Clint Bowyer must have seen the clouds part and the sun shine through after crossing the finish line of the Subway Jalapeno 250 held at the Daytona International Speedway on Friday night. The win was his first victory of 2009 on the Nationwide Series and the seventh of his career and it couldn’t have come at a better time for him and Richard Childress Racing, which also claimed its first win of 2009 on the Nationwide Series. The boost in confidence and wins must be a welcome feeling for Richard Childress Racing and all the people that work with them, after recent events which included their cutting back due to the reorganization of General Motors.

Clint Bowyer wins first Nationwide Series race of 2009

The final result of the race had been in doubt for most of the race, with several accidents that eventually resulted in the race going two laps beyond the scheduled 250. Bowyer became the winner after a six car wreck resulted in the race being stopped under caution, which made a winner of the 2008 Nationwide Series champion.

Kyle Busch was able to stay close to the front and made a final push that allowed him to finish second and increase his lead in the Nationwide Series standings to 172 points over Carl Edwards, who finished in third place. Busch’s team mate, Joey Logano, had a pretty good race, he was able to stay out of the trouble that occurred on the track and finished fourth. Kasey Kahne made a late push at fourth, but wasn’t able to over take Joey Logano, and had to settle for fifth. Brad Keselowski had another good showing, adding needed points to his total, with a sixth place finish. Brian Vickers showed up for this race, and while he was able to run pretty fast, only managed seventh. Justin Allgaier was a surprise top-ten finisher, but it’s nice to see him making progress, with an eighth place finish. David Ragan had another good showing, and it looked like he might finish better, than the ninth place he finished in. Kevin Harvick started out good, and looked like he might challenge for the win, but eventually lost ground and had to settle for tenth place.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Transactions:
- Hendrick Motorsports has announced the release of Casey Mears for next season.
- Richard Childress Racing has extended Clint Bowyer’s contract through 2011.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has extended Greg Biffle’s contract through 2011.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports has signed Elliott Sadler through 2010.
- Richard Childress Racing has announced the addition of the #33 car as a fourth Cup team in 2009.
- Petty Enterprises has signed Bobby LaBonte through 2012.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has signed Carl Edwards through 2011.
- Due to a lack of sponsorship, Chip Ganassi Racing is forced to shut down the no. 40 car driven by Dario Franchitti for the remainder of the season.
- Hendrick Motorsports has signed Mark Martin to drive the no. 5 car full-time in 2009 and part-time in 2010.
- Tony Stewart announced his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing to go to Stewart Haas Racing (formerly Haas CNC Racing) as a 50% owner and a full-time driver in 2009.
- Ryan Newman has announced that he will not re-sign with Penske Racing for the 2009 season.
- JTG Dougherty Racing has signed Marcos Ambrose to drive their new no. 47 entry in the Sprint Cup Series next year.
- Martin Truex Jr. has re-signed with DEI for the 2009 season.
- HOF Racing has released JJ Yeley and will replace him with Brad Coleman in the no. 96 car.

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. - No. 01 car
- Penske Racing - No. 12 car
- Stewart Haas Racing - No. 4 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. - No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing - No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing - No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing - No. 22 car
- Yates Racing - No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing - No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports - No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing - No. 41 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- JJ Yeley
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

*Credit photo to Newscom.

This week NASCAR heads to Waktins Glen International for one of their two road course races of the season on the Sprint Cup Series schedule. The race comes just one week after NASCAR made history for itself when they raced in the rain last Saturday in the Nationwide Series in Montreal, which most critics feel came off as a huge success. As of right now there are no plans to break out the rain tires on Sunday, but there’s still plenty to look forward to with just five races remaining until the cutoff for the Chase.

Recent Winners:
2007 - Tony Stewart
2006 - Kevin Harvick
2005 - Tony Stewart

Recent Polesitters:
2007 - Jeff Gordon
2006 - Kurt Busch
2005 - “Rained Out”

the Usual Suspects:
Tony Stewart is in the midst of the longest winless streak in his Sprint Cup career, but that should be of little concern to the no. 20 team this weekend. ‘Smoke’ built up a bit of momentum for himself after a 2nd place finish last week at Pocono, and now he heads to Watkins Glen where he holds the best driver rating over the past 3 years and has the second best average finish amongst active drivers. He’s one three of the last four races at the Glen, along with a 2nd place finish in 2006.

The only driver to breakup Stewart’s winning streak at the Glen in the past four years was Kevin Harvick, the winner of this event in ‘06. In his seven career races at Watkins Glen, last year’s 36th place finish is his only run outside of the top-15. He also has four top-10’s in that span ….. Jeff Gordon is considered a threat to win at most tracks, but perhaps even moreso at road courses. Once dubbed “King of the Road”, Jeff has had a rough go of it with only one top-10 finish here since 2002, but he did win 3 of the 4 events prior to that stretch ….. The series points leader, Kyle Busch, was never thought of much as a road course racer heading into this season, but already in 2008 he’s managed to win the Nationwide Series race in Mexcio and then went onto win the Toyota Save/Mart 350 at Infineon. After a 33rd place run at Watkins Glen in his rookie season, Kyle has since rebounded with back-to-back top-10’s ….. Denny Hamlin has run here only twice, finishing 10th and 2nd in those races.

the Unusual Suspects:
Robby Gordon has been in dire need of some good runs for the sake of his own race team, Robby Gordon Motorsports, and many fans have long expected that success to come at one of NASCAR’s two road course events. Robby has six top-5 finishes in eight races run here, and even won the event while racing for RCR back in 2003. He currently has a string of three consecutive top-5 finishes at Watkins Glen.

Marcos Ambrose competed in his first Sprint Cup event earlier in the season at Infineon. Known for his road course specialties, Marcos didn’t disappoint, as he had a great top-five effort going until issues late in the race put an end to his day. This will be his first visit to Watkins Glen with the Cup Series as he once again fields the no. 21 Wood Bros. Racing entry, but there’s no reason to think he won’t rise to the occasion once again ….. Juan Pablo Montoya is always a favorite to keep an eye on at road course races as well. An incident with Kevin Harvick here last year put an early end to his day and he finished 39th, but that should be considered a one-off deal. He does have an Infineon win to his credit at the Cup level.

Road Course Ringers are sure to be a factor in any NASCAR road course race, regardless of the series. Though they don’t typically win these things at the Cup level, many of the drivers leave their mark with exceptional runs. Amongst the ringers included in this weekend’s entry list are: Ron Fellows (DEI) - two top-5’s in the last 4 years; Boris Said- finished 3rd in 2005; PJ Jones - finished 4th in 2002; and Brian Simo and Max Papis are on the list as well.

the Unusual Slackers:
Greg Biffle picked up his first ever top-10 Watkins Glen finish last year when he crossed the line in 10th, but each of his four starts previous to that were 30th or worse. His overall average here is 30.2 ….. When you think of road course racing, Kurt Busch isn’t a name that immediately jumps out at you as someone you need to avoid carrying on your fantasy roster, but like Biffle, he also has only one career top-10 at Watkins Glen. Four of his seven races here he has finished outside of the top-15 ….. Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to put together a string of solid runs here at one point, finishing 3rd, 5th, and 10th from 2003 to 2005, but in 8 years of racing here, he’s finished 35th or worse three times, holding an average finish of just 20.6.

Best Driver Ratings:
1. Tony Stewart - 137.9
2. Denny Hamlin - 112.1
3. Jeff Gordon - 108.2
4. Robby Gordon - 106.3
5. Jimmie Johnson - 104.5

Best Driver Averages:
1. Scott Pruett - 5.8
2. Denny Hamlin - 6.0
3. Tony Stewart - 6.1
4. Mark Martin - 8.8
5. Robby Gordon - 9.4

Watkins Glen Facts:
- 8 of the 25 races at Watkins Glen have been won from the pole position. The last driver to do so was Tony Stewart in 2005, but before that it hadn’t happened since Jeff Gordon did it in 1998.
- 16 of the 25 races have been won from a top-five starting position.
- The deepest starting position a driver has ever come from to win at Watkins Glen is 18th. Steve Park did it in 2000.
- Jeff Gordon holds the track record for most wins with 4.
- Mark Martin holds the track record for most poles (3), top-five’s (12), and top-ten’s (16).
- The most different leaders ever during a race at the Glen was 12 - back in 1995.
- Chevrolet leads the manufacturer race at Watkins Glen with 14 wins.
- 5 drivers currently in the top-12 in points have never led a lap at Watkins Glen: Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, and Clint Bowyer.
- In the midst of a 35 race winless streak, Tony Stewart’s last victory came here at Watkins Glen in 2007.

Video of the last 7 laps of the 2007 Centurion Boats at the Glen race:

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner - Tony Stewart
2nd Place - Robby Gordon
3rd Place - Marcos Ambrose
4th Place - Kyle Busch
5th Place - Carl Edwards
6th Place - Kevin Harvick

Lock of the Week - Tony Stewart
Sleeper Pick - Marcos Ambrose
Steer Clear of - Greg Biffle

With the cutoff for the Chase quickly approaching, a mere 5 races now separates us from the beginning of NASCAR’s playoff season. Yet, still, there is quite a bit of uncertainty in the air as to whom will be competing for a championship in the final 10 races and who will be racing to build momentum for the 2009 season. Only 80 points separates 7th place Kasey Kahne from 12th place Clint Bowyer, and only 46 points from Bowyer back to 14th place David Ragan. Even Brian Vickers all the way back in 16th still has a shot at this thing as he lingers 203 points out from the final Chase cutoff spot.

So, with 8 drivers still caught up in a tight race for those final 6 positions in the Chase, and 2 others still holding out hope, this week’s “List of the Week” is a look at each of the ten drivers’ average finish throughout races 22 to 26 on the Schedule - or, the final 5 races leading into the Chase, rather - since the inception of the Chase back in 2004. It should be noted, however, that of these 10 drivers, three of them - Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and David Ragan - have not been full-time drivers through all four seasons that carried the Chase format, and these numbers reflect only race results from which the drivers were competing full-time.

10. Brian Vickers - 16th in pts - 21.5
9. David Ragan - 14th in pts - 21.2
8. Ryan Newman - 15th in pts - 17.9
7. Clint Bowyer - 12th in pts - 16.8
6. Greg Biffle - 8th in pts - 16.6

5. Kevin Harvick - 11th in pts - 15.6
4. Kasey Kahne - 7th in pts - 14.4
3. Denny Hamlin - 10th in pts - 12.1
2. Matt Kenseth - 13th in pts - 11.1
1. Tony Stewart - 9th in pts - 8.8

Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart also lead these drivers with the most wins during those races with 3 apiece; Harvick has 2 wins in the final 5 races leading to the Chase since 2004; and Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle each have a win to their credit as well.

Best Single Season Average Run Through Final 5 Races Leading to the Chase:
5. Kevin Harvick - 7.8 (2006)
4. Matt Kenseth - 7.6 (2006)
3. Matt Kenseth - 6.2 (2005)
2. Tony Stewart - 6.0 (2007)
1. Tony Stewart - 5.2 (2005)

TZ’s Picks (Pocono):
1. Denny Hamlin - 23rd - No points
2. Kurt Busch - 38th - No points
3. Jimmie Johnson - 3rd - 41 points
4. Tony Stewart - 2nd - 41 points
5. Brian Vickers - 28th - No points
6. Kasey Kahne - 7th - 37.5 points

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Sleeper Pick - AJ Allmendinger - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Steer Clear of - Kevin Harvick - Top Five - (Minus) 20 points

Roc’s Picks (Pocono):
1. Jeff Gordon - 10th - 38.5 points
2. Jimmie Johnson - 3rd - 41.5 points
3. Denny Hamlin - 23rd - No points
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr - 12th - 36 points
5. Carl Edwards - 1st - 41 points
6. Jeff Burton - 21st - No points

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Sleeper Pick - Mark Martin - Top Ten - 7 points
Steer Clear of - Clint Bowyer - Top Ten - (Minus) 15 points

Head-to-Head:
TZ - 99.5 points (3,378 cumulative)
Roc - 149 points (3,325 cumulative)

Do You NASCAR Fantasy League
Standings After Pocono:
1. TMAX Racing
2. Dalli’s Mom
3. Super Smokers
4. Bruce’s Team of Bits
5. Team Legacy
6. Vanilla Thrillaz
7. raracing
8. AlexRyan
9. Jimmie’s Rockets
10. do you nascar

Saturday’s running of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was an historic night for the Nationwide Series, and NASCAR in general. As the rainy weather crept its way onto the tracks, the race was red flagged, and for the first time ever in a NASCAR points race, the teams switched over to grooved tires to run the remainder of the race.

The rain was eventually stopped 26 laps short due to poor visibility, and in the end, it was Canadian native, Ron Fellows, out in front of the pack when the race was officially called. Throughout the majority of the race it appeared as though Marcos Ambrose was going to run away with things, leading a race high 27 laps, but a late pit road speeding penalty cost him, and Fellows was there to take advantage.

For Fellows, who was driving the no. 5 entry for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned JR Motorsports, it was his fourth career road course victory in 13 Nationwide Series starts, and he also became the first Canadian to ever win a major NASCAR event in Canada.

Fellows was followed to the line by another Canadian native, Patrick Carpentier, who finished 2nd. Ambrose was able to recover from his earlier mistakes on pit road and came back to finish 3rd. 4th place went to Ron Hornaday, and 5th was Boris Said.

Carl Edwards - now 2nd in points - finished 6th, while the series points leader, Clint Bowyer, crossed the finish line in 9th. Brad Keselowski dropped the 2nd position in the points race to Edwards with a 12th place run, dropping Brad down to 3rd overall.

Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano dropped about 10 positions in the running order each when they wrecked into other cars during the final caution period.

“I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was,” Logano said. “I couldn’t see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! … It’s just not right.”

They each went onto finish 16th and 17th respectively.

It should be noted, however, that the accidents during the final caution were caused by poor visibility, and were not tire-related. In fact, there were really no tire issues the whole race, which should serve as a huge pick-me-up for Goodyear after the debacle that they went through last week at Indy.

Complete Results of the NAPA Auto Parts 200     /     Current Nationwide Series Points Standings

Coming off of a terrible weekend at Indy, you can bet that NASCAR’s feeling the pressure to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible at Pocono this weekend, and if the trip here back in June is any indication, then things should be just fine. It’s also a big weekend for the teams, as Pocono is only the second track on the schedule that the series has already traveled to once before this season, and this is about the time of year that you really begin to see how much some of these groups have been able to learn from the first six months of the season. More importantly, however, is the fact that there are now only six races remaining before NASCAR determines their top-12 competitors that will go onto compete in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Recent Winners:
2008 - Kasey Kahne
2007 - Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon
2006 - Denny Hamlin (x2)

Recent Polesitters:
2008 - Kasey Kahne
2007 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman
2006 - Denny Hamlin (x2)

The Usual Suspects:
All the top drivers in our sport have that track that they seem to “own”, and if that’s the case, then Denny Hamlin owns Pocono. 2 of his 4 career victories came at Pocono when he swept there during his rookie campaign in 2006, and since then he’s ran a staggering 6th, 3rd, and 3rd. With those numbers, he holds far and away the best average finish and highest driver rating here amongst all active drivers.

Jeff Gordon has four wins at Pocono, which runs second to only Bill Elliott for the series lead. The no. 24 team has had their share of struggles this season, but a 5th place run last weekend at Indianapolis may have given Gordon’s group enough momentum to improve on the 14th place run they had here back in June. Gordon had three consecutive Poncono finishes inside the top-five prior to that race.

Kurt Busch is a guy that you’ve always got to watch out for when we come here. He’s a two-time winner at the track, and absolutely dominated this race last Fall when he set the record for leading the most laps (175) at Pocono. He also has five finishes of 8th or better in the last six Pocono races, five of which are finishes of 1st or 2nd. He finished 8th here in June.

Kasey Kahne came into the June race with one top-20 finish in the previous six Pocono races, but absolutely dominated that race. He took the pole, led the practice sessions, and then went onto lead the most laps en route to picking up his first Pocono victory ….. Jimmie Johnson, fresh off an Indy win, is also a two-time Pocono winner with an average finish of 10.3 and 7 top-ten’s in his last 9 visits to the track. He finished 6th in the June race ….. After winning here in the Spring of 2003, Tony Stewart’s Pocono numbers took a dive as he rattled off four consecutive finishes of 29th or worse. Since then, however, he’s managed to turn things around with five straight top-ten’s before a pit road misque ruined a perfectly good day for Smoke after running near the top-five all day in the June race, which resulted in a 35th place finish.

the Unusual Suspects:
It’s beginning to get hard to keep thinking of Brian Vickers as a sleeper pick - especially considering that he’s not even eligible for the Sleeper in my own Six-Pack Challenge - but, until he’s able to get a couple W’s on the board, or at least put together a series of runs near the top-five, that’s exactly how he’ll continue to be treated. Regardless, Pocono is not only one of his better tracks, but he’s also one of the better drivers here. He’s earned 4 top-five’s in the last 7 Pocono races, which culminated in a 2nd place run here in June.

Bobby LaBonte is a 3-time Pocono winner, but his move to Petty Enterprises a couple seasons back has relegated him out of the weekly contenders list and into the occasional sleepers group. But, the team’s been able to gain some momentume with Bobby behind them, as was evidenced with a solid run last week. They also ran good at Pocono in the June with an 11th place finish.

If you’re looking for a true sleeper pick this week, though, look no further than AJ Allmendinger. AJ’s been a steady hand behind the wheel ever since he got his driving duties handed back to him over at Team Red Bull, and he’s made the most of it. He also earned his first career top-ten last week at Indy, but he looked as though he was going to accomplish that feat earlier in the year right here at Pocono. But, alas, he faded in the closing segments of the race and wound up 12th. Still, the team’s getting better each and every week, so don’t be surprised to see AJ walk away with another top-ten this weekend.

the Unusual Slackers:
Though he does have two top-ten’s at Pocono to his credit, Pocono has also presented its share of challenges for Clint Bowyer. The third year driver for Richard Childress Racing finished 21st and 41st in his first two starts here back in 2006, but was able to rebound with a pair of top-ten’s last season. He finished 39th here in June.

Not that anyone’s likely to put too much stock into it, Kyle Busch has only 2 top-ten finishes through 7 races at Pocono, and hasn’t finished in the top-five since his first race here back in 2005. In fact, his average finish of 20.0 is actually worse than JJ Yeley’s average of 19.5. But, then again, some of Kyle’s best runs this season have come at some of his worst tracks - historically speaking, anyway.

Martin Truex Jr. appeared to be getting this Pocono thing down a little earlier in his career, finishing 24th, 10th, and 3rd in his first three Pocono starts, but has since ran 22nd and 17th ….. Kevin Harvick has only 2 career top-ten’s through 15 career starts at Pocono, but oddly enough, he also only has six finishes outside of the top-15. His average finish at the track is 16.1 ….. Greg Biffle hasn’t finished in the top-ten here since the Spring of 2006, and has finished 24th, 30th, 23rd, and 15th since then. He hold an average finish of 18.8 at Pocono.

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Denny Hamlin - 130.4
2. Kurt Busch - 113.5
3. Tony Stewart - 102.2
4. Ryan Newman - 98.7
5. Brian Vickers - 97.9

Best Average Finish (from racingone.com):
1. Denny Hamlin - 2.8
2. Jeff Gordon - 10.0
3. Jimmie Johnson - 10.3
4. Mark Martin - 11.6
5. Brian Vickers - 13.0

Pocono Facts:
- 5 of the last 6 Pocono races have been won from the front row, with Jeff Gordon being the only exception when he won from the 18th starting position in the Spring of 2007. 35% of all the Pocono races have been won from the front row.
- The deepest starting position the race has ever been won from was Carl Edwards from 29th back in 2005.
- Jeff Gordon leads all full-time active drivers with wins at Pocono with four. Bill Elliott has the most all-time with five. Elliott is entered for the race, but will have to qualify on time, as he has no more past champions provisionals remaining.
- Mark Martin has 19 top-five’s and 27 top-ten’s at Pocono, but has never won a Sprint Cup race there.
- A Cup race at Pocono has finished with only 2 drivers on the lead lap on two separate occasions - most recently in 1982.
- There have been six season sweeps at Pocono in the past. Kasey Kahne will have an opportunity to make it seven this weekend.
- Hendrick Motorsports leads all teams with Pocono victories, counting 11 of them to their credit.
- Kurt Busch holds the record for the most laps led in a race at Pocono with 175 of them in the Fall of 2007.

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner - Denny Hamlin
2nd Place - Kurt Busch
3rd Place - Jimmie Johnson
4th Place - Tony Stewart
5th Place - Brian Vickers
6th Place - Kasey Kahne

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin
Sleeper Pick - AJ Allmendinger
Steer Clear of - Kevin Harvick

Be sure to check out the Recap from the Pocono 500 held at Pocono Raceway back in June.

Also, check out the following video of the closing laps from the 2007 Pennsylvania 500:

With only two accidents and one blown engine, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis Motorspeedway still managed to see 11 caution periods during the 160-lap event because of tire issues …. that’s the story of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and unfortunately that story overshadows the one of Jimmie Johnson winning the pole award and going on to pick up his second career victory at the Brickyard.

NASCAR knew that they were likely to experience tire issues, but they weren’t sure just how bad it would be. They had a competition caution scheduled within the first 15 laps of the race, but they didn’t need to use it thanks to Michael Waltrip spinning into the Turn 2 wall on lap 4, and then Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick wrecking on lap 14.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had already made a pit stop under green, inherited the lead on lap 17 when he stayed out as the rest of the leaders came into pit. He was able to hold onto the lead until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, passed him on lap 25, and that’s when the troubles started for Junior. The next lap Earnhardt’s car was bobbling around the track as he lost a ton of positions before finally pitting on lap 27 with a right rear tire going down, putting him a lap down.

On the following lap, Mark Martin came down pit road when he thought he might have a tire going down, and then on lap 29, Juan Pablo Montoya’s right-rear blew, spreading debris all over the track. NASCAR then brought their first competition caution out on lap 30, and it was the points leader, Kyle Busch, leading the charge off of pit road to assume the race lead.

Jeff Gordon passed Busch for the lead on lap 36, but Johnson passed his teammate on the next trip around the track to take the lead for the second time of the day. About this same time, NASCAR reported that the next scheduled competition caution would take place on lap 47, but a few of the cars just couldn’t stretch it that far. Mark Martin pitted on lap 46 when he felt the tire cords vibrating in the car, Sam Hornish Jr. went a lap down when he was forced to pit with a tire issue, and Carl Edwards lost several positions on the track when he had to slow his car down because he, too, thought he was having a problem.

The big blow, though, was on lap 47. Just prior to NASCAR waiving their scheduled competition caution, Matt Kenseth blew a right rear tire that sent him spinning and literally shredded the rear end of his car. Kenseth had started up inside the top-ten and was viewed by many as one of the favorites to win the race, but the unfortunate circumstances put a shoddy end to his day.

Kyle Busch once again led the field off of pit road, this time followed by AJ Allmendinger in second. Both cars took only two tires, while Jimmie Johnson continued to take four tires on each stop. The four tires proved to be key, as Johnson once again worked his way up to the front on lap 62 and stayed there until the next competition caution, which came on lap 65. Dale Earnhardt Jr. received the Lucky Dog award under this caution, finally putting him back on the lead lap.

Allmendinger, who stayed in second place through the entire previous run on just two tires, once again went with just two right-sides and won the race off of pit road to take the lead. He continued his strong run and held onto the lead for a few laps, but was eventually passed by Johnson on lap 72. Two laps later Brian Vickers, who was running in the top-ten at the time, was forced to make his way down pit road with engine troubles as he was unable to turn the full RPMs.

Johnson still had the lead when the next competition caution waived on lap 82, but Martin Truex Jr. short-pitted just prior to the caution flag and inherited the lead by staying out while the leaders pitted. The lead was short-lived, however, as Carl Edwards made quick work of Truex and passed him for the lead on lap 87, and three laps later it was Johnson back to the front.

Caution number 7 was another competion caution on lap 97, and this time it was Elliott Sadler taking the lead for the first time despite hanging around near the top-five for the entire day, but lost the lead during the restart on lap 105 when Jeff Burton made his move to the front after starting all the way back in 32nd. Just after Burton took the lead, though, Brian Vickers - who had recently returned to the track - finally blew his engine, bringing the field under caution for the 8th time.

The leaders stayed out on the track having run only one lap on their set of tires, and they didn’t finally get restarted again until lap 113. Burton was still in the lead at the time, but three laps later it was Johnson again up to the front. He stayed there until the next competition caution on lap 121. This time it was Denny Hamlin taking two tires to get off of pit road first, and for the first time of the day, Johnson struggled to get past him despite having four fresh tires underneath him.

Hamlin held onto the lead through the ensuing caution on lap 133, and then NASCAR presented their final competition caution on lap 149, setting up a shootout to the finish. With the majority of the teams opting for just two tires on pit road, Hamlin’s crew had a slow stop and sent him out in third with Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards coming out ahead of him.

The final restart came on lap 154, and Johnson was able to hold off Carl Edwards for the final 7 laps of the race to get his second Brickyard victory with Edwards finishing 2nd and Hamlin in 3rd. Elliott Sadler earned his best finish of the season in 4th, and Jamie McMurray finished off a strong run in 5th. Jeff Gordon slipped a little in the latter portions of the race, but still went onto finish in 6th. 7th place went to Kasey Kahne, who rebounded nicely after his team spotted a cracked header on his car in the first segments of the race. Greg Biffle scored his best Indy finish by crossing the line in 8th. In 9th was Jeff Burton, and AJ Allmendinger finally scored his first ever top-ten finish by finishing 10th.

Other Notables:
After running a lap down earlier in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded to a 12th place finish ….. Indiana-native, Ryan Newman, was scored in 13th ….. Points leader, Kyle Busch, wound up with his worst Indianapolis finish in 15th ….. Patrick Carpentier was scored as the highest rookie in the race. He finished 18th ….. In what will be his final Indianapolis appearance with Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart - a two time winner of this event and one of the favorites heading into the weekend - finished with an extremely disappointing 23rd place run.

The top three spots in the standings remained unchanged, and both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton were able to gain very minimal ground on Kyle Busch for 1st place. Johnson’s win, however, moved him up a position past Carl Edwards into 4th, as Edwards now drops to 5th. Denny Hamlin gave himself a little bit more of a cushion as he moves up four spots into 8th, and Kasey Kahne jumped up two positions to 9th. Clint Bowyer’s 19th place run was enough to move him from 13th to 12th in the standings and into a Chase position, while his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Kevin Harvick, dropped down 4 spots to 13th. Only 100 points separates 7th place Greg Biffle from Kevin Harvick, and Harvick is only 2 points out of 12th.

Grades:
the Race:  40%
the Drama:  75%
Coverage:  62%
Pre-Race:  90%

Overall Grade:  56.4%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

TZ’s Picks (Indianapolis):
1. Jeff Gordon - 6th - 40.5 points
2. Kyle Busch - 15th - 35.5 points
3. Mark Martin - 11th - 37 points
4. Tony Stewart - 23rd - No points
5. Matt Kenseth - 38th - No points
6. Clint Bowyer - 19th - No points

Lock of the Week - Tony Stewart - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Sleeper Pick - Juan Pablo Montoya - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Steer Clear of - Greg Biffle - Top Ten - (Minus) 10 points

Roc’s Picks (Indianapolis):
1. Jeff Gordon - 6th - 40.5 points
2. Tony Stewart - 23rd - No points
3. Kyle Busch - 15th - 35 points
4. Mark Martin - 11th - 36.5 points
5. Matt Kenseth - 38th - No points
6. Kevin Harvick - 37th - No points

Lock of the Week - Jeff Gordon - Top Ten - 7 points
Sleeper Pick - Juan Pablo Montoya - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Steer Clear of - Kasey Kahne - Top Ten - (Minus) 10 points

Head-to-Head:
TZ - 103 points (3,278.5 cumulative)
Roc - 109 points (3,176 cumulative)

Do You NASCAR Fantasy League
Standings After Indianapolis:
1. TMAX Racing
2. Dalli’s Mom
3. Team Legacy
4. Super Smokers
5. Bruce’s Team of Bits
6. raracing
7. Vanilla Thrillaz
8. AlexRyan
9. Jimmie’s Rockets
10. do you nascar

Earlier in the week NASCAR implimented new rules restricting the horsepower output in the Nationwide Series engines, specifically targeting Toyota, as they were the only manufacturer running the effected engine packages. But, even that couldn’t stop Kyle Busch from dominating Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Busch started the race from the outside pole, and then ran away with the race, leading 197 of the 200 laps. The victory is Busch’s sixth NNS win of the season, and his 15th between NASCAR’s three premier series, surpassing the previous record set by Kevin Harvick. Colin Braun, in search of his first NASCAR victory for Roush-Fenway Racing, settled for 2nd, and Mike Bliss, Scott Wimmer, and Josh Wise completed the top-five.

Following the race, Busch sarcastically commented, “I was kind of disappointed because I feel like that 15 horsepower cost me the pole. I really got to thank my competitors for doing the complaining they did, because we were able to have good traction control all night long. I feel like that was important, to get off the corners a little bit better than everybody.”

Rookies Landon Cassill and Joey Logano continued to impress, as they finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Series points leader, Clint Bowyer, found his struggles throughout the evening, as he finished 18th. Second place, Brad Keselowski, didn’t do any better, though, and he finished 19th. Third place, Carl Edwards, made up a little bit of ground with his 11th place finish. There were no changes with the top-ten in points, though.

Kroger 200 Complete Results

Nationwide Series Standings (from nascar.com):