A big crash on the restart,
which caught up Chase contender Mark Martin, only delayed Stewart’s race back to the lead. When the restart came
with 11 to go, Stewart wasted little time getting by Earnhardt to take the lead.
Jimmie Johnson, who restarted
fourth, made a dash for Stewart, but was unable to close. He finished second and trails the championship lead by just
26 points with three races remaining.
Earnhardt held on after
a close battle with Matt Kenseth to finish third. He now trails the points lead by 84. Kenseth finished fourth and
maintained his hold on the top of the standings.
Non-Chaser Greg Biffle
was fifth. After a tough day that including hitting the wall and being rear-ended by Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon finished
sixth and kept hopes of a fifth championship barely alive. Carl Edwards used his two tire strategy to finish seventh,
where he ran most of the race.
Rookie and Chase contender
Denny Hamlin rebounded from laps down and came back to finish eighth and is now only 65 points out of first. Joe Nemechek
finished ninth, and Robby Gordon was 10th.
For the second straight week,
Jeff Burton suffered problems. A flat tire with less than 50 laps to go, put him more than two laps down, but he was
able to rally to a 13th place finish. Despite the setback, he is still within reach of the championship, just 84 points
back.
Questions, Comments;
Email Jordan
The views and opinions in this article are
that of the writer and not necessarily that of SCR
2006 StockCar Review.
