Nascar Blog

I didn’t get to see the race myself, although I did get to see a few laps of it at lunch, so not much commentary from me this week. Kurt Busch won for the second time in three races, and won the first ever race run on a Tuesday, while helping himself in the points chase all at the same time.

Busch, who didn’t take his first lead until Lap 101 and wound up leading four times for 92 laps, beat Truex to the finish by 0.495 seconds — about eight car lengths on the high-banked, 2-mile oval.

There were two cautions in the last 13 laps and Busch stayed on track with worn tires while some of the cars chasing him pitted for fresh rubber. But he made two perfect restarts.

“It was tough,” Busch said. “You know, I’ve got to thank the fans who stuck it out on a Tuesday to see a green-white-checker [finish]. We put it on for them here at the end, all the restarts, all of the guys on different strategy, it really was a tough, hard-fought win.”

Reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Dave Blaney, June race winner Carl Edwards, Brian Vickers, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, last week’s winner on the road course at Watkins Glen. Source: Busch withstands charge from Truex Jr. for Mich. win

Kurt Busch is now 163 points in front of 13th place Dale Earnhardt Jr. and looks like he will probably make the Chase for the Cup this year.

Here is how they finished:

1 15 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 195/10 203 Running 190,108
2 14 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 170/0 203 Running 151,245
3 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 170/5 203 Running 175,761
4 21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 165/5 203 Running 152,491
5 8 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko’s 155/0 203 Running 109,650
6 17 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 150/0 203 Running 114,433
7 13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 146/0 203 Running 93,150
8 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 147/5 203 Running 82,925
9 4 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 138/0 203 Running 120,036
10 35 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 134/0 203 Running 135,411
11 29 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 130/0 203 Running 94,625
12 39 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 132/5 203 Running 121,508
13 6 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 124/0 203 Running 94,350
14 19 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 121/0 203 Running 114,891
15 28 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 118/0 203 Running 124,336
16 34 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 120/5 203 Running 110,150
17 9 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 112/0 203 Running 85,625
18 25 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 109/0 203 Running 117,200
19 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 111/5 203 Running 97,225
20 27 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters 108/5 203 Running 76,500
21 20 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS 100/0 202 Running 76,125
22 40 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 97/0 202 Running 99,983
23 12 00 David Reutimann Toyota Dominos.com 94/0 202 Running 87,108
24 30 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 96/5 202 Running 75,300
25 31 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 88/0 202 Running 103,333
26 26 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 85/0 202 Running 109,100
27 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 87/5 202 Running 135,236
28 24 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 79/0 202 Running 101,264
29 41 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 76/0 202 Running 73,775
30 36 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 73/0 202 Running 82,400
31 3 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 70/0 201 Running 117,841
32 5 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 67/0 201 Running 91,745
33 22 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 64/0 201 Running 104,808
34 37 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 61/0 201 Running 78,225
35 23 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 58/0 201 Running 89,289
36 43 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper - Valvoline 55/0 201 Running 78,025
37 16 49 John Andretti Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 52/0 201 Running 81,633
38 33 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 49/0 200 Running 87,422
39 38 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 46/0 167 Oil Pump 69,825
40 11 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 43/0 135 Running 69,775
41 42 45 Chad McCumbee Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 40/0 134 Running 69,725
42 10 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 37/0 101 Oil Pump 77,665
43 32 208 Joe Nemechek Dodge E&M Motorsports 34/0 92 Accident 68,724