Samsung 500 Race Review

Texas Motor Speedway -- 04/06/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Apr 7 2008 12:40am

Carl Edwards exerted himself Sunday as the driver to beat in the young Sprint Cup season, posting his third win in seven races and doing so in relatively dominating fashion.

Edwards started on the outside pole for Texas Motor Speedway's Samsung 500 and led 123 of 339 laps for the victory.

The 99 car seemed to be dialed in from the moment it unloaded in Texas. Edwards ran second in practice Friday morning and led both the Friday afternoon and Happy Hour practices, along with qualifying second.

The Roush-Fenway driver is currently 10th in the point standings, but would be 4th if not for the 100-point penalty assessed for a loose oil tank lid after his Las Vegas win last month. Still, three wins in seven races is impressive, though Edwards didn't think his car was as dominant as it looked. "Our car - I didn't feel like at any point in the race it was spectacular. I had to fight with it all day. It was really difficult and it was just kind of a lesser of evils, or however you put that, and we kind of found something that worked and that's what we stuck with."

Edwards was one of five drivers who led laps during the race, not counting the two led by Martin Truex as a result of pit cycles. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who brought the field to green and paced the early going, led 31 laps before the car's handling slipped away. Other laps leaders included Matt Kenseth (68), Jimmie Johnson (65), and Kyle Busch (50).

Earnhardt Jr. was the only driver among the top five starters who failed to finish in the top five after 500 miles of racing. Earnhardt started on the pole but finished 12th, while the others came in as follows:

Carl Edwards - started 2nd - finished 1st
Kyle Busch - started 3rd - finished 3rd
Ryan Newman - started 4th - finished 4th
Jimmie Johnson - started 5th - finished 2nd

Of note, Ryan Newman's car failed post-race tech, measuring too high in the right rear quarter panel. There is a potential of monetary and/or points penalties being assessed to the 12 team this week.

It was a relatively tame (read: boring) race overall, with just six cautions - three for single car spins, two for debris, and one for oil on the track. One of those spins, however, was by Jeff Gordon, who dropped like a rock through the field from the start and finally lost it in turn 4, slapping the wall on lap 110. The 24 car returned to the track briefly after the wreck, but only for a self-described test session, finishing the race in last place, 215 laps down.

Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte seemed baffled all weekend, apparently unable to hit on a setup that suited both the driver and the track. Texas is one of just two tracks where Gordon has never posted a Cup victory. "I just don't think I have ever been very good at Texas," said Gordon. "That is why we have never won here. But we have had our moments when the car has been really good. But you know what, when the car is off, I am lost here. I mean, I haven't felt this lost since my rookie year at a race track."

This was the first race on this 1-1/2 mile oval for the COT, and very few drivers seemed to actually like their cars. For example, despite finishing second, Jimmie Johnson said he was "really shocked today at how bad the cars drove in traffic." Kyle Busch, who finished third, said, "We battled the car all day long and couldn't really ever get it right. Was it fun to driveΔ No. Did it survive the dayΔ Yes." Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, "It's frustrating. Just a thousandth of an inch adjustment can just mess things up."

Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick ran well enough to maintain their 1-2 standings in the points, finishing 6th and 11th respectively, while Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth all improved their positions.

Among those who slipped in the standings was Greg Biffle, who finished 39th with engine woes and fell six spots to 9th. Also slipping was Kasey Kahne, who finished 25th and fell five spots to 12th, and Gordon, whose last-place finish dropped him out of the top 12, sliding five spots to 14th.

The top four drivers Sunday were one from each manufacturer - Carl Edwards in a Ford, Jimmie Johnson in a Chevy, Kyle Busch in a Toyota, and Ryan Newman in a Dodge.

There were four DNFs other than Gordon's: Martin Truex Jr. was running sixth with 20 laps to go when his car started smoking; the engine eventually expired and Truex finished 36th. David Reutimann also had an engine failure, John Andretti broke a suspension, and J.J. Yeley spun out and hit the wall.

Michael McDowell, the Sprint Cup rookie who had that horrific qualifying crash Friday, ran a clean race and finished 33rd. "I feel great after running 500 miles," said McDowell. "I wish we would have had a better finish, but I am glad we were able to go the distance today."