Photo by CIA Stock PhotoWhat else is there to say except that Tony Stewart needs to stay away from the lottery, casinos, ladders, black cats, broken mirrors ... whatever it is Stewart will be jinxed. And his teammate, Kyle Busch, is on top of the world.
Busch easily won the Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway, while Stewart was caught up in a lap-17 caution brought on by Elliott Sadler. Sadler got loose and went down on Stewart causing a major crash that collected a total of 10 cars. The crash also took out Busch and Stewart's other teammate Denny Hamlin, as well.
Here's Reid Spencer's recap of all the action from Sunday's race. Be sure to check out Kickin' the Tires in The Examiner on Friday for the latest on the rumors and behind the scenes activities in the world of NASCAR.
Kyle Busch wins easily at Dover
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
DOVER, Del. -- Same song, different verse.
Points leader Kyle Busch made mincemeat of the competition and a mockery of Sunday’s Best Buy 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.
In a race that stayed green for the final 153 laps, Busch gained a total of five seconds over runner-up Carl Edwards on his final two pit stops, built a lead that topped eight seconds and cruised in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a 4.225-second win, his fourth of the season and the eighth of his career.
Polesitter Greg Biffle ran third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr., as only six cars finished on the lead lap.
Busch grabbed the lead from Edwards during a cycle of green-flag pit stops that ended on Lap 237. NASCAR called a caution on Lap 243 for debris in Turn 2 -- under which the leaders remained on the track -- and after a restart on Lap 248, Edwards dogged Busch until both drivers brought their cars to the pits under green on Lap 319.
Busch gained almost three seconds on pit road and pulled away steadily for the next 60 laps before backing off in the closing circuits.
“We didn’t have the car to beat today,” said Busch, who expanded his lead in the championship standings over eighth-place finisher Jeff Burton to 142 points. “Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle did. But our guys on pit road (were) phenomenal -- got us out front -- and that’s what won the race for us. The guys that pitted this thing on pit road definitely won the race for us.”
Edwards acknowledged he was slow getting off pit road on his final stop, but he gained two positions to fourth in the Cup standings with the second-place finish.
“It’s not what we came here for, but the car was good today,” Edwards said. “I wish we could have put on a better show for the fans. I wish we could have had a caution there at the end -- but Kyle deserved it.
Biffle led 164 laps to Busch’s 158, but he developed an ignition problem on Lap 169 and surrendered the lead to Edwards before switching to his second battery. Biffle ran the rest of the race without the use of air conditioning or brake fans in his car.
“The engine started missing, but we changed batteries, and it came back on line,” said Biffle, who vaulted six positions to fifth in the Cup standings. “We were just a little too tight all day. That’s really what the problem was.”
The monster that inhabits the Monster Mile woke up early Sunday. Seventeen laps into the race, contact in Turn 2 between David Gilliland and Elliott Sadler triggered an 11-car wreck that ruined the afternoon for Chase contenders Dale Earnhardt Jr. (35th), Clint Bowyer (36th), Kevin Harvick (38th), Tony Stewart (41st) and Denny Hamlin (43rd).
Earnhardt, who held third in the points standings (now 271 behind Busch), was the only one of those five drivers who didn’t lose at least three positions in the standings, though none of the drivers dropped out of the top 12.
Notes: Roush Fenway Racing put three cars in the top five – Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth – for the first time since July 2006 at New Hampshire. … Sam Hornish Jr. drove his No. 77 Dodge back into the top 35 in owner points with an 18th-place finish. The No. 66 Haas CNC Chevrolet, driven by Scott Riggs, suffered a 150-point penalty on Tuesday for a rear wing mount infraction May 24 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and fell to 36th in owner points.
