NASCAR Nation – 9-30

While Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, and others have dominated the series points throughout the season, Jimmie Johnson has quietly hovered in the top five. The defending three-time champion appears to be doing the same thing he’s done the past three years – the Chase is here, and so is the No. 48 Lowes’ team dominance.
Johnson led a race-high 271 of 400 laps en route to his sweep of the 2009 races at the Monster Mile.
Johnson set a blistering pace for the pole, and pulled out to a large lead early on. But a spectacular wreck on lap 30, which sent Joey Logano barrel rolling down the banking over 10 times before his No. 20 Toyota came to a stop at the bottom of the racetrack. The wreck also collected Martin Truex Jr., Robby Gordon, and Reed Sorenson, causing a 23-minute red flag period as track officials worked to clear the turn of debris and wrecked racecars.
Kurt Busch took the lead shortly after the restart, and held onto the top spot until lap 147, when Johnson overtook the top spot, and remained in the top spot for much of the race.
Johnson faced several challenges from drivers such as Mark Martin, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Matt Kenseth, but no driver could compete with the No. 48 Chevrolet, as Johnson easily held a several second lead after each restart.
Mark Martin, the series points leader, finished second, followed by Matt Kenseth in third, Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth, and Kurt Busch in fifth.
Other chase drivers fared strong as well. Jeff Gordon was sixth, followed by Kasey Kahne in eighth, Tony Stewart in ninth, Ryan Newman in 10th, Carl Edwards in 11th, Greg Biffle in 13th, Brian Vickers in 18th, and Denny Hamlin in 22nd.
Mark Martin maintained the lead in the points standings, holding a 10-point lead over Jimmie Johnson. Montoya remains in third, some 65 points behind Martin.
Nationwide Series: Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch and Joey Logano appeared to have conquered the Monster Mile for JGR in May, leading 195 of the race’s 200 laps. But Brad Keselowski stole the victory late when Logano made contact with Busch with two laps to go.
Busch entered Saturday’s Dover 200 set on completing what he had started in May. But once again, struggles within the team would keep him from victory lane.
Busch captured the pole easily, and easily held the lead at the beginning of the event, taking just 11 laps to catch the rear of the field and lap his first car. By lap 63, Busch had sliced nearly to the front of the field, leaving only 15 cars remaining on the lead lap.
While all appeared well from the outside, inside the car, Busch was becoming frustrated. A communications error had occurred with Busch’s radio, leaving Busch with no means of communication with the team. He could hear his spot and crew, but could not respond. As the first pit stop neared, Busch could be seen signaling out the window of his car with his fingers, attempting to communicate the needed changes.
But it became clear that Busch would be unable to communicate the precise changes needed. He was quickly overtaken as the race progressed, and was never able to regain his dominating level he began the race with.
Meanwhile, Clint Bowyer took the lead with 82 laps remaining. While Busch, Mike Bliss, and Carl Edwards attempted to close the gap, and Brad Keselowski charged through the field late, Bowyer’s car was too much for the competition, as he claimed his second Nationwide Series victory of 2009.
Bliss was second, followed by Keselowski in third, Busch in fourth, and Edwards in fifth.
Martin Truex Jr. made a rare Nationwide Series appearance, starting 24th and finishing 16th.
Camping World East Series: The Camping World East Series, a regional touring division of NASCAR that visits 11 different tracks from New Hampshire to South Carolina, as well as a joint race with the Camping World West Series in Iowa.
The series offers drivers as young as 16 to hone their skills, as well as older drivers an opportunity to get back into the national series, or a way to satisfy their racing ambitions.
But 2009 has been the year of youth in the East Series, as seven of the series’ 11 races were won by a driver under 18. And Dover proved to be one of those very races.
Seventeen-year-old Ryan Truex, the younger brother of Sprint Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr., entered the race with a 30 point lead over Eddie MacDonald. The younger Truex needed to finish fourth or better to clinch the championship.
Truex put down a solid qualifying lap, earning him the sixth starting position. But MacDonald proved he wouldn’t go down without a fight, taking the second position and starting on the outside of the front row with polesitter Matt DiBenedetto.
DiBenedetto and 17-year-old Brent Moffitt traded the lead for the better part of the first half of the race, while Truex and MacDonald cautiously raced near the top five, always within a few positions from one another.
Meanwhile, on lap 79, DiBenedetto was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop when he blew a tire. This put him further back in the field, where just a few laps later he was caught in a wreck with the No. 03 of Josh Richards, ending his hopes for a victory.
This enabled Moffitt and Ryan Gifford to battle for the victory, and Moffitt eventually took the lead for good with 23 laps remaining.
It was Moffitt’s second victory of the season. He led a race-high 85 of 150 laps. Gifford was second, followed by Corey LaJoie in third, David Mayhew in fourth, and Alan Tardiff in fifth.
Truex, meanwhile, held off MacDonald to claim his first NASCAR championship by 34 points. The Ocean County native was greeted by his family on victory lane and received the championship trophy from NASCAR President Mike Helton.
Look to see Ryan make his Nationwide Series debut sometime next season, where he is expected to share a Michael Waltrip Racing car with older brother Martin.
Coming Up: The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams head to the Kansas Speedway as the season continues to draw to an end.
Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com
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