Congratulations to Jimmy Johnson on his sixth win of the season. He will start the chase with 5060 points, 20 points ahead of his teammate Jeff Gordon.
Dale Earnhardt Jr failed to make the big show; the NASCAR Chase to the Cup. Junior blew an engine with 5 laps to go to finish 30th. Junior ran up front most of the night, starting 21st and running as high as second.
But it’s not like he didn’t try. Junior was driving like he was running from the cops. Kevin Harvick had overheating problems when he avoided an accident and went through the grass to avoid spinning cars. He picked up a lot of grass in his front grill, which caused some overheating out of the overflow. But the 29 crew cleaned out the grill and the temps dropped. But Harvick had to sit out a red flag and watch all that water escape.
Kurt Busch was also involved in the crash and had extensive damage to the rear of the car. But not enough damage was done and the filler neck was fine to receive fuel. He was later declared clinched when several cars were out.
ESPN kept figuring the points every time a car dropped out to check Harvick’s position. And with 20 laps to go, Kevin Harvick clinched his position in the Chase.
Junior was interviewed after he parked the car. He was upset over another engine problem, but thanked his crew and Tony Eury Jr for a good job.
A busy week of changes and resignings this week that I noted in my recent post. Hendrick Motorsports resigned with General Motors as Joe Gibbs Racing signed with Toyota. Robert Yates will retire at the end of 2007 from his active roll with Robert Yates Racing.
