Full Throttle

It wasn’t “look ma, no hands,” but closer to “hey guys I’ll beat you with one hand tied behind my back, to the gearshift!” The result was the same as Tony Stewart single handedly beat the best NASCAR has to offer in winning the [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/cup.jpg]NEXTEL Cup[/avatar] Dodge/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma California. (As predicted he says, as his ego inflates larger than a bull moose on viagra)

With fourth gear gone and third gear about to puke Stewart held his car in gear with one hand, steered with the other, as he caught and passed Ricky Rudd for the lead with 10 laps to go for the win. The victory was Stewart’s first of the season and 20th of his Nextel Cup career.

Similar transmission woes crippled the Hendricks teamates of Jeff Gordon, points leader Jmmmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. With Johnson having problems, Greg Biffle leap frogged into the points lead by a 22 point margin.

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts/Bonus, Status
1, 7, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 110 laps, 190/10 pts, Running
2, 20, Ricky Rudd, No. 21 U.S. Air Force/Motorcraft Ford, 110, 175/5, Running
3, 6, Kurt Busch, No. 97 Crown Royal Ford, 110, 165/0, Running
4, 14, Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Snap-On 85th Anniversary/Miller Lite Dodge, 110, 165/5, Running
5, 30, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS/Herbie: Fully Loaded Ford, 110, 155/0, Running
6, 42, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 110, 150/0, Running
7, 32, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 110, 146/0, Running
8, 43, Ron Fellows, No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 110, 142/0, Running
9, 11, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 110, 138/0, Running
10, 22, Brian Simo, No. 33 Korbel California Champagnes Chevrolet, 110, 134/0, Running
11, 24, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford, 110, 130/0, Running
12, 8, Terry Labonte, No. 11 FedEx Freight Chevrolet, 110, 127/0, Running
13, 17, Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline “Shine On” Dodge, 110, 124/0, Running
14, 41, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Post-it/National Guard Ford, 110, 126/5, Running
15, 3, Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 110, 118/0, Running
16, 5, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Harrah’s Chevrolet, 110, 115/0, Running
17, 4, Boris Said, No. 136 CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet, 110, 112/0, Running
18, 33, Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 110, 109/0, Running
19, 29, Dave Blaney, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 110, 106/0, Running
20, 36, Casey Mears, No. 41 Target Dodge, 110, 103/0, Running
21, 39, Travis Kvapil *, No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Dodge, 110, 100/0, Running
22, 34, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 110, 97/0, Running
23, 12, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 110, 94/0, Running
24, 16, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet, 110, 91/0, Running
25, 27, Scott Wimmer, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 110, 88/0, Running
26, 37, Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 110, 85/0, Running
27, 25, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Brawny/Georgia-Pacific Dodge, 110, 87/5, Running
28, 28, Chris Cook, No. 87 christinemariemotorsports.com Chevrolet, 110, 79/0, Running
29, 38, Jeff Green, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, 110, 76/0, Running
30, 15, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 110, 73/0, Running
31, 9, Scott Pruett, No. 39 Texaco/Havoline “Shine On” Dodge, 110, 70/0, Running
32, 43, P.J. Jones, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 110, 67/0, Running
33, 1, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 110, 69/5, Running
34, 18, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet, 110, 61/0, Running
35, 19, Ken Schrader, No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 109, 58/0, Running
36, 2, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 109, 55/0, Running
37, 21, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 109, 52/0, Running
38, 23, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 107, 49/0, Running
39, 31, Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, 102, 46/0, Running
40, 13, Kyle Busch *, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 97, 43/0, Running
41, 26, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 92, 40/0, Running
42, 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 88, 37/0, Running
43, 35, Tom Hubert, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 33, 34/0, Out of Race

Rank +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10

1 +1 Greg Biffle 2250 Leader 16 0 5 6 10
2 -1 Jimmie Johnson 2228 -22 16 0 2 7 11
3 — Elliott Sadler 2073 -177 16 1 0 1 9
4 +2 Tony Stewart 2052 -198 16 0 1 5 8
5 — Mark Martin 2022 -228 16 0 0 5 8
6 +2 Rusty Wallace 2013 -237 16 0 0 3 8
7 — Ryan Newman 1994 -256 16 5 0 4 8
8 +1 Kurt Busch 1978 -272 16 0 1 5 8
9 -5 Carl Edwards 1963 -287 16 0 2 5 7
10 +1 Jamie McMurray 1923 -327 16 0 0 3 6
11 +2 Jeremy Mayfield 1902 -348 16 0 0 2 3
12 +3 Dale Jarrett 1870 -380 16 1 0 2 4
13 -3 Kevin Harvick 1855 -395 16 1 1 3 5
14 -2 Jeff Gordon 1836 -414 16 2 3 5 6
15 -1 Michael Waltrip 1827 -423 16 1 0 3 7