From the October, 2006 issue of Stock Car Insider

Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway Recap

There is one thing that the new Chase for the Championship guarantees, and that is there are 33 drivers who have nothing to lose! Any driver in the Chase will often times make conservative safe decisions that may cost them a chance at winning the race. They cannot afford to gamble and come up with a poor finish that may cost them the championship. That leaves the remaining drivers to take chances in order to win a race.

Yesterday was a prime example of this as Tony Stewart and others took a chance on fuel mileage in order to win the race. Both Tony and 2nd place finisher, Casey Mears, coasted across the finish line on empty.

For the Chase contenders, yesterday was fairly lop-sided. Only four Chase drivers finished in the top 10. Mark Martin finished the best of the bunch by crossing the line in 3rd place. The other Chase drivers faired as follows:

1. (Leader) Jeff Burton had another strong day to add to his Championship lead. His 3rd place finish boosted him to a 69 point lead over 2nd place.

2. (-69 points) Denny Hamlin was not very happy with his 18th place finish Sunday. However, given the poor finishes by most of the Chase drivers, Hamlin lucked up and is now in sole possession of 2nd place.

3. (-70 points) Mark Martin battled a poor handling car for most of the day. However, the sly veteran played it smart when it came to fuel strategy and finished in 3rd.

4. (-84 points) Matt Kenseth battled adversity early in the race when he spun out on lap 145. The spin came after the #17 DeWalt car tried to fix the handling on the car in earlier pit stops. Matt finished in 23rd and held on to 4th place in the championship.

5. (-96 points) Kevin Harvick hoped to follow up his win on Saturday with a strong finish on Sunday. However, the gods thought different. Harvick had a poor car and ran in 30th or below for most of the day. However, Harvick was determined and battled his way to a 15th place finish.

6. (-120 points) Jeff Gordon appeared to be in championship form for most of the day. After spinning early in the race, Gordon fell to 32nd. The former champion battled his way back up to inside the top 10 only to suffer a fuel line problem late in the race. Gordon finished in 39th, and plummeted in the points from 2nd to 6th

7. (-123 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr had a strong day to help rebound from his pour showings in the first two races of the Chase. He finished in 10th and led a few laps to gain the 5 bonus points. Now, Jar’s chances of winning the championship are not quite as far fetched as they were last week.

8. (-165 points) Jimmie Johnson had yet another heart-breaking day. Jimmie had the strongest car the entire race, and led the most laps. However, a costly mistake on pit road at the end of the race proved too costly to overcome. Johnson finished in 14th.

9. (-233 points) Kyle Busch leap-frogged his partner, Kasey Kahne to take over the 9th spot. The #5 car looked strong for most of the race, and finished in 7th.

10. (-273 points) Kasey Kahne started on the pole and led the first lap. The only other time Kasey saw 1st place is when the leader would pass him to put him another lap down. Kasey finished the day in 33rd, and has no chance of winning the championship.

See complete 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Race Schedule