Dodge Boys Survive Thunder Valley?

Tonight’s race wasn’t the typical caution-filled, mangled-car calamity of previous Thunder Valley events. Even so, the 500 lap racing on the famed half-mile, 34 degree-banked track in Bristol, TN was exciting all evening long. Three and four wide passing even in the corners was standard throughout tonight’s Sharpie 500. Unfortunately, for the Dodge Boys of NASCAR the evening just wasn’t theirs. Only the #2 Miller Lite Dodge of Kurt Busch showed any ability to run up front. For the rest of the Dodge teams— it wasn’t a spectacular evening, as they could only run in the middle to back half of the pack. Poor car setups lead everyone except Kurt struggling.

The evening really belonged to the #5 Kellogg’s Chevy driven by Mark Martin, but even Mark’s superb running car and driving ability wouldn’t stop Kyle Busch from stealing the win. The kid took the lead in the final 40 laps and just stayed out front through the last two cautions and red flag. The red flag was thrown with 11 laps remaining when Michael Waltrip blew a front tire sending his car into the wall and other cars spinning. One of spinning cars was that of Clint Bowers. Clint’s Chevy backed into Michael’s Toyota and rendered it a total wreck. NASCAR officials had to stop the race for a massive oil/water/car cleanup. When the race resumed 12 minutes later, Mark would challenge Kurt running the final few laps, door-handle to door-handle. However, Mark just couldn’t muscle his way around Kyle. Tonight’s win marks the 17th time that Kyle has won in the Sprint Cup Series.

Kasey Kahne driving the #9 Budweiser Charger finished the race -3 laps down in 28th position. A dismal evening on the track for all the Dodge teams also spelled disaster for championship points. The results moved Kasey down another two positions, to 8th in Chase championship points. He now finds himself on the championship cut bubble, vying with eight other drivers for the final championship positions.

Here’s how all the Dodge Boys finished at tonight’s Sharpie 500 in Thunder Valley:

#2 (Miller Lite), Kurt Busch, 7th
#43 (Valvoline), Reed Sorenson, 19th
#12 (Penske Racing), David Stremme, 20th
#19 (Stanley Tools), Elliott Sadler, 26th
#9 (Budweiser), Kasey Kahne, 28th
#77 (Mobil 1), Sam Hornish, Jr., 35th
#44 (Hunt Brothers Pizza), A.J. Allmendinger, 37th
#37 (Long John Silver’s), Tony Raines, 42nd

With two races, Atlanta and Richmond, remaining before the championship field is set, Kasey must regroup quickly and finish in the top 10 if the #9 Budweiser team intends to really compete for this year’s Sprint Cup Championship. Kurt also must be careful in these final two races. It’s a real pressure cooker for both Penske and Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) race teams. So, stay tuned!

J.R.