After a nearly 20 lap
side-by-side battle, Burton
finally managed to get around Kenseth and set sail on his way to the victory. Kenseth seemed assured of second until
he ran out of gas with two to go. He finished 10th and trails Burton by 18
points in the standings.
Carl Edwards overcame
missing his pit stall to finish second. Jeff Gordon used a third place finish to jump two spots in the points. He
now trails first by just six points. Non-Chasers Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Martin Truex Jr. appeared
to have a car good enough to contend for the win, but after getting trapped in the pits when the caution came out on lap 298,
he could never quite recapture his track position and ended up sixth. Bobby Labonte had a strong seventh place finish. Despite
late engine problems, rookie Clint Bowyer finished eighth.
Chaser Denny Hamlin struggled
to get a handle on the tough Monster Mile, but pit strategy and a little luck kept him in the hunt, and he finished ninth. He
now sits just 18 points out of the lead.
Jimmie Johnson fell off
the lead lap, but a 13th place finish kept his championship hopes alive, moving him up to eighth in the standings. He
trails the leader by 136 points. Mark Martin finished just behind Johnson in 14th and is now 75 points behind Burton.
Heading into Dover,
Kevin Harvick had won two straight races and held the points lead. He appeared headed toward a decent finish until his
engine let go with 34 laps remaining. He finished 32nd and dropped to fifth in the standings, 54 points back.
Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch
continued their bad luck in the Chase, likely ending their title hopes. Kahne was caught up in an early crash with Tony
Stewart, finishing 34th. He is currently 182 points out of first. Kyle Busch suffered engine failure and finished
40th. He now must overcome a 224 point deficit to first with eight races remaining in the Chase if he hopes to win the
Championship.
Questions, Comments;
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The views and opinions in this article are
that of the writer and not necessarily that of SCR
2006 StockCar Review.
