Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 | 1:15 p.m.
“It’s way too early to be handing anyone the trophy. It’s our job to put ourselves in a position to go to Homestead with a chance to win.” Those were Jeff Burton’s comments after winning the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Jeff Burton wins
Burton ran a methodical race that included persistence and patience along with pit stops that consistently advanced his position. He held off a late charge from Kasey Kahne and led 57 laps to end up jumping from fourth to second in the points standings.
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It wasn’t a stellar night for other Chase contenders. Johnson finished sixth with a car that was loose in the final laps. The racing gods were unkind to Carl Edwards who saw his point lead slip to forth after a night that included a vibration, ignition problems and issues with a lug nut during a pit stop. He finished the race in the 33rd position. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished the race in the 36th position after a blown right front tire sent him into the wall.
Carl Edwards ignition problems
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Where did that Kurt Busch come from? He seemed to come out of nowhere to finish the race in the third position. Maybe Dodge’s new engine, which he used at this race, will start to improve his performance.
It was also a good night for his brother, who finished fourth with a car that came alive at the end of the race. If the race had been a little longer, he may have had the car to beat.
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Clean air was almost as important as fuel in this race. If a driver had a good car and quick pit stops that put him in the front of the pack, the car was guaranteed to perform better than it would in a pack of cars where there wasn’t enough clean air to produce the necessary downforce. Is there a way to modify the COT in order for these cars to run better in the middle of the pack? Jeff Gordon had a strong car, but found himself stuck in traffic for the last 50 laps after pit strategy lost him the lead. I would have liked to see how his car would have performed if it had been better able to negotiate traffic.
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The strangest moment of the race came when a flying splitter from the No.45 car ended up stuck in the infield grass like a boomerang. The splitter was dislodged during an altercation with Michael Waltrip and Matt Kenseth around lap 20.
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As you have heard, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick had a shoving match in the garage area on Thursday. Earlier in the week Carl had left a note for Kevin expressing his displeasure with some comments Kevin had made about him. A note?! Hey, there is no note passing in NASCAR. This isn’t grade school. Do you think Richard Petty or Cale Yarborough ever passed notes to one another?
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Finally, there were reports on Saturday that General Motors and Chrysler have tossed around the idea of a merger. What do you get when you tie two large sinking rocks together? You get a larger, heavier and faster sinking rock.
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