Many fans have mixed opinions about NASCAR’s new double-file restart rule, but one thing is for certain. It has set up for some interesting situations.

Kasey Kahne appeared to be driving away from the field late at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California last Sunday when Scott Speed spun out and stalled his car, bringing out a caution and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

Kahne saw his lead slip away, and suddenly Tony Stewart and Marcos Ambrose were right on his tail. But Kahne pulled away on the restart, leaving Stewart and Ambrose to battle for second.

Stewart eventually emerged the victor of that battle, but it was too little, too late for Stewart to catch the hard charging Kahne, who claimed his first Sprint Cup Series victory since winning at Pocono Raceway last June.

“I learned how to drive (race cars) on dirt,” Kahne said. “So to come out and win on a road course … it feels great. I can’t believe it.”

Kahne led a race-high 37 laps while holding off two of the best in the business in Stewart and Ambrose.
Stewart, coming off of his first win as a driver/owner a week ago in Pocono, spent a majority of the day in the top 10 after starting fourth. He would finish second.

Third-place finisher Marcos Ambrose was forced to start in the rear of the field after qualifying third due to a blown motor in Saturday afternoon practice. The former Australian road racing series champion persistently worked his way through the pack to finish third.

Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson finished fourth. Denny Hamlin led 33 laps before falling to a fifth place finish.
Mayetta, New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. was running in second place behind Robby Gordon with roughly 35 laps to go when the two were caught on the wrong end of a green flag cycle, dropping the pair to the end of the lead lap. Truex finished 25th

Nationwide Series: Carl Edwards passed Kyle Busch with 44 laps to go and never looked back, cruising to victory in the NorthernTool.com 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. It was Edwards’ first Nationwide Series victory of 2009. Kyle Busch was second, followed by Brad Keselowski in third. Polesitter Erik Darnell finished fourth, and rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fifth.

Camping World Truck Series: Ron Hornaday increased his CWTS record to 41 wins after capturing the Milwaukee 200 last Saturday. The race was originally scheduled for Friday night, but heavy rains forced the drivers to wait until Saturday afternoon. Dennis Setzer was second, followed by Brian Scott in third, Todd Bodine fourth, and James Buescher in fifth.

Coming Up: The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams head to the New Hampshire International Speedway, while the Camping World Truck Series heads to Memphis Motorsports Park.

Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com

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