Kyle Busch may not be the sport's most popular
driver right now among the majority of the fans, but there is no doubt that
he's the hottest on the track right now. It's incredible to think that a
driver who just turned 23 years old could be having this type of season in
NASCAR right now. He contined his awesome year Sunday at the Dover
International Speedway in
Delaware. He won his fourth race of the season, taking the checkered
flag at the
Best Buy 400. He led 158 of the event's 400 laps. It's his fourth win
in his initial season with
Joe Gibbs. He's also built a good lead in the point standings. He now
leads second place Jeff Burton by 142 points. To put Busch's season in some
perspective, Burton is the only driver within 270 points of Kyle in the
standings.
For Dover standards, there were few cautions. The
race was slowed for yellow flags only five times. But, the day's first
caution was the headline of the race. On lap 19, David Gilliland got into
Elliott Sader, turning him around. The result was a twelve car pile up on the
back stretch.
Tony Stewart T-Boned Elliott Sadler's Dodge. Then to cause further
trouble, Denny Hamlin did not slow down through the area of the wreckage,
causing the wreck to be bigger. The wreck also claimed
Dale Earnhardt Jr,
Kasey Kahne,
Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard,
Bill Elliott,
Kevin Harvick, Scott Riggs, and Bobby Labonte. Six of the twelve involved were in the top twelve in the
point standings going into the race. Needless to say, that wreck ruined the
day for several top drivers. Kahne finished in 31st, Earnhardt in 35th,
Bowyer in 36th, Harvick in 38th, with Stewart, Sadler, and Hamlin finishing i
n the final three spots in the 43 car field in that order.
It was a good day for the Roush-Fenway team at
Dover
on Sunday. That organization placed three drivers in the top five.
Carl Edwards continued his solid season with a second place run. Pole sitter
Greg Biffle led the most laps (164) on his way to a third place finsh
with
Matt Kenseth coming in fourth. Biffle was also the big gainer on the
day in the point standings, moving up six spots to fifth.
For
Jeff Gordon, it was kind of a quiet day for him, but he did get a good
finish. The DuPont Chevy finished fifth and also moved up four spots in the
point standings to sixth. Last year's winner of this race,
Martin Truex Jr. followed in sixth with Jimmie Johnson seventh. Jeff
Burton rallied from a 38th place start to finish up in eighth. The top ten
was rounded out by Dave Blaney and Jamie McMurray. Other notable finishes
were Juan Pablo Montoya in 12th, Ryan Newman in 14th, and
Kurt Busch in 20th.
Sunday also marked the 13th race of the Sprint Cup
schedule. We are now halfway through the "regular season" part of the season,
leading up to The Chase for the Championship, which starts in September at
New Hampshire.
Of note, this was the final race on the television
schedule for Fox this season. They will next broadcast next year's
Daytona 500. TNT will broadcast the next six Sprint Cup races before
ESPN and ABC take over the rest of the season.
As for next weekend, the Truck Series will race
Friday Night at the Texas Motor Speedway for the Sam's Town 400. The
Nationwide Series make their second visit of the season to the Nashville
Superspeedway
Saturday night. The Sprint Cup Series will be at Pocono Raceway Sunday
for the
Pocono 500.
By: CrimsonCowboy