Race for the Nextel Cup gets tighter
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Trouble finally found Jeff Burton at Martinsville Speedway. Jimmie Johnson and a handful of other championship chasers found themselves back in title contention.
NASCAR’s Chase for the championship broke wide open Sunday, setting up what is likely to be a wild four-race finish.
Johnson took the lead from Bobby Labonte with 55 laps to go and held it through several restarts to win the crash-filled Subway 500, while 2003 champion Matt Kenseth replaced Burton atop the standings.
Johnson moved from seventh to third in the standings with four races left, and appears to be the driver with the most momentum heading into the final month.
Kenseth assumed the points lead when Burton pulled his car into the garage after just 217 laps because of engine trouble, and most everyone took advantage.
Next week in Atlanta, seven drivers will start within 99 points of Kenseth, who finished 11th on Sunday and seemed more concerned about his performance than excited.
Kevin Harvick is now second, 36 points back, and Johnson is 41 points behind. Denny Hamlin moved into fourth, 47 back. Burton dropped to 48 points off the pace, marking the first time the points leader has changed in the second half of the playoffs.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (94), Mark Martin (96) and Kasey Kahne (99) also are within striking distance of Kenseth.
But Johnson, a two-time runner-up in the championship, made the biggest move in the standings after starting the race 146 points back.
Labonte finished third, followed by Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, who cut 75 points off his deficit but is still 141 back. Kyle Busch is 10th, 171 points behind.
The race featured 18 cautions for 107 laps, and the 17th one was, remarkably, the only one that really impacted Chase contenders. It happened on lap 477 when Earnhardt and Kahne, battling for sixth, bumped in Turn 3, sending Earnhardt spinning.
Kahne raced on and finished seventh; Earnhardt, who wound up 22nd, said he was to blame after driving too hard into the turn.
Earlier, it looked like it might be the day when Gordon tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth with 76 career victories, but Gordon’s car wasn’t good enough to pull it off.
After pitting for four tires and fuel under a caution on lap 367 while most other teams stayed out, Gordon moved into third when another caution flew with 100 to go.
But the four-time champion’s car wasn’t strong enough to pass either leader Bobby Labonte or Casey Mears, and when Johnson appeared on Gordon’s back bumper with about 70 laps to go, it was only a matter of time before he also zoomed past his teammate.