It's crunch time in the NASCAR season. Just five
races are left on the schedule. For those hoping to win the championship, it's
to that point where every race really counts now. Jeff Burton showed he's one
of those title contenders, taking the win Saturday night in the Bank of America
500 at Charlotte. Burton led 58 laps on his way to his second win of the
Sprint Cup season.
Jimmie Johnson (who's 67 laps led was the most) finished sixth.
Burton moved up two spots to second in the standings. He trails Jimmie Johnson
by 69 points. Putting that in some perspective,
Jeff Gordon led Johnson by
68 points at this time last year. So as Johnson proved a year ago, that deficit
can be made up in five races.
The race was slowed for caution ten times for 49 laps. Two of those yellow
flags that were brought out involved Chase drivers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought
out the fourth caution on lap 104 when a blown tire put him into the wall in
turn two. He finished 36th. The seventh caution was brought on lap 196.
Matt Kenseth got caught up
in a wreck that also involved
Travis Kvapil, Tony Raines,
Bill Elliott, and
Chad McCumbee. Kenseth was not able to continue and officially finished
41st.
One driver who had been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons was
Carl Edwards. He took the
blame for the second big wreck at Talladega, which took him along with several
other Chase drivers out of the race. Earlier in the week, that started a war of
words between him and Kevin Harvick. The two had the confrontation in the garage Thursday at the
Lowe's Motor Speedway. Still photos of the fight had surfaced on the internet
by the weekend.
Saturday night didn't go much better for Edwards. Early in the race, he lost a
lap on pit road after he had to stop because of a vibration. Later in the race,
more mechanical problems put him far back in the race. He wound up 33rd,
dealing his title hopes a major hit.
After Burton, Kasey Kahne
finished second followed by the Busch brothers (Kurt 3rd, Kyle 4th) and
Jamie McMurray fifth.
After Johnson, Chase drivers Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon followed with
Mark Martin and David Ragan rounding out the top ten. Other Chase finishes:
Tony Stewart 11th, Clint Bowyer 12th, Kevin Harvick
13th, and
Denny Hamlin 16th.
There was not much movement in the point standings. Burton moved up two spot
while Edwards fell two. Kyle Busch also went up two places with Matt Kenseth down two. As far as the
standings are concerned, Johnson leads with Burton in second, 68 points behind.
Greg Biffle is third (-86),
Carl Edwards fourth (-168),
Clint Bowyer fifth (-185),
Kevin Harvick sixth
(-207), Tony Stewart seventh
(-228), Jeff Gordon eighth
(-245), Kyle Busch ninth
(-326), Dale Earnhardt Jr. tenth (-354), Matt Kenseth 11th (-360), and Denny
Hamlin 12th (-380).
NASCAR will be at the
Martinsville Speedway this coming weekend. The Truck Series will race
Saturday in the
Kroger 200. The Sprint
Cup Series will race Sunday in the TUMS QuikPak 500.
By: CrimsonCowboy