Full Throttle

Bristol Motor Speedway is a place of dreams, both past and present. It can also be the site of NASCAR nightmares, the Food City 500 provided both for those chasing the Chase. Saturday night Matt Kenseth wrote his own script for his by winning from the pole and leading 415 of 500 laps in winning the Food City 500. The performance may have earned him a shot at another dream, a [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/cup.jpg]NEXTEL Cup[/avatar] Championship. Kenseth’s victory elevated him to 11^th in the points. He started the night 15^th in the standings, but is now just 11 points out of the top 10.

Jeff Burton was second - only his second top five this year - followed by Greg Biffle and Ricky Rudd. Rusty Wallace, in his final race at his favorite race track, finished fifth. Jeff Gordon, who I picked to win, ended the day in sixth but it was enough to move Gordon into 10^th in the standings for the first time since June.

For the rest of the field it was a typical night, for Bristol. A tale of flashing [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/caution.jpg]cautions[/avatar], more than a little bumper tag and in one case blatant retribution. The retribution came after Ryan Newman tapped Dale Jarrett mid-race that sent the #88 backing into the wall. Newman claimed innocence, “Mine was unintentional. His was intentional, that was obvious.” Jarrett didn’t “claim” anything but he did get even (or ahead dependent on your point of view) by laying in wait for the #12. As Newman tried to pass on the outside Jarrett jinked right ending the #12’s day in a crumpled heap. That earned Jarrett a 2 lap penalty and the incident dropped Jarrett to 14th in the standings, and ends his chances of making the Chase.

Carl Edwards during the course of the night took out both Petty Engineering entries. Post race Kyle Petty could be seen talking out the “issues” along pitwall. The discussion ended amicably as they shook hands and there were smiles all around. Maybe Carl reminded Kyle how the #22 of Scott Wimmer brought out caution flag number four.

With two more events left before the Chase cutoff and only 84 points separating 8^th through 13^th place the tension builds and you can expect more tempers flaring on the Left Coast next week.

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports, Bristol

1. (1) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500, $360,536.
2. (24) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 500, $219,895.
3. (4) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, $168,225.
4. (5) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 500, $156,514.
5. (20) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 500, $154,733.
6. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, $155,886.
7. (27) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 500, $106,650.
8. (17) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 500, $146,086.
9. (41) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, $144,333.
10. (13) Kurt Busch, Ford, 500, $148,625.
11. (7) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 500, $96,000.
12. (35) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 500, $126,558.
13. (9) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 500, $131,291.
14. (32) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 500, $119,133.
15. (22) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 500, $121,139.
16. (25) Mark Martin, Ford, 500, $107,025.
17. (15) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 500, $91,675.
18. (16) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 500, $117,345.
19. (31) Travis Kvapil, Dodge, 500, $99,875.
20. (23) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 500, $99,775.
21. (42) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 500, $123,550.
22. (28) Jeff Green, Dodge, 500, $117,261.
23. (3) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 500, $96,900.
24. (37) Carl Edwards, Ford, 499, $101,875.
25. (26) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 499, $101,008.
26. (18) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 498, $93,415.
27. (39) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 497, $84,905.
28. (34) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 493, $81,395.
29. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 491, $111,693.
30. (38) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 491, $81,675.
31. (30) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 478, $115,223.
32. (43) Carl Long, Chevrolet, 472, $80,955.
33. (11) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 448, $89,795.
34. (14) Casey Mears, Dodge, 427, $100,393.
35. (8) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Chevrolet, 411, $90,172.
36. (29) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 410, engine failure, $128,956.
37. (19) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 352, accident, $127,316.
38. (33) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 332, oil leak, $80,270.
39. (6) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 317, accident, $125,151.
40. (12) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 309, engine failure, $88,050.
41. (36) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 251, engine failure, $79,900.
42. (10) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 212, accident, $111,840.
43. (21) Johnny Benson, Chevrolet, 78, electrical, $79,962.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 50 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.511 seconds.
Winner’s Average Speed: 84.678 mph.
Caution Flags: 16 for 88 laps.
Lead Changes: 17 among nine drivers.
Lap Leaders: M.Kenseth 1-70; J.Gordon 71-97; M.Kenseth 98-174; K.Harvick 175-177; M.Kenseth 178-212; J.Mayfield 213-230; M.Kenseth 231-257; B.Labonte 258-278; M.Kenseth 279; G.Biffle 280; M.Kenseth 281-303; R.Wallace 304-306; M.Kenseth 307-375; M.Bliss 376-379; M.Kenseth 380-419; R.Wallace 420-425; E.Sadler 426-427; M.Kenseth 428-500.
Point Standings: 1. T.Stewart, 3,410. 2. J.Johnson, 3,197. 3. G.Biffle, 3,186. 4. R.Wallace, 3,139. 5. M.Martin, 3,014. 6. J.Mayfield, 2,983. 7. Kyle Busch, 2,982. 8. C.Edwards, 2,849. 9. R.Newman, 2,819. 10. J.Gordon, 2,799.