Jimmie Johnson Wins; Clint Bowyer Makes Chase; Kahne and Ragan Are Odd Men Out

Now a lot of people may say that it was payback for Busch, who spun Jr. out earlier this season at Richmond in the late laps costing Earnhardt a victory. This was not intentional because Jr. tried to slow down and move down away from Busch.

This was evident when the smoke came pouring out when Jr. hit the brakes. Busch moved down the track slightly and got into Earnhardt, which sent him spinning into the wall. Busch would continue on after making repairs and still go on to have a strong run.

Earnhardt was still at the head of the field when Tony Stewart mounted a charge to pass Jr. for the lead on lap 236. A caution flag would wave, shortly after Stewart took the lead, for a spin by Kyle Busch at the back of the field.

This would be another turning point in the race as half the cars on the lead lap would come to pit road while 14 others stayed on the track.

David Reutimann and 13 others stayed on the track because they had pitted under the previous caution. Reutimann restarted as the leader pulling away from second place Mark Martin by over four seconds before the caution flag came out for Brian Vickers cutting down a right front tire on lap 297.

All the leaders would come to pit road this time with Reutimann holding serve as the leader after pit stops.

Reutimann continued to lead the race into the late laps until Stewart finally regained the lead with just 52 laps remaining.

Stewart’s lead would be short lived as a caution waved with about 40 laps to go for a spin involving Ryan Newman and Ken Schrader. The leaders would hit pit road once more with Truex leading everyone out to assume the lead on the restart.

Truex would lead for a short period of time before Jimmie Johnson took the top spot with 34 laps remaining. Just after Johnson made the pass on Truex for the lead, the 14^th and final caution flag of the race waved for an accident by Paul Menard and Patrick Carpentier.

This would set up for a great shoot out between two former champions in Johnson and Stewart in the remaining laps.

Johnson and Stewart would battle side by side, with Stewart finally passing Johnson with fewer than 10 laps to go. But Johnson, being the veteran that he is, stayed along side Stewart and passed him on the high side of the track to capture his fourth victory of the season.

The other battle at the end of the race was to see who made it into the 12^th and final spot into the Race for the Championship. Clint Bowyer would prevail over Kahne and Ragan, who both faltered towards the end.

The top ten finishers were Johnson, Stewart, Hamlin, Earnhardt, Martin, Burton, Harvick, Gordon, Reutimann, and Kurt Busch. Some notable finishes include Bowyer in 12^th, Edwards in 13^th, Greg Biffle in 14^th, Kyle Busch in 15^th, Kahne in 19^th, Ragan in 32^nd, and Matt Kenseth in 39^th position.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup has reached its cutoff point, with the top 12 drivers in the point standings competing for the Championship.

Now, the point standings headed into the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire look like this:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Carl Edwards
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Jeff Burton
8. Tony Stewart
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jeff Gordon
11. Kevin Harvick
12. Matt Kenseth

The Chase begins next week. Who will come out of New Hampshire victorious? My prediction is that Clint Bowyer will once again win for the second straight year at New Hampshire, giving him a significant boost in the points.

My pick to win the Sprint Cup this year is Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is time for Jr. to show what he’s made of and prove he has what it takes to be a Champion in this series.

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