Full Throttle

So, I sat down to watch the Advance Auto Parts 500, and a football game broke out. Complete with a halftime intermission. Predicated by the third turn concrete doing its impression of main street in any Midwest town in December, the race was red flagged while repairs were made. I must admit if NASCAR make this a habit they should keep Janet Jackson on standby, it did get a little boring after the first 30 minutes.

In some ways this race returned to old school NASCAR. 5 of the top ten finishers can be classified as not being part of the “Young Guns” category. Rusty Wallace won for the first time in over 100 starts, and Dodge picked up its first Martinsville checker since 1978. Rusty, who has called the now popular practice smokey burn outs “kids stuff” did a reprise of the “reverse victory lap” first done by the late Alan Kulwicki.

“Finally,” he said after emerging from the car in Victory Lane with his arms raised. “I’m so glad to win again,” he said. “Man, it’s been so long and we’ve gotten so close. The fans have been behind me forever and ever, pulling for me really hard. This one’s for them.”

1 17 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 185/5 500 Running
2 23 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 170/0 500 Running
3 4 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 170/5 500 Running
4 8 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 165/5 500 Running
5 3 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 160/5 500 Running
6 1 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 160/10 500 Running
7 2 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 146/0 500 Running
8 29 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 142/0 500 Running
9 18 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 138/0 500 Running
10 25 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 134/0 500 Running
11 7 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools 130/0 500 Running
12 9 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M’s 127/0 500 Running
13 35 #25 Brian Vickers * Chevrolet GMAC Financial Services 124/0 500 Running
14 30 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Home Depot 121/0 500 Running
15 39 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 118/0 500 Running
16 32 #32 Ricky Craven Chevrolet Tide 115/0 500 Running
17 11 #77 Brendan Gaughan * Dodge Kodak EasyShare 112/0 500 Running
18 31 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia Pacific/Brawny 109/0 500 Running
19 5 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 106/0 500 Running
20 14 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft/U.S. Air Force 103/0 499 Running
21 15 #9 Kasey Kahne * Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 105/5 499 Running
22 6 #0 Ward Burton Chevrolet NetZero HiSpeed 97/0 499 Running
23 28 #5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Kellogg’s 94/0 498 Running
24 33 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios/Betty Crocker 91/0 498 Running
25 27 #99 Jeff Burton Ford Team Caliber Racing 88/0 497 Running
26 37 #02 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet The FanZCar 85/0 497 Running
27 20 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 82/0 496 Running
28 13 #10 Scott Riggs * Chevrolet Valvoline 79/0 495 Running
29 16 #22 Scott Wimmer * Dodge Caterpillar 76/0 494 Running
30 21 #31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 73/0 493 Running
31 22 #30 Johnny Sauter * Chevrolet America Online 70/0 493 Running
32 42 #89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Voyles/Carter’s Royal Dispos-all 67/0 492 Running
33 40 #50 Derrike Cope Dodge Arnold Development Companies 64/0 491 Running
34 19 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 61/0 469 Running
35 24 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 58/0 445 Running
36 10 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 55/0 390 Running
37 12 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 52/0 366 Running
38 34 #4 Jimmy Spencer Chevrolet Featherlite Custom Trailers 49/0 272 Out of Race
39 43 #198 Todd Bodine Ford Lucas Oil Products 46/0 151 Out of Race
40 26 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan’s Home Service 43/0 118 Out of Race
41 36 #194 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet W.W. Motorsports 40/0 65 Out of Race
42 41 #280 Andy Hillenburg Ford Commercial Truck & Trailer 37/0 4 Out of Race
43 38 #09 Joe Ruttman Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 34/0 2 Out of Race