Now the rumor is Brian Simo in the 34 and Johnny Miller in the 92.  Boris Said will drive the 61 (although it will actually be one of his 60 cars) and the points will go to the 61, since they are not too far of the top 35.

Very sad for Jeremy.  I don't know what his plans are next year but something is obviously wrong if you are a chase contender two years in a row and POOF you drop out of the top 35.

---

www.peo-pros.com
NASCAR Nextel Cup Sponsors
74 McGlynn Racing
34 & 61 Front Row Racing

Yeah the current entry list confirms those above rumors

As for Mayfield, well I think it has everything to do with Evernham switching up the teams and him getting the residue of the #10 and #9 teams.  Elliott Sadler, the likely replacement, will have his work cut out for him.

With Blaney being confirmed in the Bill Davis entry, Mayfield is probably bound to a Toyota team that doesnt have automatic entry whether it be the 2nd Bill Davis entry, the 2nd Michael Waltrip entry or the 2nd Red Bull entry.

Also speaking of Toyota, dont think Ive announced this but a part time team for 2007 and hopefully full time 2008 team has been announced.  D'Hondt, an ex crew chief of Robert Yates Racing is going to form a Toyota team to that criteria

Rumor also has it that Roush is begging Martin into another year in Cup.  This would be the 2nd year in a row that Martin has wanted to retire but Roush begs him to come back.  Apparently Todd Kluever has not progressed as planned.

50 cars on the entry list for this weekends race at the Glen:

Car	Driver	Hometown	Make	Sponsor	Owner
1	Martin Truex Jr.*	Mayetta, NJ	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker	Teresa Earnhardt
01	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Bobby Ginn
2	Kurt Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Dodge	Miller Lite	Roger Penske
4	Scott Wimmer	Wausau, WI	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	Larry McClure
5	Kyle Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	Rick Hendrick
6	Mark Martin	Batesville, AR	Ford	AAA	Jack Roush
7	Robby Gordon	Orange, CA	Chevrolet	Jim Beam Black	Robby Gordon
07	Clint Bowyer*	Emporia, KS	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	Richard Childress
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Teresa Earnhardt
9	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw, WA	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	Ray Evernham
10	Scott Riggs	Bahama, NC	Dodge	Valvoline/Stanley Tools	James Rocco
11	Denny Hamlin*	Chesterfield, VA	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	J D Gibbs
12	Ryan Newman	South Bend, IN	Dodge	ALLTEL	Roger Penske
14	Sterling Marlin	Columbia, TN	Chevrolet	Ginn Clubs & Resorts	Bobby Ginn
15	Paul Menard	Eau Claire, WI	Chevrolet	Menards/Quaker State	Teresa Earnhardt
16	Greg Biffle	Vancouver, WA	Ford	Subway/National Guard	Geoff Smith
17	Matt Kenseth	Cambridge, WI	Ford	DEWALT	Mark Martin
18	J.J. Yeley*	Phoenix, AZ	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	Joe Gibbs
19	Jeremy Mayfield	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	Ray Evernham
20	Tony Stewart	Rushville, IN	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
21	Ken Schrader	Fenton, MO	Ford	Little Debbie	Glen Wood
22	Dave Blaney	Hartford, OH	Dodge	Caterpillar	Bill Davis
24	Jeff Gordon	Pittsboro, IN	Chevrolet	DuPont	Rick Hendrick
25	Brian Vickers	Thomasville, NC	Chevrolet	GMAC	Mary Hendrick
26	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Ford	Crown Royal	Georgetta Roush
27	Tom Hubert	Cottonwood, CA	Ford	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing	Kirk Shelmerdine
29	Kevin Harvick	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	Richard Childress
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	Richard Childress
32	Ron Fellows	Mississauga, Ontario	Chevrolet	Tide-Downy	Calvin Wells, III
34	Brian Simo	Carlsbad, CA	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	Brad Jenkins
37	David Murry	New Orleans, LA	Dodge	Upstate N.Y. Dodge Dealer Ass'n	John Carter
38	Elliott Sadler	Emporia, VA	Ford	M&M's	Robert Yates
40	Scott Pruett	Sacramento, CA	Dodge	Lone Star Steakhouse/Saloon	Felix Sabates
41	Reed Sorenson*	Peachtree City, GA	Dodge	Target	Chip Ganassi
42	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Dodge	Texaco/Havoline	Floyd Ganassi
43	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker	Richard L Petty
45	Kyle Petty	Randleman, NC	Dodge	Petty Enterprises	Kyle Petty
48	Jimmie Johnson	El Cajon, CA	Chevrolet	Lowe's	Jeff Gordon
49	Kevin Lepage	Shelburne, VT	Dodge	LoansDepot.com	Elizabeth Morgenthau
55	Michael Waltrip	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	NAPA Auto Parts	Douglas Bawel
61	Boris Said	Carlsbad, CA	Ford	SOBE - No Fear	Jeff Stec
66	Jeff Green	Owensboro, KY	Chevrolet	Best Buy	Gene Haas
72	Dale Quarterley	Westfield, MA	Dodge	Dutch Quality Stone	Bryan Mullet
88	Dale Jarrett	Hickory, NC	Ford	UPS	Robert Yates
92	Johnny Miller	Johnson City, TN	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	Bob Jenkins
96	Terry Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Chevrolet	DLP HDTV	Bill Saunders
99	Carl Edwards	Columbia, MO	Ford	Office Depot	Jack Roush
02	Brandon Ash	Umpqua, OR	Dodge	Sprinter Trucking, Inc.	Ed Ash
78	Max Papis	Como, Italy	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing	Barney Visser
90	Marc Goossens	Geel, Belgium	Ford	CitiFinancial	Robert Yates

3 hopeful debutants listed.  Belgian Marc Goosens who did a terrific job for Yates at Mexico City is going to be given the nod to hopefully qualify.  Mad Max Papis from Italy also ex F-1 driver, will take over the wheel of Furniture Row Racing.  And fellow Massachusetts native Dale Quarterley who runs a lot of the races up here hopes to make the field in the somewhat maligned CJM-Mullet Racing team

Brandon Ash is also on the entry list hoping to make his first East coast race, I wish him the best, hes got lots of spirit to try to make these races on his budget.

Road racing veterans Fellows, Said, Labonte, Hubert, Pruett, Miller, and Simo all adorn the entry list as usual. 

Scott Wimmer is odd to have in the #4 team, usually they opt to hire PJ Jones instead.  And rumor has it that Evernham is looking to replace Mayfield this week

David Murry is also returning after a LONG hiatus from Cup.    I believe he took over the ride for Loy Allen back in the mid 90s for the defunct Tri-Star Motorsports team.  And I also remember him running for Schact Motorsports back in the late 90s in a 1-off effort.  I remember they had a decent race and went the distance

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

NASCAR: Jeff Burton had a big turn around in the race. From being the dominant car he suddenly had a machine that was absolutely nowhere. I guess he felt lucky to have gotten 15th. Pity Kevin Harvick couldn't have overtaken Matt Kenseth, if nothing else but for me to claim victory in the Picks. Greg Biffle had a not very needed spin on the last lap, with the Chase getting closer and closer he can't afford many of those to rob him of points. Jimmie Johnson claimed what was effectively a 20 lap victory, working his way to the front after the last pitstop and never letting go of the lead for the last ten laps. Shows the difference in consistency that the only man to have the same number of wins as Johnson, Kasey Kahne, is in 11th place.

I hope Mayfield has a much better time with whoever he races for next than he is currently having with Evernham.

Good luck to Max Papis and Marc Gossens. It'll be good to see how they get on in the race if they manage to qualify.

F1: Robert Kubica shall replace Jacques Villeneuve for the rest of the season. It appears the BMW Sauber team were simply waiting for a reason to dump Villeneuve who has arguably been quicker than Nick Heidfeld this season. The reason why Kubica was disqualified on Sunday was because his car had a huge amount of tyrewear which somehow shed 2kgs (4.4lbs) more rubber than expected, this put his car underweight. The stewards accepted the reason but still had no choice but to exclude Kubica.

Red Bull have announced their 2007 driver line-up as David Coulthard and Mark Webber. Webber decided to go to Red Bull clearly because he believe the Adrian Newy designed RB03 in 2007 will be a very good machine. There's also rumours that Red Bull could well be using Renault engines next season.

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

WRC: Finally after a couple of months off the World Rally Championship is back in action in Germany. Sebastian Loeb will have hopefully had a nice holiday and will be aiming to get back into winning ways. A healthy entry for this rally with the usual gaggle of privateers supporting the main runners. Dani Sordo has been promoted to the second Kronos drive, leaving Xavier Pons as the third man. Bozian Racing only running one car in the M2 class, Henning Solberg was scheduled to miss this round. Former DTM champion, Matthias Ekstrom has again been drafted in for the Red Bull Skoda team. Nice to see a pair of the old Toyota Corollas running this weekend. Petter Solberg crashed today in testing for the rally.

Entry list:
1. Loeb / Elena Citroen Xsara
2. Sordo / Marti Citroen Xsara
3. Gronholm / Rautiainen Ford Focus
4. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus
5. Solberg / Mills Subaru Impreza
6. Sarrazin / Prevot Subaru Impreza
7. Stohl / Minor Peugeot 307
9. Wilson / Orr Ford Focus
10. Latavala / Anttila Ford Focus
11. Ekstrom / Andersson Skoda Fabia
12. Aigner / Wicha Skoda Fabia
14. Gardemeister / Honkanen Citroen Xsara
15. Pons / del Barrio Citroen Xsara
16. Atkinson / MacNeall Subaru Impreza
17. Kopecky / Schovanek Skoda Fabia
18. Duval / Pivato Skoda Fabia
20. MacHale / Nagle Ford Focus
21. Kahle / Goble Skoda Fabia
22. Tsjoen / Chevaillier Ford Focus
23. Vojtech / Ernst Peugeot 307
24. Poulsen / Frederiksen Toyota Corolla
25. Wevers / Godde Toyota Corolla

Picks:
1. Loeb / Elena
2. Gronholm / Rautiainen
3. Sordo / Marti

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Yeah its been a while for WRC action.  Germany is a great circuit.  Wish I could see it.

Picks:
1-Loeb
2-Sordo
3-Gronholm

Not much NASCAR news to report this past week.  Only news of note that Ive noticed is that Jeremy Mayfield will be replaced by Bill Elliott this week, however the plan has backfired so far because I guess because of the late entry change, Elliott is disqualified from his champions provisional meaning theyll have to time in.  I doubt itll be much of a problem though.  Qualifying is in about 5 hours.

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

Well qualifying didnt go quite as I wanted but it was ok

Greg Biffle got loose in the esses and crashed rear end first into the wall

Sterling Marlin lost an engine late in the session

Brandon Ash had an off as he got well too hot in the exit of the Bus Stop chicane

Kasey Kahne looked to have pole after a rather unrestrained and somewhat shaky but very fast lap, but in the closing segment, Kurt Busch nabbed it away from him by a large margin

Pos.	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	122.966	71.727	Leader
2	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT	121.845	72.387	-0.660
3	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL Fastap	121.642	72.508	-0.781
4	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	121.432	72.633	-0.906
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	121.172	72.789	-1.062
6	7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Jim Beam	121.144	72.806	-1.079
7	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	120.779	73.026	-1.299
8	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	120.614	73.126	-1.399
9	5	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	120.609	73.129	-1.402
10	11	Denny Hamlin*	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	120.497	73.197	-1.470
11	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	120.290	73.323	-1.596
12	38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	120.277	73.331	-1.604
13	40	Scott Pruett	Dodge	Lone Star Steakhouse/Saloon	120.229	73.360	-1.633
14	07	Clint Bowyer*	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	120.105	73.436	-1.709
15	61	Boris Said	Ford	SOBE - No Fear	120.080	73.451	-1.724
16	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	120.059	73.464	-1.737
17	42	Casey Mears	Dodge	Texaco/Havoline	120.000	73.500	-1.773
18	32	Ron Fellows	Chevrolet	Tide-Downy	119.865	73.583	-1.856
19	25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	GMAC	119.777	73.637	-1.910
20	6	Mark Martin	Ford	AAA	119.650	73.715	-1.988
21	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot	119.530	73.789	-2.062
22	66	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Best Buy Teach	119.422	73.856	-2.129
23	21	Ken Schrader	Ford	Little Debbie	119.383	73.880	-2.153
24	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	Crown Royal	119.312	73.924	-2.197
25	22	Dave Blaney	Dodge	Caterpillar	119.291	73.937	-2.210
26	18	J.J. Yeley*	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	119.276	73.946	-2.219
27	90	Marc Goossens	Ford	CitiFinancial	119.204	73.991	-2.264
28	4	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	119.189	74.000	-2.273
29	96	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	DLP HDTV	119.083	74.066	-2.339
30	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DEWALT	119.072	74.073	-2.346
31	19	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT	119.033	74.097	-2.370
32	10	Scott Riggs	Dodge	Valvoline/Stanley Tools	118.974	74.134	-2.407
33	55	Michael Waltrip	Dodge	NAPA Auto Parts	118.903	74.178	-2.451
34	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards/Quaker State	118.823	74.228	-2.501
35	1	Martin Truex Jr.*	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker	118.595	74.371	-2.644
36	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker	118.595	74.371	-2.644
37	01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	118.502	74.429	-2.702
38	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Petty Enterprises	118.367	74.514	-2.787
39	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	118.202	74.618	-2.891
40	41	Reed Sorenson+*	Dodge	Target	117.093	75.325	-3.598
41	16	Greg Biffle+	Ford	Subway/National Guard	86.583	101.868	-30.141
42	14	Sterling Marlin+	Chevrolet	Ginn Clubs & Resorts	-	-	-
43	34	Brian Simo	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	118.786	74.251	-2.524
Did not Qualify
44	49	Chris Cook	Dodge	DSI	118.601	74.367	-2.640
45	78	Max Papis	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing	118.548	74.400	-2.673
46	27	Tom Hubert	Ford	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing	118.174	74.636	-2.909
47	37	David Murry	Dodge	Upstate N.Y. Dodge Dealer Ass'n	117.403	75.126	-3.399
48	72	Dale Quarterley	Dodge	Dutch Quality Stone	116.793	75.518	-3.791
49	92	Johnny Miller	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	116.625	75.627	-3.900
50	02	Brandon Ash	Dodge	Sprinter Trucking, Inc.	116.215	75.894	-4.167

My picks:

1-Kevin Harvick
2-Jeff Gordon
3-Robby Gordon
.

BTCC picks:
1-Plato
2-Neal
3-Thompson
.

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

NASCAR: Very good qualifying time for Kurt Busch, really destroying the rest of the field being 0.66s faster than second place, Kasey Kahne. Marc Goossens made the field comfortably. A pity Max Papis didn't qualify. Scott Pruett ending up as the best of the road course drivers.

Picks:
1. Tony Stewart
2. Mark Martin
3. Boris Said

BTCC, Snetterton
Entry Changes:
12. Mark Proctor Fast-tec Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R (IN: Re-entered)
14. James Thompson SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon (IN: Replacing Darren Turner)
21. Adam Jones Xero Competition Lexus IS200 (OUT: Car improvements)
24. Darren Turner SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon (OUT: Replaced by James Thompson)
25. Gareth Howell Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (IN: New Entry)
90. Erkut Kizilirmak VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (IN: Re-entered)

Okay a few changes to the entry list. Mark Proctor is back in for what will probably be his last outing of the season because he reckons he will go very well at Snetterton. Erkut Kizilirmak comes back from Turkey, Gareth Howell comes back from the sidelines. Xero Competition had been doing improvements to their car but they have decided to skip Snetterton (a circuit that in truth they would have struggled at) in order to complete all the updates they want. The Lexus will be back at the next round at Knockhill.

Mark Proctor has had a slight change in livery with from all blue to:


25. Gareth Howell
Team: Team Dynamics
Entry: Team Halfords
Car: Honda Integra Type-R
Best BTCC Result: 1st (1 win)
Last Season: 12th in BTCC Drivers’ Championship, 9th in BTCC Independents Cup

Having initially not found the money available Team Dynamics finally got the budget together to run Gareth Howell in a third car. Howell maybe a little rusty having not raced in 10 months but he’ll not doubt be full of confidence coming into the last four races of the season. The Honda Integra is still the car to beat which despite the late entry ballast will mean Howell shall be looking good for points to help Team Dynamics claim the Teams’ Championship and help Matt Neal win the Drivers’ Championship. Howell will be looking to add to his win tally and claim that second victory. Last season he seemed a bit eager to impress and therefore over drove on occasion, hopefully he can settle down and concentrate on scoring consistent points.
BTCC Career:
2005: 1 win, Drivers’ Championship 12th, Independents’ Cup 9th (Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R)
2003: Drivers’ Championship joint 16th, Independents’ Cup joint 6th (Team Dynamics Vauxhall Astra coupe)
2002: Drivers’ Championship joint 12th, Independents’ Cup joint 3rd (Team Atomic Kitten MG ZS)
2001: Production Class 5th (GR Motorsport Ford Focus)
2000: Class B joint 8th (GR Motorsport Ford Focus)

Just in case you’re interested here’s Richard Marsh’s glorious BTCC career that I neglected to post when doing his preview before Donington:

40. Richard Marsh
BTCC Career:
2004: Drivers’ Championship joint 23rd, Independents’ Cup joint 11th (Team Varta Honda Civic Type-R / Peugeot 307)
2003: Production Class joint 6th (Team Varta Peugeot 306 Gti-6 / Honda Accord)

Ballast:
Matt Neal 45kg
Gareth Howell 45kg
Colin Turkington 36kg
Richard Marsh 30kg
Erkut Kizilirmak 30kg
Gordon Shedden 27kg
Jason Plato 18kg
Eoin Murray 15kg
James Thompson 9kg

Qualifying Times:
1. Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon 1m11.793s (18kg)
2. James Thompson SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon +0.061s (9kg)
3. Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch +0.314
4. Gordon Shedden Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R +0.316 (27kg)
5. Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R +0.363 (45kg)
6. Colin Turkington West Surrey Racing MG ZS +0.528 (36kg)
7. Gavin Smith VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch +0.559
8. Tom Chilton VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch +0.566
9. Mike Jordan Team Eurotech Honda Integra Type-R +0.566
10. Rob Collard West Surrey Racing MG ZS +0.773
11. Gareth Howell Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R +0.774 (45kg)
12. James Kaye Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R +0.859
13. Eoin Murray Quest Racing Alfa Romeo 156 +1.151 (15kg)
14. Mark Proctor Fast-tec Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R +1.219
15. Jason Hughes Kartworld Racing MG ZS +1.377
16. Fiona Leggate Tech-speed Motorsport Vauxhall Astra coupe +2.375
17. Martyn Bell Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320.i E46 +3.106
18. Erkut Kizilirmak VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch +4.098 (30kg)
19. Richard Marsh Team Griffin Racing Peugeot 307 +5.031 (30kg)
20. Mark Smith In-front Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 +5.732
21. Dave Pinkney Motorbase Performance Honda Integra Type-R No Time

Picks:
1. James Thompson
2. Gordon Shedden
3. Colin Turkington

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Re: Howell--I was pretty impressed with his performances last year even if they were a little rough around the edges and a little aggressive.  I knew he was just trying to leave a strong impression.

Now as far as yesterday's Watkins Glen race--

The race got going with a bang with Kurt Busch leading from pole.  But he quickly got a tap from Kasey Kahne before they reached the almost always treacherous turn 1.  The punt forced Busch into the grass and he ran wide of the turn before gathering it up.  He dropped to 5th but showed he had clearly the fastest car of the field as he picked off positions 1 by 1.  By the time he got up to Kahne in turn 1, Busch gave Kahne a tap, getting him back for the contact, but Kahne saved it and they both went on their way and nothing more came of it the rest of the race.

Meanwhile, up front it was Ryan Newman leading, but Kurt Busch had already rebounded from the Kahne incident and he made quick work of his teammate the next lap in turn 1 for the lead. 

The early cautions were caused by Elliott Sadler getting spun in the inner loop by Casey Mears and a few laps later, Kyle Busch had a tire go down in the inner loop after losing his track bar.  They repaired the car in 5 laps and would get all 5 laps back through the several cautions the race would have.

Behind Kurt Busch for the lead, there were several battles developing, though the field seemed rather stable, nobody making huge charges or making huge drops, just 1 on 1 battles for positions.  Both Gordons looked like they had solid top 5 cars and Tony Stewart looked to be the best guy on track not named Kurt Busch.  In the bottom half of the top 10, Jimmie Johnson was playing fuel conservation, and he was holding up Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Scott Pruett all in the top 10.  Boris Said was also in the middle of the top 10 but sandwiched between the front runners and Johnson holding others up.

The race basically kept up this rather rigid order through first round pitstops around lap 20-25.  There were a few cautions along the way in the forms of Bill Elliott getting stuck in the kitty litter, Boris Said getting spun out by Marc Goossens and Greg Biffle getting tagged by Kyle Petty and sent into the guardrail, forcing him to make repairs.

But the race really took a turn at lap 55 when about 8 cars made pitstops--Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr all pitted before a caution flag would fly for Joe Nemechek getting tagged by Scott Wimmer in the inner loop sending Nemechek into the tire barrier.  Caution flies and its a huge advantage for those who pitted because they could stay out while others pitted under caution.  Kurt Busch tried to get into the pits before the caution flew but he missed it by a fraction of a second.  Because he made his pitstop anyway, he was penalized to go to the end of the longest line. 

Kevin Harvick was the new leader but he had a faulty fuel nozzle and fuel was flying out of the overflow.  People werent sure how much spilled in the duration of the race so they werent sure if they were good to go on fuel to the finish.  But the array of cautions that would fly soon afterwards would pretty much ensure they were safe to go.

After a spin and crash by Marc Goossens, the big incident of the day occurred when Matt Kenseth rear ended Dave Blaney at the top of the esses, sending Blaney nose first into the wall.  And since this was right after a restart, it became a logjam of cars behind them, collecting Kurt Busch, Scott Wimmer, Brian Simo, Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek, and Terry Labonte.  Simo's car had dropped quite a bit of liquid on the track from the damage.

Meanwhile, up front Harvick had bad restarts and 2nd place Jamie McMurray had a strong first lap after restarts so he was able to challenge Harvick and gave him a few looks at the bus stop (or inner loop) chicane.  But Harvick was able to retain lead every time.  But those who were fast were still making their way up through the field.  Most notably was Tony Stewart who made quick work of everyone except McMurray and Harvick.  Also running well behind him was Robby Gordon and Ryan Newman.  Stewart would eventually get by McMurray after McMurray put up quite a fight.  Robby Gordon would make his way up to 4th but got bogged behind McMurray.

Meanwhile behind them, Dale Earnhardt Jr on pace for a top 10 had either a wheel hop problem or too much rear brake which caused him to spin on his own in turn 1, forcing him to drop a good 20 positions.  He would do well to make up many of those positions by races end but it could have been more.

Harvick had quite a comfortable lead after the battling and he looked to be heading to victory until Casey Mears got spun out in turn 1 and stalled trying to restart with 12 laps to go.  This brought out caution as his car was idle in the middle of the track.  Harvick's lead disintigrated and Stewart would pass Harvick on the backstretch blowing by him heading into the bus stop chicane.

Stewart led when Michael Waltrip lost control heading into the final turn, most likely because of a severe wheel hop problem in his car.  He backed it into the tire barrier hard. 

After a lap of green flag racing with 3 laps to go, Kevin Harvick actually mounted a charge heading into the frontstretch and passed Tony Stewart for the lead, who later said he used his car up trying to get through all the traffic before.  Harvick would cruise to victory, the first of his victories I actually SAW the checker flag for without turning off since his first victory at Atlanta in 2001.  Believe me, I was cringing, but lots of things were happening on the last lap that I didnt want to ignore, about 5 cars spun out in 3 different incidents on the last lap.  There was all kinds of chaos in the innerloop/bus stop chicane when Ryan Newman got tagged by Boris Said because Newman was doing excessive blocking.  Said and Fellows cut the chicane to avoid the wreck and were penalized 30 seconds for making those moves dropping them from 6th and 10th to 31st and 32nd respectively.  Also spinning out on the last lap was Kasey Kahne and JJ Yeley.

Fin	St	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Pts/Bonus	Laps	Status	Winnings
1	7	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	185/5	90	Running	$223,161
2	8	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	175/5	90	Running	$210,986
3	24	#26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	Crown Royal	165/0	90	Running	$163,225
4	6	#7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Jim Beam	160/0	90	Running	$108,100
5	21	#99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot	155/0	90	Running	$110,725
6	13	#40	Scott Pruett	Dodge	Lone Star Steakhouse/Saloon	150/0	90	Running	$114,108
7	12	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	146/0	90	Running	$107,533
8	3	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL Fastap	147/5	90	Running	$116,708
9	9	#5	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	138/0	90	Running	$88,025
10	10	#11	Denny Hamlin *	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	134/0	90	Running	$78,850
11	16	#31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	130/0	90	Running	$97,645
12	40	#41	Reed Sorenson *	Dodge	Target	132/5	90	Running	$83,975
13	4	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	129/5	90	Running	$113,736
14	14	#07	Clint Bowyer *	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	121/0	90	Running	$85,700
15	22	#66	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Best Buy Teach	118/0	90	Running	$91,233
16	19	#25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	GMAC	115/0	90	Running	$73,500
17	5	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	117/5	90	Running	$110,111
18	11	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	114/5	90	Running	$99,966
19	1	#2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	116/10	90	Running	$117,333
20	20	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	AAA	103/0	90	Running	$81,700
21	30	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DEWALT	100/0	90	Running	$106,916
22	2	#9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT	97/0	90	Running	$103,189
23	32	#10	Scott Riggs	Dodge	Valvoline/Stanley Tools	94/0	90	Running	$64,700
24	36	#43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	Cheerios/Betty Crocker	91/0	90	Running	$100,411
25	28	#4	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	93/5	90	Running	$63,650
26	39	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	85/0	90	Running	$95,075
27	31	#19	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT	82/0	90	Running	$92,666
28	35	#1	Martin Truex Jr. *	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker	79/0	90	Running	$84,583
29	34	#15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards/Quaker State	76/0	90	Running	$59,250
30	38	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Petty Enterprises	78/5	90	Running	$82,258
31	15	#60	Boris Said	Ford	SOBE - No Fear	70/0	90	Running	$58,950
32	18	#32	Ron Fellows	Chevrolet	Tide-Downy	67/0	90	Running	$70,797
33	26	#18	J.J. Yeley *	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	64/0	90	Running	$94,125
34	23	#21	Ken Schrader	Ford	Little Debbie	61/0	89	Running	$85,689
35	17	#42	Casey Mears	Dodge	Texaco/Havoline	58/0	89	Running	$92,483
36	33	#55	Michael Waltrip	Dodge	NAPA Auto Parts	60/5	89	Running	$58,150
37	29	#96	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	DLP HDTV	52/0	81	Running	$58,025
38	41	#16	Greg Biffle	Ford	Subway/National Guard	49/0	75	Running	$78,075
39	42	#14	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	Ginn Clubs & Resorts	46/0	64	Accident	$57,750
40	25	#22	Dave Blaney	Dodge	Caterpillar	43/0	61	Accident	$57,600
41	43	#34	Brian Simo	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	40/0	61	Accident	$57,460
42	37	#01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	37/0	61	Accident	$83,680
43	27	#90	Marc Goossens	Ford	CitiFinancial	34/0	58	Accident	$57,537

Points:

Rank	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Winnings
1	--	Jimmie Johnson	3241	Leader	22	1	4	8	17	$6,522,190
2	--	Matt Kenseth	3117	-124	22	0	2	11	12	$4,390,790
3	+1	Kevin Harvick	2918	-323	22	0	2	10	13	$3,946,850
4	-1	Jeff Burton	2879	-362	22	3	0	4	13	$3,200,710
5	--	Kyle Busch	2871	-370	22	1	1	7	12	$3,181,750
6	--	Mark Martin	2815	-426	22	0	0	4	10	$2,821,800
7	+2	Tony Stewart	2794	-447	22	0	2	9	12	$4,495,650