From the April, 2007 issue of Stock Car Insider
Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Speedway Recap
Going into the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, no NASCAR Cup driver had ever won more than one race at Texas. That all changed yesterday as Jeff Burton went on to win for the second time by passing Matt Kenseth on the final lap. Winning ten years ago at the inaugural NASCAR race in Texas, Burton celebrated the track’s 10th anniversary with yet another win, 19th of his career.Ten years of racing at Texas has yielded ten separate winners. Not included in that list of winners is four time champion, Jeff Gordon. Starting on the pole at the start of the 500, Gordon held on to the top position for much of the race leading 173 of 334 laps. By not winning, Gordon ended a four race winning streak that saw a Hendrick Motorsports driver take the checkered flag.
After missing the last two races while deciding to run a limited schedule in 2007, Mark Martin finished in 3rd place in just his 5th race of the year. The 3rd place finish moved Martin up to 12th in points. Over the five races that Mark has participated in this year, his average finish is 5th.
If the Chase for the Championship were to start today, Martin would be a qualifier. That brings up an interesting scenario for NASCAR, could a driver race a limited schedule and still qualify for the Chase? Mathematically it is possible. But it never could have happened under the old system.
Other drivers to note:
Tony Stewart suffered yet another unfortunate accident when Juan Pablo Montoya pushed up the track going through a turn and rubbed against Tony Stewart. The bump sent Tony Stewart spiraling out of control. Stewart was never able to recover and finished the race in 25th place. He now sits 9th in points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr ran up front at times during the race but got caught up in an unfortunate late race incident. Tony Stewart slowed down and forced Earnhardt to brake. That resulted in Kyle Busch ramming him hard from behind and taking him out of the race. The odd twist came at the end when the team of the #5 car had made enough repairs to get the car back on the track. However, their driver was no where to be found. So instead, they asked Earnhardt Jr to run the last few laps of the race in the #5 car, and he obliged.
Kasey Kahne had an uneventful and quiet day. He finished the race in 20th place and now sits 33rd in points.
| See complete 2007 NASCAR Schedule |
