LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Race Review

New Hampshire International Speedway -- 06/29/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Jun 30 2008 3:12am

If you bet on Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip, and J.J. Yeley to be the top three finishers in Loudon, I have a question for you …

Can I borrow some moneyΔ

Okay, I'm just kidding about the loan. But I figure anyone who picked that trio to finish where they did Sunday - especially Waltrip and Yeley - must have made a fortune.

The end of the race turned out to be a continuation of qualifying here, with rain seriously altering the final outcome. In both cases, at least some of the top finishers were teams that typically don't perform quite that well.

The unexpected finishing order was the result of a combination of pit strategy, the timing of a late-race caution, and the rain-shortened finish. Four drivers - Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - had combined to lead 268 of the race's 284 laps but, of the four, only Mears would finish in the top 10.

The race actually began under sunny skies despite a threat of rain in the forecast, and the first 86 laps were run caution free. Kevin Harvick, who started third, took the lead on lap 5 and held onto it until lap 44 when he was passed by Earnhardt Jr.

When a caution came out on lap 86 and the leaders pitted, Casey Mears stayed out, inheriting the lead that he maintained until nearly the halfway point of the race. After pitting for the second caution on lap 141, Tony Stewart beat Mears off pit road to take over the top spot.

Stewart then dominated the second half of the race, leading 132 laps in all.

On lap 271, a bizarre incident involving Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and David Ragan brought the caution out again. Earnhardt Jr. was heading for pit road when he was slammed by McMurray coming off turn four, who later said he was not aware that Jr. was pitting. David Ragan was also caught up in the collision.

The leaders then pitted for what would likely have been their final stops of the race. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie
Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who had been running behind Stewart, took fuel only, while Stewart opted for two tires.

A number of teams further back in the running order stayed out, including Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Casey Mears and Bobby Labonte.

With the running order now sufficiently shuffled, the race restarted on lap 278 with Busch in the lead. Just 12 laps later, on lap 284, the rain started and the race was quickly called. All eight drivers in the group that stayed out finished in the top 10, along with Hamlin at 8th and Johnson at 9th. Jeff Gordon finished 11th and Tony Stewart ,13th.

In another strange incident, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch, who appeared to trade point for several laps near the end of the race, wrecked just four laps before the red flag when Montoya turned Busch under caution. After the race, Juan Pablo told a national TV audience that it was intentional.

In terms of points, the top six drivers all maintained their positions, though Jeff Burton narrowed the deficit from 103 to 64 points behind Busch.

On the other hand, every driver from 7th through 24th in the standings changed positions. The biggest mover in the top 12 was Tony Stewart, climbing two spots to 9th despite his disappointing 13th-place finish.

Also of note, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick swapped 12th and 13th place, with Kenseth falling out of Chase contention this week by 15 points.

Kurt Busch's win propelled him up four points in the standings, though he remains well below the Chase cutoff at 18th. Jamie McMurray fell four places to 24th.

One other surprising statistic - the top 15 cars consisted of six Chevys, five Dodges, and four Toyotas. The highest finishing Ford driver was Carl Edwards at 17th.

This week, it's back to Saturday night racing as the series returns to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400. It will be an impound race - but more on that in my race preview later this week.