Performance was the name of the game in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing this past season. The level of competition in NASCAR’s most elite arena has been growing over the past decade to the point where stock car racing in America is considered the toughest form of auto racing in the world.

A look at statistics for some of the sport’s biggest names explains why NASCAR enjoyed another incredible season in 2008.

Kyle Busch, a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, dominated the season’s first 26 races, claiming eight victories to go along with 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.

He was the points leader heading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this past September. Across all three national series, Busch won a total of 21 races in 2008, including a NASCAR Nationwide Series record-tying 10 victories.

Carl Edwards, a driver for Roush-Fenway Racing, won a series-high nine races in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, including three victories in the Chase. He finished in the runner-up position in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series. Edwards also posted a NASCAR Sprint Cup series best 27 top-10 and 19 top-five finishes.

Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports etched his name in the record books by claiming his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, joining Cale Yarborough as the only other driver to accomplish the feat.

Johnson was particularly strong during the Chase, as he had three wins, six top fives, eight top 10s, and an average finish of 5.7 during the season’s final 10 races.

While driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Regan Smith was named the Raybestos Rookie of the Year for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

In 34 starts, Smith became the first rookie in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to finish all 36 races on the schedule throughout the course of the season. He turned in a pair of 14th-place finishes at Martinsville and Bristol and completed 98 percent of the scheduled laps in 2008.

Even though he enjoyed a successful start, Smith is looking for a full-time Sprint Cup ride for the 2009 season. He will run a limited schedule with Furniture Row Racing in 2009. The team is owned by Barney Visser and based in Denver, Colo.

Team owner Rick Hendrick won his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner championship, second only to Petty Enterprises with nine. Johnson claimed his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in Hendrick’s Chevrolets, and three of Hendrick’s drivers finished in the top 12 in driver points in 2008. Johnson finished first, Jeff Gordon finished seventh and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th.

In just his second season of competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, David Ragan, a driver for Roush-Fenway Racing, could be considered the most improved driver of the season.

The Georgia native finished 13th in the point standings, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Ragan posted six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, including a pair of career-best third-place showings at Michigan in August and Talladega in October. Ragan completed a series-best 99.4 percent of the scheduled laps during the season.

Greg Biffle, another of the Roush-Fenway drivers, returned to the Chase after a two-year absence. Seeded ninth heading into the last 10 races of the year, Biffle got off to a blazing start by winning the first two Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover. He ultimately finished third in the final point standings and established himself as a championship contender in 2009.

With the Bud Shoot-Out special non-points event for pole position winners scheduled for Feb. 7 and the Daytona 500 set for Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR is ready to get started on another record-setting season.

Author - Ben White is the motorsports columnist for The Dispatch.

Kyle Busch now has 7 wins and has won the last 4 races. He is on track to break Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR single season win record in the Modern Era (1972-Present). This record is 13 wins, Gordon and Petty both have accomplished this feat.

Can Kyle Busch break this record? With 17 races left this season, and his current win streak and average finishing position, it seem like just a matter of time.

With Kyle Busch’s current winning streak and the fact that he has been at the top of the Nascar Sprint Cup points for several weeks now, his NASCAR diecast collectibles are on fire.

The newly announced Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Daytona Win Coke Zero 400 raced version 1/24 scale Action diecast car preorders are racking up like a slot machine jackpot. (pictured)

Also, his standard paint scheme (M&M’s) is extremely close to being sold out and anywhere you can find them the price is starting to soar.

This is one of the most dramatic changes in sales I have seen in my 10+ years in the nascar diecast industry. Last year, Kyle Busch’s cars were barely selling. Now he is one of our top sellers and I see no reason for this to change in the near future.

Will Kyle Busch become this years Champion? I would love to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. pull a championship out of his hat, but I think the cards are definitely in Kyle Busch’s favor.

by Brock Clever, Copperstateracing.com

A year ago, Jeff Gordon “won” the NASCAR Sprint Cup regular season, finishing the first 26 races an eye-popping 312 points ahead of runner-up Tony Stewart.

Gordon’s reward for his fast start? He saw his big margin disappear and found himself second at the start of the 10-race Chase for the championship, 20 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.

For the stock car postseason, the 12 eligible drivers are each boosted to 5,000 points, then seeded by victories, with 10 points for each win. In 2007, all the Chase drivers except Clint Bowyer had at least one win.

Johnson, who went on to win the title for the second straight year, got the points lead for his six victories to Gordon’s four entering the Chase.

If Kyle Busch, who leads the standings by 103 points over Jeff Burton heading to New Hampshire this week, stays out front, he’s not likely to meet Gordon’s fate. The new Joe Gibbs Racing driver already has five victories and only fourth-place Carl Edwards, with three, is close.

At the moment, the only other multiple race winner is ninth-place Kasey Kahne with two. Among the top 12, Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Bowyer each have one win, while Gordon, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth have none.

“It would be nice to have some wins in our pocket at this point, but the main thing is to be in the Chase,” said sixth-place Gordon.

And that is definitely the first order of business.

With 10 weeks of regular-season racing left, there are still plenty of question marks. Just 79 points separate Bowyer in 10th place and rookie David Ragan in 14th.

“I’m not super comfortable with where we are at in the points,” said Kahne, just 34 points in front of Bowyer. “We definitely need to keep staying after it and keep gaining points and doing everything we can to stay in the top 12.

“We definitely have a lot of work to get in (the Chase) and there are a lot of good cars still on the outside and right behind us. (But) there are a lot of good tracks coming up for us. We’ve been fast at a lot of the upcoming tracks.”

Even Burton, who has been at or near the front of the points from the start of the season, isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Obviously, as the races get closer to two or three to go before the last 10, we’ve got a tremendous amount of emphasis put on it,” the four-time New Hampshire winner said. “However, we can’t forget that they pay the same amount of points for the third race of the year as they do for the 25th race of the year.

“So all the work that we’ve done up to this point is what matters, and every race by itself matters a great deal. The emphasis will be put on these closing races. At the end of the day, it’s an accumulation of all the points you gained in the first 26, so it really doesn’t make that race any more important than any other.”

—

MOVING UP: While everyone has been watching Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne streak to wins lately, it’s Matt Kenseth who has been making the biggest inroads in the standings.

Coming back from a slow start, the 2003 Cup champion has surged from 22nd in the points to 12th in the past six races, scoring more points (934) than any other driver in the series during that period.

“I don’t know if it’s ever too early to look at it,” Kenseth said of the standings. “You always look at it on the way home, especially if you’re moving up, to see where you’re at and see what happened. But, the bottom line is really you do the best you can every week, and try to finish as high as you can and try to lead laps and do all that and the points take care of themselves.

“The higher you finish, the more points you get. So, really, it’s not a strategy, when you race hard and try to be smart and do the right things and, hopefully, get some good finishes and get back in it.”

Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are the only drivers who have qualified for the Chase every year since it began in 2004.

—

GOOD CHEMISTRY: Coming off his first road course victory last Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., series leader Kyle Busch is about as confident of his Joe Gibbs Racing team as a driver can get.

“It doesn’t surprise me that we’ve jelled this quickly, but it does surprise me that we already have five wins,” said Busch, who was dropped by Hendrick Motorsports last year to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and quickly found his way to the No. 18 Gibbs Toyota.

“When you switch teams and come to a new organization, and working with a new crew chief, it can be challenging,” the 23-year-old driver said. “When (crew chief) Steve (Addington) and I first started working together, I was really descriptive about telling him what the car was doing. I was telling him what the right-front was doing and all, getting into a lot of detail. Now, I’ve toned back and just tell him it’s tight and he fixes it.

“He gets what I mean, so we’ve come a long way as far as chemistry. I’ve come a long way with everyone at JGR, for that matter. Also, Toyota and JGR have come a long way together this year with their engines and development and our cars. It’s not just one factor that has made us successful. It’s just a combination of all the hard work from the guys at the shop and all the guys on the (No.) 18 Interstate Batteries team at the race track each weekend.”

But Busch said there is still room for improvement.

“I’ve learned in this sport that if you become complacent, it just gives everyone else an opportunity to catch back up with you,” he explained. “There’s room for a football player to get better. (New England’s) Tom Brady could still get better, even though he’s certainly seems to be at the top of his game. There are so many things you can learn each race, each game, each week that can help you later in the season and even later on in your career.

“I’m still learning those things every time I set foot at the race track. For me, it’s been all about taking what I learn each week and putting it to good use. It’s part of what has made us successful as a team this year.”

—

STAT OF THE WEEK: Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart is 11th in the points and without a victory in the first 16 races this season. But the notoriously slow starter may be about ready to make his move.

In four of the last five seasons, it took Stewart at last 14 races for his first victory, and it is the next 10 tracks, starting with New Hampshire, where Stewart generally has had the most success. His combined career numbers at the upcoming tracks include 18 of his 32 career victories, 59 top-fives, 91 top-10s and an average finish of 13.2.

By Mike Harris, AP Auto Racing Writer

Jeff Gordon continues to seek his first win of 2008, but no one will be holding a tag sale any time soon for the four-time Cup champion.

Even though he remains winless in the first 16 races, Gordon’s third-place finish Sunday at Sonoma, Calif., helped him jump three spots in the Sprint Cup standings.

He comes into Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ranked sixth.

With 10 races remaining, Gordon still is not a lock to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup 10-race playoff, but his odds have certainly improved, even if he still hasn’t won a race.

But until, if or when that happens, Gordon is still having a good year, no matter what the cynics keep saying.

Q. You’re so competitive that anything less than a win can be considered disappointing. Still, wasn’t finishing third a good day in the big picture of moving closer to qualifying for the Chase?

A. “Well, I’m disappointed the way we started the race. I really thought (Saturday that) we were going to be good on the long runs and instead, we were not. So I feel very fortunate that we finished third. Things really went our way to get that third. You know, when we’ve won out here in the past, we didn’t need things to go our way; we were good enough to make up for some of that. (Sunday) we weren’t.”

Q. What do you think about your former teammate, Kyle Busch, winning his first career road course race?

A. “I’m really impressed with Kyle, because I’ve been around him and I don’t think he’s a very good road racer. You know, obviously he’s maturing and he’s learning, and that’s what it’s going to take for him to maintain that points lead and be a factor and continue to win these races. If he can win (at Sonoma), it’s going to boost his confidence; he’s going to think he can win anywhere.  He might be able to.”

Q. You say this season has been disappointing, the same thing many of your cynical critics are saying, yet you’re up to sixth in the standings. How can you be disappointed, being that high in the rankings?

A. “As a team, we’re performing unbelievable. But it is very frustrating that the cars were so good last year, and this year, we’re just not where we need to be. I know that Hendrick Motorsports has the resources and I still feel like I have what it takes, and I know my team does. It’s been frustrating at times because when you don’t have the cars running the way you want them to, everybody starts to lose their confidence.  The team does, you do, and it only takes a few little things to click, and all of a sudden, you’re right back there and that’s what we constantly have to remind ourselves. We are very happy to be where we are in the points, feel pretty blessed to be honest with you, to be where we are in the points because I can’t necessarily say that it’s been from being awesome fast.”

By Jerry Bonkowski
GateHouse News Service

June 21, 2008
As silly season 2009 continues to pick up steam, the hottest seat in the NASCAR garage for next year appears to be the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by Casey Mears.

Despite Mears’ contract lasting through 2009, many of NASCAR’s top stars have been rumored to take over the seat. The names with the most weight attached to them in the rumor mill as of late are Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, and Tony Stewart.

Mears’ season has been full of disappointment thus far. Currently sitting at 27th in points, and at one point in danger of falling out of the top 35 cars in owners’ points locked into every race, Mears’ best finish so far has been seventh, at Martinsville and Talladega. Mears opened the season with a 35th at Daytona and a 42nd at Fontana, followed by another 42nd at Bristol three races later. Mears has led only one lap all season, at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte; a race he won last season.

Certainly driving for four teams in four seasons doesn’t help a driver’s psyche, or teach him anything about consistency, but the #5 team expects better from their driver - especially after Kyle Busch led the team to four wins and a Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award in three seasons.

Truex is highly unlikely to take the seat from Mears, after Dale Earnhardt Inc. exercised its contract option on him for 2009. However, Truex is a good friend of newest Hendrick driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., and could possibly be lured to the team that way. Since winning his first career race at Dover last season, Truex’s race finishes have been composed of hot streaks intertwined with many finishes of 30th or worse. Indeed, he only has one top-5 finish thus far this season (at Richmond) and sits 15th in points.

Bowyer’s contract also stipulates that he will drive for his current team, Richard Childress Racing, through 2009. However, that team is expanding from three cars to four. Combined with the presence of two top drivers already, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, and the potential addition of Ryan Newman for 2009, Bowyer may find himself the number four driver at RCR next season. However, with Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick, it’d be hard to see him any better off in the #5.

Bowyer’s performance may see a slight drop if he stays with the team next season. However, he hasn’t had any performance issues so far this season: he sits 12th in points, has one win, three top-5s, and an average finish of 16.9. Bowyer may not want to risk starting anew with a new team and crew chief Alan Gustafson, as his current partnership with Gil Martin has landed him in one Chase for the Cup and should keep him in this year’s title hunt.

Tony Stewart is the most interesting rumor of the bunch. Not only is he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing through 2009, the #5 car appears to be a fall-back option for him.

His current goal is to assume partial ownership of a team, which he may do with Haas CNC Racing. Stewart’s relationship with manufacturer Chevrolet is very strong, and he was reportedly not very pleased with Gibbs’ decision to leave them for Toyota this season. Stewart fields Chevrolets in USAC competition.

Stewart has also been the number-three driver at Gibbs this season as far as performance goes, as he is the only driver in the stable to not have won a Sprint Cup race thus far this season. (For the record, he’s won four Nationwide Series events in six tries.)

Stewart usually heats up late in the season, but to not have won through 15 races and be sitting 11th in points is a disappointing first part of the season for him.

The answer, however, may not lie in further change for either Mears or the #5 team. Since being shuffled from the #41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge in 2005, to the #42 CGR car in 2006, to the #25 at Hendrick last year, to the #5 in 2008, Mears has never truly had a chance to prove himself with any one team, and his best years should be yet to come.

Hendrick shouldn’t take a risk at going after any more contractually obligated drivers, let Mears fulfill his contract, and go driver-hunting again in 2009, when all of those mentioned above will truly be free agents. Perhaps Mears will break out and prove himself worthy of the #5.

by Chris Leone, Bleacherreport.com

June 22, 2008
SONOMA, Calif. — For David Gilliland, it always has seemed simple at Infineon Raceway, a tricky 1.99-mile road-course that gives other Sprint Cup series drivers serious fits.

Gilliland made his first Sprint Cup start at the track in June of 2006, but it wasn’t the first time he had raced at the venue. He had raced there while on the NASCAR Camping World West circuit and also in the NASCAR Southwest series, winning two events.

So it came as no surprise — at least to Gilliland — that he registered a Cup career-best second-place finish in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon. He said he owes much of his Infineon success to his father, Butch, formerly a formidable driver in his own right in what is now known as the Camping World West series.

“My dad has won here four times, and the first time I ever road raced I came here,” said Gilliland, who served as his father’s crew chief when Butch won the Camping World West series championship in 1997. “I had never road raced or nothing, and I qualified fourth. We broke a transmission then, but I just always came here with the attitude that if my dad could do it, I guess I can do it.

“I’ve never really taken any lessons on road racing. I’m just kind of at home here. It’s been good. It’s been a great racetrack for us.”

The only one better Sunday was race winner Kyle Busch, who said he once drove for the Gilliland family in a lower series when he was starting out as a driver.

“We’ve been friends kind of through the years,” said Busch, who recalled getting moved out of the way for a spot by Gilliland on the last lap of one of those early races.

It was ironic, then, that Busch felt all along that Gilliland wouldn’t attempt to do the same in the final laps Sunday — even though he said he knew how badly Gilliland hungers for his first Sprint Cup victory.

“To be racing with him at the end of the race was neat. I knew he would race me clean,” said Busch, who won his series-high fifth Cup race of the season. “I’ve got to thank him for doing that and also congratulate him on a great finish of his own.”

Jeff Gordon, who finished third right behind Gilliland, also said he was impressed with the way Gilliland smoothly negotiated his No. 38 Ford around the 12-turn Infineon beast.

“I wasn’t around him enough to know what he did most of the race, but there at the end he was definitely impressive,” Gordon said. “He was good on the restarts. He would get in there, and I thought he was going to have something for Kyle there at the end. I think actually if all the speedy-dry hadn’t been on the racetrack, he might have.

“Kyle did a great job. It shows all the talent he’s got and what a great team effort it was. But David really impressed me. I was happy for him; I like David a lot.”

The speedy-dry was on the track after a 12-minute delay when the race was red-flagged, following a late-race accident that removed three key players from contention and benefited Gilliland perhaps most of all.

It occurred in Turn 4 when Kevin Harvick drove his No. 29 Chevrolet in too deep, locked up the brakes, and got into the back of the No. 26 Ford of Jamie McMurray, who then hit the No. 20 Toyota being driven by Tony Stewart. All three cars had been running in the top five when Harvick, running fifth, attempted to pass Gilliland, who was running fourth, and set off the melee (watch video).

Much to the pleasure of Busch as well as Gilliland, the No. 38 Ford drove right through it all and into second place, where Gilliland remained the rest of the race.

“Everybody makes mistakes sometimes, but when Harvick comes up to me and runs his mouth like he did at Michigan [after an incident in a Craftsman Series truck race last weekend] and says all the stuff he did, he kind of stuck it right back in his mouth here this weekend. That was good to see,” Busch said.

Gilliland was just happy to survive the incident and come home with the best finish of his season and his Cup career.

“It looked like Harvick got in there and wheel-hopped a little bit. It was not on purpose. It was just one of those deals,” Gilliland said. “Turns 7 and 11 are dangerous, just for that deal. You try to get in as hard as you can, and if you wheel-hop the back tires at all, it’s trouble.

“It was close. It was right there in front of me, but we were able to get past it.”

Avoiding that kind of trouble was key to Gilliland’s strong day, as he ran in the top seven most of the sunny afternoon.

“We never got off the track, we never missed a beat, and our brakes were perfect,” Gilliland said. “That’s what it takes to do well on a road course: no mistakes.”

Gilliland said he hopes to build on it and help his employer, Yates Racing, and a full-time sponsor. The organization has been in search of one all season long.

“To come here and have a good day, we’re in a sponsor search right now for a full-time deal, so hopefully this will help. We’re just excited about it,” Gilliland said. “We had a terrible run last weekend [finishing 27th at Michigan]. This should help us build some momentum. We’re going to use this; we’re going to build this up.

“We ran strong all day long. We ran in the top six or seven 90 percent of the day, and I’m really proud of that. I’m just really proud, most of all, of Yates Racing and where we’ve come as a team — [fellow Yates driver] Travis Kvapil and I both — in the six months from where we ended the year last year. Yates Racing is definitely coming back, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM

6/22/2008
Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch and the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew made the right moves at the right times and he captured Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway. The No.18 M&M’s Toyota crossed the finish line 1.717 seconds ahead of David Gilliland.

The victory was Busch’s fifth of the season and ninth of his Sprint Cup career.

Twice Busch made pit stops just before a caution flag and it set him up with the lead on the final run to the checkered flag. He was never really challenged over the final 40 laps and led a total of 77 laps.

“These guys worked so hard,” said Busch. “This is really special. We came a long ways with this thing. That’s what makes me so proud of this team.”

Kasey Kahne, winner of three of the last five races and Friday’s pole, brought the field to the green flag for 110 laps of road-course fun. He led them through the first laps, but it was Robby Gordon that was showing the most speed. The No.7 Dodge started eighth but by the end of the third lap he was already past road-course ace Jeff Gordon and into fourth place.

Also of note was that Kahne was reporting to his pit crew that he had already lost first gear. Jimmie Johnson caught Kahne on lap five and passed him in Turn 11 to grab the lead and five bonus points.

Robby Gordon, who only knows one way to drive - at 110-percent, took third place from a fading Kahne on lap eight.

Meanwhile, Johnson was out for a “Sunday drive” with the clean air built his lead to almost four seconds after a dozen laps. Two drivers who looked strong early were Carl Edwards and rookie Marcos Ambrose. Also of note, defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya cracked the top-10 on lap 13.

Edwards was on the move and got around both Robby Gordon and Busch for second place on lap 21. He was more than four second behind the two-time series champion. But Edwards was faster than Johnson and began to eat into his lead. Johnson’s lead was under one second at lap 28 as Edwards closed on the No.48 Chevrolet. A caution flag on lap 30, cause by David Ragan, slowed Edwards’ assault on Johnson.

Differing pit stop strategies, left Greg Biffle, Montoya and Busch at the front of the line. Johnson came out 11th, but the first of those who had pitted.

Biffle led for just three corners before spinning and when the smoke had cleared, Busch had slid underneath Montoya to grab the lead. Busch quickly built a two-second lead on Montoya.

In the middle of the field, Edwards got around Johnson and began to slowly move his way past those who had not stopped at the last caution flag.

Busch, Montoya and McMurray stayed in line at the front, although Busch built the lead to more than three seconds by lap 50.

In this “strategy race,” the question for every crew chief is when they would make their final stops. Last year, Montoya made his final stop on lap 68 and after everyone had cycled through he was left with the lead and the only question was could he stretch his fuel to the checkered flag. He did and won the race.

The drivers were mostly staying in line waiting for the final pit stop and run to the checkered flag. Exceptions were Edwards who cracked the top-five on lap 62 and Ambrose was also climbing - he was up to ninth. By lap 65 Edwards was up to fourth and Ambrose to seventh.

Gilliland pitted on lap 66, the first of the top-10 drivers to pit.

Could he go 44 laps on a tank of fuel?

Jeff Burton came in on the next lap as did Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in on lap 68. Busch came in on lap 69 as did Montoya, McMurray and Tony Stewart.

Then on the next lap Robby Gordon and Max Papis made contact and it brought out the caution flag.

With the caution flag in the middle of pit stops, the advantage went to those who had stopped before the yellow…the opposite of what you want at an oval track.

The remainder of the cars stopped when pit lane was opened on lap 71.

The race would restart with Busch, Montoya and McMurray again leading the way. Behind them were Ambrose, Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Ron Fellows.

Montoya, McMurray and Ambrose got together in Turn 11 when Ambrose tried to make a pass on the No.26 Ford. The end result was Montoya getting knocked back to 15th place and Ambrose taking over second.

McMurray fought back and passed Ambrose as the crossed the start/finish line to start lap 77. Ambrose began to fade as Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Elliott Sadler all got around the rookie. Then Ambrose’s transmission blew and his great day was over.

Busch again built a comfortable lead, almost three seconds at lap 90, 20 to go. Without a caution flag it appeared that it was Busch’s race to lose - assuming he had enough fuel to go 41 laps on his final fill up. His margin back to McMuray at lap 100 was more than four seconds.

But then David Reutimann slammed into the tire barrier with nine laps to go and it brought out a full-course caution flag. The yellow erased Busch’s big lead and gave those chasing him one last chance to catch him.

It took a while to dig Reutimann’s Toyota out of the tire barrier and the green flag dropped with six laps to go. Busch got a great start, but McMurray slipped off the track in the first turn and Stewart stole second from him.

A couple of turns later Harvick went in too hot, hit McMurray who in turn hit Stewart sending all three cars spinning. The accident also collected Ron Fellows who was set for a top-six finish.

The race would restart on lap 107 with Busch leading Gilliland and Jeff Gordon. But they couldn’t get in even one green-flag lap completed before the caution flag came out again.

The red flag came out to clean up the multi-car accident and officials declared the race would go to lap 112 on a green-white-checker finish. Busch got off to another great restart and was never challenged the rest of the way.

Jeff Gordon, Bowyer and Casey Mears completed the top-five. Montoya finished sixth.

Busch’s win gives him a 103-point lead over Burton heading to the next race - set for Sunday, June 29th at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

by: The Sporting News