Great race, disappointing finish
You have to admit, the double-file restart has supplied some exhilarating racing following the restarts since its inception at Pocono last month. Every restart throughout the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was absorbing, especially when Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch restarted side-by-side.
This is what the fans asked for; more side-by-side racing, and they certainly had their fill at New Hampshire. Following each restart, the leaders waged war for several laps, sometimes almost racing three-wide. Kurt Busch traded paint with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and other drivers such as Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman tagged the wall while racing for position following a restart.
One of the restarts involved third-place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. spinning his tires, triggering a multi-car incident when Kyle Busch tagged the bumper of Martin Truex Jr. Also involved in the lap 175 melee were Jeff Burton, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, and David Reutimann.
Truex Jr quickly pointed the finger, and his helmet, at Kyle Busch.
“Someone spun the tires and our lane didn’t go. Kyle just lost his head, like he usually does when something bad happens. He decided he wasn’t going to lift, he was going to turn me on the straightaway for no good reason at all,” he said.
Brian Vickers was involved in the incident, and was less diplomatic -- not that Truex was exactly diplomatic -- when discussing Kyle Busch’s involvement.
“I saw the replay and it looked like the 18 was just completely impatient…I guess everybody just learns to expect Kyle doing something stupid. Stupid is forever,” he said.
The 19-year-old rookie Joey Logano had a top 20 car at best, but he won the Lenox Industrial Tools 273 -- I mean 301 -- thanks to brilliant pit strategy. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli kept Logano out on the track while most of the leaders pitted for tires and fuel, as they anticipated rain was in the forecast. Ryan Newman attempted the same strategy, and it almost paid off, but just a couple of laps before the final caution, he ran out of gas and finished in the 29th position.
The rain began to fall and the NASCAR officials ended the race after 273 laps. Logano, who hails from nearby Middletown, Connecticut, did not get to celebrate by performing crowd-pleasing burnouts, but he cut a tire and spun out earlier in the race. Perhaps he could count his spin-out as a premature celebratory burnout. After receiving the lucky dog, Logano remained among the top 25, but he was leading at the right time. He joins Brad Keselowski and David Reutimann as first-time winners in 2009 after there were no first-time winners in 2008.
“I guess I’d rather be lucky than good right now. Obviously we didn’t have the car to win, but we’ve overcame a lot today, tires down and more issues than you can imagine,” he said while becoming the youngest driver to win a Sprint Cup event.
While Logano’s win was impressive, two rain-out wins in a month is not exactly what the fans want to see. Reutimann and Logano deserved their wins and accolades, and any notion of an asterisk beside their names is ludicrous, but a 25-lap duel between Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart had the potential to be electrifying.
Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, David Reutimann, and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
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Great race, disappointing finish
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