NASCAR Nextel Cup enters foreign territory today at the road course at Sonoma, CA known as Infineon Raceway. But there are Nextel Cup regulars like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart & Robby Gordon who are as good on a road course as an oval. And the road course specialists like Boris Said, Scott Pruett & Ron Fellows are competitive on a road course and always make things interesting. Kurt Busch won the pole.
The red flag comes out after a lap 1 crash. Ken Schrader-#21 Little Debbie's Ford spun and is hit hard by Sterling Marlin-#14 Waste Management Chevy & Tom Hubert-#27 Ford. Casey Mears-#42 Texaco Havoline Dodge, Clint Bowyer-#07 Jack Daniels Chevy & Jamie McMurray-#26 Crown Royal Ford were also involved. Everyone was OK Marlin & Schrader were out of the race and those two can't afford any more bad finishes as they could drop out of the top 35 in points. Kurt Busch-#2 Miller Lite Dodge leads the first part of the race. After green flag pit stops on lap 35, Kevin Harvick-#29 GM Goodwrench Chevy leads but Ryan Newman-#12 Alltel Dodge takes the lead on lap 38.
Jeff Gordon#24 Dupont Chevy takes the lead on lap 51. After green flag pit stops, we have a surprise leader. Terry Labonte-#96 DLP Chevy pitted during a caution on lap 62. He leads at lap 80. Crew chief Felippe Lopez says Labonte isn't stopping and will try to win the race on fuel mileage. Gordon takes the lead back on lap 88. Labonte stays out. Does he have enough fuel?
Kevin Harvick & Tony Stewart-#20 Home Depot Chevy both have trouble. Harvick has a loose wheel on lap 84 and finishes 24th. Stewart's engine is dying on lap 92. He limps the car home for a 28th place finish. Another big crash brings out the red flag on lap 105. Dale Jarrett-#88 UPS Ford, Bobby Labonte-#43 Cheerios Dodge & JJ Yeley-#18 Interstate Batteries Chevy are all wrecked and towed away. When the green comes back out with three laps left, Newman passes Labonte for second and Gordon holds on for the win.
Congratulations to Jeff Gordon, crew chief Steve LeTarte & car owner Rick Hendrick. Terry Labonte's third place was the first top ten finish for the new Hall Of Fame Racing team owned by Roger Staubach & Troy Aikman. And a big top ten finish for road race ace Boris Said in his first race in his new team owned by Said, crew chief Frank Stoddard and the No Fear clothing company. Said has a long standing relationship with No Fear. Jimmie Johnson finished 10th and still leads the points. The Nextel Cup boys are in Daytona next Saturday. Here's the top ten of the race.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.24/Jeff Gordon/Dupont/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
2.12/Ryan Newman/Alltel/Dodge/Roger Penske
3.96/Terry Labonte/DLP/Chevy/Roger Staubach & Troy Aikman
4.16/Greg Biffle/National Guard/Ford/Jack Roush
5.2/Kurt Busch/Miller Lite/Dodge/Roger Penske
6.99/Carl Edwards/Office Depot/Ford/Jack Roush
7.31/Jeff Burton/Cingular/Chevy/Richard Childress
8.38/Elliott Sadler/Pedigree Dog Food/Ford/Robert Yates
9.60/Boris Said/SoBe Energy Drink/Ford/No Fear Racing
10.48/Jimmie Johnson/Lowe's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
No comments:
Post a Comment