Kurt Busch has moved into title contention after beating Jimmie Johnson to victory in the AAA 400 at Dover.
Busch, whose only prior win this season came on the road course at Sonoma, beat the five-time defending champion on the final two restarts before easing away to victory.
Having endured a difficult run last time out at New Hampshire, the win sees Busch elevated to fourth in the championship standings – just nine points behind Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
Johnson held out Edwards for second in the race, with the Roush Fenway Ford driver appearing a likely victor save for a mid-race pit road penalty.
Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top eight, while Australian Marcos Ambrose passed Harvick for ninth on the final lap.
Erstwhile championship leader Tony Stewart endured a difficult day, eventually finishing two laps down in 25th position. The Stewart-Haas driver, who won the Chase’s opening two races, now sits third in the standings, tield on points with Busch.
Fellow ‘Chaser’ Brad Keselowski also struck trouble, with a wayward power steering belt contributing to a 20th place finish.
Race 30 of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take place at Kansas next weekend.
See below for the AAA 400 race result
|
FIN |
ST |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 47/1 | 400 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 44/2 | 400 | Running |
| 3 | 4 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 42/1 | 400 | Running |
| 4 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 40/0 | 400 | Running |
| 5 | 18 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 40/1 | 400 | Running |
| 6 | 5 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 39/1 | 400 | Running |
| 7 | 7 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 38/1 | 400 | Running |
| 8 | 27 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 36/0 | 400 | Running |
| 9 | 12 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 35/0 | 400 | Running |
| 10 | 22 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem “Chasing the Cure” | 35/1 | 400 | Running |
| 11 | 13 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 34/1 | 400 | Running |
| 12 | 34 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 32/0 | 400 | Running |
| 13 | 14 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 31/0 | 400 | Running |
| 14 | 30 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 30/0 | 400 | Running |
| 15 | 23 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 29/0 | 400 | Running |
| 16 | 3 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Pittsburgh Paints / Menards | 28/0 | 400 | Running |
| 17 | 16 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 27/0 | 400 | Running |
| 18 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 26/0 | 400 | Running |
| 19 | 17 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 25/0 | 400 | Running |
| 20 | 15 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 25/1 | 400 | Running |
| 21 | 19 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS “We Love Logistics” | 23/0 | 399 | Running |
| 22 | 24 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 22/0 | 398 | Running |
| 23 | 20 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army ROTC | 21/0 | 398 | Running |
| 24 | 21 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 20/0 | 398 | Running |
| 25 | 28 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 19/0 | 398 | Running |
| 26 | 8 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Grilling.com / Kingsford | 18/0 | 398 | Running |
| 27 | 10 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Cubitron | 17/0 | 397 | Running |
| 28 | 36 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 16/0 | 397 | Running |
| 29 | 33 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 15/0 | 397 | Running |
| 30 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 15/1 | 396 | Running |
| 31 | 25 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today | 0 | 395 | Running |
| 32 | 41 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral | 12/0 | 395 | Running |
| 33 | 37 | Andy Lally * | Ford | Interstate Moving Services | 11/0 | 394 | Running |
| 34 | 43 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | Drive Sober, Arrive Alive | 10/0 | 390 | Running |
| 35 | 39 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 9/0 | 366 | Running |
| 36 | 40 | Mike Bliss | Ford | Street King | 0 | 346 | Accident |
| 37 | 26 | Josh Wise | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 0 | 56 | Brakes |
| 38 | 38 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Speed Energy / Mapei / Menards | 0 | 52 | Electrical |
| 39 | 42 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / P&W Stoves | 0 | 49 | Clutch |
| 40 | 35 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 5/1 | 44 | Fuel Pump |
| 41 | 31 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Inception Motorsports | 3/0 | 31 | Vibration |
| 42 | 29 | Scott Speed | Ford | Red Line Oil / International Trucks | 0 | 24 | Brakes |
| 43 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 0 | 12 | Ignition |
See below for the updated championship points
|
RANK |
DRIVER |
POINTS |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 2122 |
| 2 | Carl Edwards | 2122 |
| 3 | Tony Stewart | 2113 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 2113 |
| 5 | Jimmie Johnson | 2109 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 2108 |
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | 2108 |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | 2107 |
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 2103 |
| 10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2088 |
| 11 | Ryan Newman | 2081 |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | 2054 |
| 13 | Clint Bowyer | 811 |
| 14 | A.J. Allmendinger | 809 |
| 15 | Greg Biffle | 789 |
| 16 | Mark Martin | 775 |
| 17 | Kasey Kahne | 775 |
| 18 | David Ragan | 771 |
| 19 | Juan Montoya | 767 |
| 20 | Martin Truex Jr. | 761 |
| 21 | Marcos Ambrose | 747 |
| 22 | Joey Logano | 744 |
| 23 | Paul Menard | 743 |
| 24 | Jeff Burton | 712 |
| 25 | Regan Smith | 678 |
| 26 | Brian Vickers | 672 |
| 27 | Jamie McMurray | 666 |
| 28 | David Reutimann | 615 |
| 29 | Bobby Labonte | 589 |
| 30 | David Gilliland | 482 |
| 31 | Casey Mears | 413 |
| 32 | Dave Blaney | 381 |
| 33 | Andy Lally* | 370 |
| 34 | Robby Gordon | 245 |
| 35 | J.J. Yeley | 141 |
| 36 | Tony Raines | 129 |
| 37 | Michael McDowell | 104 |
| 38 | Bill Elliott | 100 |
| 39 | Terry Labonte | 92 |
| 40 | Ken Schrader | 87 |
| 41 | David Stremme | 65 |
| 42 | Boris Said | 38 |
| 43 | Stephen Leicht | 20 |
| 44 | Michael Waltrip | 20 |
| 45 | Andy Pilgrim | 18 |
| 46 | Chris Cook | 17 |
| 47 | T.J. Bell* | 14 |
| 48 | Brian Simo | 11 |
| 49 | Geoffrey Bodine | 6 |
| 50 | Brian Keselowski* | 3 |
| 51 | Erik Darnell | 2 |
| 52 | Steve Park | 2 |
| 53 | Trevor Bayne | 0 |
| 54 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 |
| 55 | Landon Cassill | 0 |
| 56 | Steve Wallace | 0 |
| 57 | Mike Skinner | 0 |
| 58 | Mike Bliss | 0 |
| 59 | Travis Kvapil | 0 |
| 60 | Scott Wimmer | 0 |
| 61 | David Starr | 0 |
| 62 | Hermie Sadler | 0 |
| 63 | Ron Fellows | 0 |
| 64 | Patrick Carpentier | 0 |
| 65 | Joe Nemechek | 0 |
| 66 | Scott Speed | 0 |
| 67 | Jason White | 0 |
| 68 | Andrew Ranger | 0 |
| 69 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 0 |
| 70 | Johnny Sauter | 0 |
| 71 | Todd Bodine | 0 |
| 72 | Josh Wise | 0 |
| 73 | Dennis Setzer | 0 |
| 74 | Robert Richardson Jr. | 0 |
| 75 | Reed Sorenson | 0 |
| 76 | Scott Riggs | 0 |
| 77 | Kevin Conway | 0 |
| 78 | P.J. Jones | 0 |
| 79 | Jeff Green | 0 |
| 80 | Derrike Cope | 0 |
| 81 | Tony Ave | 0 |
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