 |
| Kyle
Busch gets a hug from team owner Rick Hendrick in
Victory Lane. Credit: Autostock |
Lap 255: Kyle Busch wins his first Nextel Cup
race, followed by Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers.
Lap 254: Busch pulls out to a 10-car length
lead.
Lap 253: It's Busch and Biffle with two laps
to go.
Lap 247: Scott Riggs and Sterling Marlin
touch, sending Riggs to the wall. Also involved, Robby
Gordon and Scott Wimmer. And the yellow's out. And we're
headed for another green-white-checkered finish.
Lap 244: Kyle Busch goes right back to the
front on the drop of the green.
Lap 242: Frantic pit stops, Kyle Busch, Biffle
and Vickers may have taken two tires to get out front.
Robby Gordon and Jeff Green apparently stayed out.
Lap 241: Caution for debris.
Lap 240: Ten to go. It's Kyle Busch, Kenseth,
Stewart, Kahne and Edwards, as Brian Vickers gets around
Mark Martin for sixth. Jeff Gordon has slipped all the
way back to 29th.
Lap 234: Make it a three-second lead for Busch
over Kenseth. Stewart passes Edwards for third.
Lap 228: Kyle Busch leads Edwards by nearly
two seconds.
Lap 216: It's Busch, Kenseth and Stewart as
the green flies.
Lap 212: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet
is smoking heavily as he turns directly into the garage.
That'll bring out the caution and officially end
Junior's Chase hopes.
Lap 210: And Busch says bye-bye to Kenseth as
he grabs the lead.
Lap 209: Right now, Ryan Newman and Jeff
Gordon have the same number of points.
Lap 205: Green again.
Lap 200: Will this be the last pit stop?
Everyone is claiming they can make 50 laps, with a full
tank of gas. It's Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Martin,
Edwards out first.
Lap 198: Boris Said brings out the caution
with another spin.
Lap 192: Stewart gets back by Kahne, as does
Kenseth.
Lap 187: Kasey Kahne is on the charge. He's up
to second place behind Busch.
Lap 174: And Busch blasts by Stewart once
again.
Lap 171: It's Stewart around Kenseth, just
like last time. And Kyle Busch is charging again.
Elliott Sadler is 33rd after a couple of extra pit
stops.
Lap 170: Green again, with Kenseth in
front.
Lap 166: Pit stops under way. It's Kenseth,
followed by Stewart, Martin, Kyle Busch and Biffle.
Lap 164: Carl Edwards, who was 38th after his
spin earlier, is back up to eighth. Caution is out as
Mike Bliss spins coming out of Turn 2. Boris Said will
get his lap back.
Lap 160: Busch now nearly a full second in
front of Stewart, two seconds in front of third-place
Kenseth and three ahead of fourth-place Martin.
Lap 152: And Kyle Busch motors past Stewart
for the lead.
Lap 150: Stewart moves to the point while Kyle
Busch moves past Kenseth to second.
Lap 149: Green, green, green. Kenseth pulls
Stewart into Turn 1 as the field follows. Kurt Busch is
31st after bringing out the yellow.
Lap 145: Here comes the field onto pit road.
Kenseth beats Stewart to the end line, followed by
Martin, Kyle Busch and Sterling Marlin. However, Jeff
Green stayed out and led that lap.
Lap 144: The caution comes out as Kurt Busch
spins through the frontstretch grass, possibly because
of another flat tire. Rusty Wallace will get his lap
back.
Lap 139: After changing a shock during the
last pit stop, Jimmie Johnson is all the way back up to
12th.
Lap 136: Ricky Rudd is up to 13th in his 777th
consecutive start.
Lap 125: Halfway and the sun is down behind
the mountains, so the track is now entirely in shade.
Stewart remains the leader.
Lap 121: Waltrip already falling to seventh.
Two tires? Not a good idea.
Lap 119: Green flag, and Stewart immediately
passes Waltrip for the lead.
Lap 116: Michael Waltrip goes to the front
with a two-tire stop, followed by Stewart, Martin,
Biffle.
Lap 115: The caution flag flies for debris.
Everybody's coming back to the pits for tires and fuel.
Kevin Harvick should get his lap back.
Lap 112: Stewart leads Martin by .995 seconds,
followed by Biffle and the Busch brothers.
Lap 99: The green comes out and Stewart gets
past Rusty Wallace to put him a lap down. Jimmie Johnson
and Jeremy Mayfield are running 32nd and 33rd.
Lap 96: Great time for teams to get gas and
fresh rubber. It's Mayfield, Stewart, Martin and Kyle
Busch ahead of the pack. Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick and
Boris Said are a lap down to the leaders.
Lap 94: Hermie Sadler is sitting sideways near
the inside wall on the backstretch, which brings out the
caution. Rusty Wallace had just made a pit stop under
green.
Lap 83: Kyle Busch becomes the first non-Roush
driver to lead a lap.
Lap 81: Little brother Kyle Busch is closing
quickly on big brother Kurt, trailing by .093
seconds.
Lap 80: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now 19th after
starting 39th.
Lap 70: Edwards has moved back up to 28th but
Jeff Gordon remains mired in 31st, which would leave him
out of the Chase at this point.
Lap 59: Casey Mears with an unscheduled stop
for a vibration.
Lap 58: Three Chevrolets -- Johnson, Stewart
and Kyle Busch -- are dicing for second. It's Stewart,
Kyle Busch and Johnson at the line.
Lap 56: Jimmie Johnson nudges the wall but
continues in third, then blasts by Tony Stewart on the
backstretch.
Lap 51: Green flag with Busch in the lead.
Edwards is 37th.
Lap 48: Pit stops for the leaders, as Kurt
Busch, Stewart, Johnson, Vickers and Kyle Busch lead
everyone back out on the track.
Lap 47: Leader Carl Edwards has a flat left
rear tire and loops it in Turn 4 and somehow avoided
slapping the wall as the caution comes out for the third
time.
Lap 42: Jeff Gordon has dropped to 34th.
Lap 36: Kyle Busch and Michael Waltrip have
moved their way into the top 10.
Lap 27: Green flag, as Edwards moves to the
point on the restart.
Lap 24: Here comes the entire field down pit
road. It's Biffle, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Johnson and
Martin leading the way out.
Lap 23: Mike Garvey brings out the second
caution with smoke coming from the No. 66 Ford.
Lap 20: Matt Kenseth is 26th and dropping.
Apparently he rubbed the wall earlier in the race -- and
he's having vision issues with the sun setting.
Lap 14: Casey Mears has gained 13 spots to
21st.
Lap 11: Greg Biffle gets around Busch to lead
at the line, while Tony Stewart is up to fifth after
starting 14th.
Lap 6: Martin brings the field to the flag as
Kurt Busch makes the pass heading into Turn 1.
Lap 2: Mark Martin moves to the front as the
four Roush Racing cars plan to lead at least one lap.
J.J. Yeley spins into the outside wall in Turn 4 and
everyone else misses him.
Lap 1: Tommy Lasorda waves the green flag as
Carl Edwards brings the field down.
8:16 p.m.: Ricky Rudd will drop to the
back.
8:13 p.m.: How do you say "crank 'em up,
boys?" in Valley Girl speak?
7:41 p.m.: Another California native gets some
air time: Jeff Gordon. So now we're only missing Robby
Gordon and Boris Said.
7:34 p.m.: Dale Jarrett on his little to-do
with Ryan Newman at Bristol: "Last week's over." Ryan
Newman's response: "Tough situation with the Chase and
last week." Kevin Harvick keeps a stiff upper lip.
7:24 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson home movies,
starring Casey Mears!
7:00 p.m.: It's 93 degrees in Fontana, and
Bill, Wally and Benny are sitting in suits. |
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