Race Rewind | Chicagoland 400

DAVID POOLE, dpoole@charlotteobserver.com

Sunday, Jul. 15, 2007

ELEVATORS

UP – Roush Fenway Racing
Matt Kenseth couldn’t catch Tony Stewart, but the team got second and third and both of those cars beat the best Hendrick Motorsports car.

UP – Joe Gibbs
Team owner dropped in on Saturday for a “pep talk” with bickering drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. It seems to have worked, at least for Stewart.

UP – Kurt Busch
Weekend started with a puzzling engine problem, but he came from the rear of the field to finish a solid sixth.

OBSERVATIONS

--The big problem with the Tony Stewart-Denny Hamlin dispute from Daytona last week was that team’s disagreements were aired publicly. For six days the issue festered and the drivers became increasingly irritated when asked about it. So why did it take until Saturday afternoon before team owner Joe Gibbs swooped in for a face to face, air-clearing meeting between his two drivers? Everybody has a jet. Have a meeting Monday, get things settled and get on with it. By waiting a week and then turning the come-to-Jesus gathering into a media event in the Nextel Cup garage, the team blew this story up. Not the media.
--This was a days when several guys who didn’t still did themselves plenty of good. Kurt Busch rallied from the back of the field to finish sixth. Jeff Burton was a very quiet seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost power steering but soldiered home to finish 19th, last on the lead lap. The points those guys saved will come in handy when it comes to the Chase for the Nextel Cup cutoff.
--A couple of guys (not me, sadly) tried to make it to a Cubs game Saturday, leaving from this track. They drove for a while, then caught a train and finally grabbed a bus on to get to Wrigley Field. But every time there’s a race here, TV acts like Chicago’s landmarks are all right here in the neighborhood. Give it up. – DAVID POOLE

KEY MOMENTS

Lap 153
Jamie McMurray hits the wall and brings out a yellow, and on that round of pit stops Tony Stewart’s crew gets him back onto the track ahead of Jimmie Johnson. Stewart will not be out of the top two the rest of the day.

Lap 209
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had lined up third on a restart one lap earlier, slows dramatically and is clearing fighting to control the No. 8 Chevrolet. There’s a problem with his power steering, and he falls well back.

Lap 223
Jimmie Johnson, who’d been running among the leaders all day, loses a right-rear tire. As it disintegrates, it tears the sheet metal loose from the rear of his Chevrolet and sends it sliding hard into the wall. Scratch Johnson as a contender.

Lap 232
Stewart fends off a frantic bid for the top spot from Matt Kenseth just after a restart. After they battle side by side for nearly two full laps, Stewart finally clears Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford to hang onto the top spot.

Lap 256
Stewart pulls clear on the final restart, keeping Kenseth easily at bay and going on to win for the first time since a victory at Texas Motor Speedway late last year. Kenseth holds off Carl Edwards for second.

NEXT RACE
ALLSTATE 400
Where: Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway
When: 2 p.m., Sunday, July 29
TV: Coverage begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN
Radio: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Network
Last year’s winner: Jimmie Johnson

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