(Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
The 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway is still a baby in the NASCAR world, only hosting eight Sprint Cup races since its 2001 inauguration.
Jeff Gordon won that day, as he did the next year, which brought Gordon back to Kansas on Sunday as the only repeat winner in its history.
Gordon and all the winners at Kansas have come from some fantastic finishes.
Last year, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards went down to the wire as Edwards tried dive-bombing into turn three, but hit the wall. Johnson went to victory lane.
In 2007, Greg Biffle was declared the winner because of darkness, but controversy arose when he was beaten to the finish line. Drivers claimed he didn’t maintain pace car speed and that he ran out of gas.
The year before that, 2006, Tony Stewart did cross the finish line on fumes. He and his then No. 20 Home Depot team made the fuel mileage work and took home the victory.
And in 2004, Joe Nemechek and Ricky Rudd battled for the finish line in the closing laps. They came to the checkered flag side-by-side with Nemechek taking the trophy and his fourth career win.
Nemechek also completed the Kansas sweep. A day before, he beat Greg Biffle in a side-by-side finish in the Nationwide Series race.
Kansas was back in action on Sunday with the third race of the 2009 Chase. After dominating Dover, Jimmie Johnson came to Kansas 10 points behind teammate and points leader Mark Martin.
But, the pair arrived in Kansas on the lips of many and not for a good reason. NASCAR warned their teams that their Dover cars, which had been inspected at the NASCAR Research and Development Center during the week, were “too close” to the tolerance level.
No penalties were handed out and NASCAR assured everyone that the cars were legal. But many other teams in the garage still weren’t satisfied and one crew chief that spoke anonymously said that if he were his team involved, he would be sitting at home for six weeks.
Martin then went out and won the pole on Friday and Johnson qualified 11th for the Price Chopper 400.
Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the top three spots in qualifying: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second and Brad Keselowski, running a part-time schedule, posted the third fastest time.
However, all eyes would be on the Chasers and how their day would progress.
Tony Stewart, fifth in points, qualified fifth. Kasey Kahne, 12th in points, started behind Stewart in sixth, Jeff Gordon, the sixth-place points Chaser, clocked in the ninth fastest time.
Brain Vickers, 10th in points, was 12th fastest. Juan Pablo Montoya, third in points, would start 14th, and Carl Edwards would try to improve his 11th-place point position from the 17th spot on the grid.
The lowest four qualifiers were Denny Hamlin (sixth in points), Ryan Newman (seventh in points), Greg Biffle (ninth in points), and Kurt Busch (fourth in points). They would have to battle their way from the 22nd, 30th, 31st, and 39th positions, respectively.
After braving the chilly morning, 43 drivers climbed aboard their machines and Martin led them to the green flag just after 2 p.m.
Joey Logano, after taking a wild ride last weekend in Dover, brought out the first caution on lap 2 after telling the crew that he got loose and spun off turn two. He would have to come to pit road for four new tires.
The restart took place on lap six with Martin continuing to lead as Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurry battled for second spot.
Earnhardt Jr. held the position; McMurray went to third as another accident took place on lap seven.
Bobby Labonte, Paul Menard, David Ragan, Max Papis, and Michael Waltrip all got together coming off turn two.
Once pit road opened up, all the drivers that had been behind the accident and drove through the debris came down pit road to get four new tires. Drivers included Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish Jr., Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers, and Eric Darnell.
Martin led Earnhardt Jr., McMurray, Keselowski, Tony Stewart, and Kasey Kahne the top five.
Earnhardt Jr. and Martin battled side-by-side for the lead until Earnhardt Jr. took it at the start-finish line.
Keselowski passed Martin for second, as David Ragan was black-flagged because his No. 6 car was smoking on the track.
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