Nascar Blog

Slow posting this I know, but I didn’t get to watch hardly any of it, so, I’m in no rush, even with Gordon finishing third. With all of the delays for weepers, rain, etc, I think I only saw about 20 laps of this race, I changed channels after they quit covering it, so I missed whatever laps they ran Sunday evening, and work knocked me out of seeing it on Monday as well. Apparently, Carl Edwards ran well, as did Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

The difference was night and day.

Under blue skies Monday, some 21 hours after the race had started, Carl Edwards put the finishing touches on the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 at beleaguered Auto Club Speedway.

After caution flew on the final lap for Dale Jarrett’s spin, Edwards crossed the finish ahead of runner-up Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who atoned for disappointing finishes in the Feb. 17 Daytona 500.

Kyle Busch claimed the Sprint Cup points lead with a fourth-place finish in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Matt Kenseth, who had won the previous two February races at the 2-mile track, ran fifth. Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman completed the top 10. Source: Edwards wins at Fontana on a sunny California day

Kyle Busch claimed the points lead, I don’t think this is his first time leading the points, but I’m not sure off the top of my big melon head. Gordon said his car blew in turn 2 of the final lap, so, thanks to Dale Jarrett for bringing out the caution on the final lap to freeze the field.

Here is how they finished:

1 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford Dish Network 190/5 250 Running 340,500
2 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 180/10 250 Running 252,336
3 2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont Cromax Pro 170/5 250 Running 214,186
4 22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 165/5 250 Running 154,050
5 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 160/5 250 Running 169,841
6 11 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 150/0 250 Running 144,308
7 6 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 146/0 250 Running 158,061
8 10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 147/5 250 Running 148,761
9 20 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 143/5 250 Running 133,616
10 13 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL 139/5 250 Running 143,625
11 39 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 130/0 250 Running 98,700
12 8 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 132/5 250 Running 142,258
13 36 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 124/0 250 Running 92,800
14 24 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance So. Cal. 121/0 250 Running 104,850
15 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 123/5 250 Running 104,350
16 16 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet Principal Financial Group / Mark Martin’s 700th start 115/0 250 Running 128,208
17 32 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 112/0 250 Running 111,508
18 28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 114/5 250 Running 116,708
19 3 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 106/0 250 Running 106,150
20 21 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit 103/0 250 Running 121,508
21 31 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation 100/0 250 Running 104,708
22 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 102/5 250 Running 97,850
23 40 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 94/0 249 Running 101,758
24 27 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge U2 3D / Best Buy 91/0 249 Running 114,770
25 19 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Hamburger Helper “My Hometown Helper” 88/0 249 Running 125,136
26 38 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 85/0 249 Running 105,345
27 29 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards 82/0 248 Running 94,300
28 41 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 79/0 248 Running 92,247
29 25 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 76/0 248 Running 93,500
30 34 22 Dave Blaney Toyota CAT Paving Products 73/0 248 Running 85,250
31 17 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet Coors Light 70/0 248 Running 91,575
32 26 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Target 72/5 248 Running 89,875
33 37 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 69/5 247 Running 82,600
34 43 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row
/ DenverMattress.com 61/0 246 Running 81,450
35 42 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 63/5 245 Running 81,225
36 30 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 55/0 242 Running 108,289
37 23 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Energizer e2 Lithium 52/0 240 Running 108,064
38 35 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 49/0 236 Running 80,600
39 33 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 46/0 231 Running 80,480
40 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 43/0 203 Running 88,325
41 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 40/0 193 Running 115,191
42 5 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 37/0 20 Accident 98,110
43 7 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 34/0 20 Accident 125,539

Here are the top 12 in points so far this year:
1 +3 Kyle Busch 335 Leader 2 0 0 2 2
2 -1 Ryan Newman 329 -6 2 0 1 1 2
3 — Tony Stewart 316 -19 2 0 0 1 2
4 -2 Kurt Busch 299 -36 2 0 0 1 1
5 +13 Carl Edwards 296 -39 2 0 1 1 1
6 — Kasey Kahne 294 -41 2 0 0 0 2
7 +6 Kevin Harvick 268 -67 2 0 0 0 1
8 +17 Jimmie Johnson 267 -68 2 1 0 1 1
9 — Greg Biffle 262 -73 2 0 0 0 1
10 +1 Jeff Burton 261 -74 2 0 0 0 0
11 +1 Brian Vickers 257 -78 2 0 0 0 0
12 +7 Martin Truex Jr. 253 -82 2 0 0 0 1

That top 12 is pretty solid, it’s only missing Jeff Gordon, who is in 14th, Denny Hamlin, who is in 31st, and possibly Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is in 23rd.