Tony Stewart wins despite running out of gas on the last lap of the Banquet 400 in Kansas. Without having to worry about points the #20 team could take a chance and go for it on fuel mileage. The gamble paid off. Smoke had built a lead of almost 18 seconds over 2nd place Mears. That would not have been enough except for one thing, Mears ran out of gas also. I have to admit I was on the edge of my seat for the finish of this one. Way to go SMOKE!
While we are talking NASCAR the chase is starting to separate the haves from the have nots as in chances of winning. Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson failed to gain any ground and stayed 7 and 8 while Gordon joined them dropping 4 spots to 6th and 120 points back of the leader Jeff Burton. With all the talk in NASCAR about the “Young Guns†how ironic the top three are made up of two veterans and a rookie. To be honest with Stewart out I have no complaints on any of these three winning.
Jeff Burton has been in NASCAR since 1988 starting out driving for his father John in five races that year and finishing 11th twice. His first win came in 1990 driving for Sam Ard. In 1994 Jeff went full time in the cup series and won rookie of the year. In 1996 he joined Roush racing. In 1997 Burton went on a 4 year streak where he posted 15 of his 17 career wins and finished in the top five in points each yeah. His best finish was 3rd in points in 2000.
Mark Martin joined Roush racing back in 1988. In 1989 he finished 3rd in points. Since then he has finished out of the top ten in points only twice and 12 times finished in the top 5 in points. He finished second to Dale Sr. twice once in 1990 by 26 points. Then again in 1998 he finished second to Gordon and in 2002 was 38 points behind Tony Stewart when Smoke won his first Championship. Come on are you kidding me? These numbers are unbelievable for a driver to go that long and come that close so many times and not take home a title is just a crime.
The rookie of the bunch Denny Hamlin at age 24 driving for Joe Gibbs racing took over the #11 in 2005 late in the season. In the last seven races he posted 3 top tens. A point that needs to be made is Denny has come into the Cup series and conducted himself in a very professional manor. Not just in his show of respect for other drivers and teams in the garage area but also on the track. Many times the new young guys come in and want to establish themselves immediately. Taking chances and driving aggressively putting themselves and every other driver on the track at risk.
Well there you go. Just a little closer look at the front runners.
