 99 of Edwards had a hole in the oil pan, dropping oil on track and on pit road. Edwards, who broke his foot Wednesday playing Frisbee, was running a special paint scheme created by a 13 year old cancer patient.
Clint Bowyer was the recipient of the lucky dog, and the leaders came down pit road on lap 84. Another lead change as Kyle Busch once again won the race off pit road. Johnson, Truex, Hamlin, Stewart, Kahne, Busch, Montoya, and Gordon won the race off pit road. During the caution, Kenseth stayed out an extra lap to gain five bonus points.
Again on the inside, Busch led the field to the green on lap 87. Johnson began falling back as Truex made a pass for second. His teammate Gordon, meanwhile, made a pass for fith on lap 90, working his way back up.
In his first Atlanta start, rookie Joey Logano was having a strong top twenty run, running 18th on lap 92. The last caution's lucky dog Bowyer ran 29th.
Truex, Jr. once again took the lead on lap 98, when he dove to the inside of the Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Johnson made a challenge for second.
Sorenson, Montoya, Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Brian Vickers had their own battled, all racing for spots ninth threw 12th. On lap 104 Montoya made it three wide, passing Harvick and Vickers in the middle.
Caution came out that same night for Max Papis in the No. 13 Geico Toyota, who made heavy contact with the wall. Kyle Busch once again won the race off pit road, leading Truex, Johnson, Hamlin, and Stewart. Gordon, Kurt Busch, Martin, Vickers, and David Stremme rounded out that round's top ten. Robby Gordon was awarded the free pass.
Michael Waltrip stayed out to lead a lap, but it was Busch who once again led the field to the green flag on lap 110. He chose the outside line, and teammate Hamlin rocketed past Truex, Jr. to get on the rear bumper of his teammate.
Getting the No. 18 loose, Hamlin made a pass for the lead as the two entered turn four, and completed the pass before they hit the start finish line.
Truex continued to lose spots, being passed by the Hendrick cars of Gordon and Johnson on lap 116. After making the pass on Truex, Jr., Johnson passed the No. 24 and began to pull away.
On lap 117 the No. 33 of Bowyer reported a loose wheel to his team and came down pit road. He would lose a lap to the leaders.
Johnson began looking to challenge for the lead, taking the lead on lap 128. He was quick to pull out to over a second lead.
The lead quickly evaporated, though, when a debris caution came out on lap 131. Jeff Burton, who had fallen back to 29th also had problems and made a pit stop.
Gordon was the winner on pit road followed by Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Johnson, Stewart, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Logano, Vickers, Martin. Elliot Sadler was the lucky dog.
On the outside, Gordon led the field to the restart on lap 136, but was met with a side by side battle with Hamlin before Hamlin took the lead. The top 10 became single file until rookie Logano and Montoya began racing side by side for sixth.
Gordon made a pass for the lead on lap 140, but Hamlin wasn't far behind.
Harvick, meanwhile, had an angry exchange with his pit crew after losing six spots on pit road as he raced Newman for 14th.
"I can't even get excited about coming on pit road. Definitely can't win a race like this. I guess I'm talking to myself!" he screamed over his radio. He was calmed by crew chief Gil Martin, who told him the team would "get our (expletive) together."
Martin's driver wasted little time on track, racing his way to 10th by lap 154 after the lap 136 restart.
The No. 42 of Montoya also continued making up ground, as he ran fourth on lap 149. The EGR Chevrolet was the same car the team ran in their dominant Brickyard 400 performance in July.
While Earnhardt, Jr. made a pass on teammate Johnson up ahead, Harvick blazed past cars left and right, running third and quickly gaining on second place Hamlin on lap 164. Both Hamlin and Harvick were both making their way toward the leader Gordon.
Hamlin took the lead on lap 167 but Harvick never let the No. 11 or No. 24 out of his sight, racing Gordon side by side before pulling out alongside Hamlin.
Harvick took the lead and instantly pulled away from the field on lap 169, leaving Gordon and Hamlin to battled for second. Brian Vickers advanced to second on lap 171.
Sideways, defending points leader Johnson struggled to hold on to his car, losing tenth place to Stremme on lap 172.
Green flag pit stops began on lap 185 when Sorenson and the No. 16 of Greg Biffle came in. A struggling Truex, Jr. came in on the following lap along with Logano, Kenseth and Stewart.
2 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete