At precisely 2:17 P.M. the green flag flew to begin the second round of the 10-race championship known as the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. Leading the way on the opening lap of The Camping World 400 at Dover International Speedway was former four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon of the Hendrick Motorsports outfit. Gordon would lead the first 30 laps on the 1.0-mile, all-concrete, lightning fast oval before giving way to Roush-Fenway Ford driver Jamie McMurray.

100 laps into the 400-lap affair, Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth led teammate McMurray by 0.976 seconds. Veteran Mark Martin ran third ahead of Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch. As far as The Chase is concerned, lap 143 spelled the beginning of the end for NASCAR’s most dominant driver in 2008, Kyle Busch. On that very lap, the 358 cubic-inch V8 Toyota engine in the #18 car slowly began to come unglued, big plumes of white smoke pouring out of it. The Joe Gibbs Racing team Busch drives for decided to roll the dice and keep the car out on the track, hoping for a miracle, but on lap number 172, the engine finally gave up the ghost and Busch’s race was run. Now with two pointless races and with only eight races to go, it appears that the eight-time winner will not be the champion in 2008.

As the race reached the 250-lap mark, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Edwards, and Kenseth Greg Biffle held firm in first through third. With only 50 laps to go, Juan Pablo Montoya pegged the wall, sending all the leaders into the pits for their final stop of the race. On the green flag restart on lap 357, Carl Edwards held sway over Martin, Biffle, Kenseth, Johnson, Harvick, Newman, Gordon, Bowyer and Burton. As the race wound down to the final 25 laps, the Fords of Edwards, Kenseth and Biffle — all involved in The Chase for the Sprint Cup — started up a brawl for the lead, Kenseth and Biffle seeming to get the better of it. The two drivers began punching it out — Biffle hitting Kenseth on lap 387 — until finally on lap number 392 Biffle assumed the lead and raced onto victory over Kenseth and Biffle. Mark Martin and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet placed fourth, just ahead of reigning Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon finished a respectable seventh at Dover. With eight races now remaining, Edwards leads Johnson and Biffle in the Chase for the Sprint Cup by a mere 10 points. Next Stop: Kansas Speedway and next Sunday’s Camping World RV 400.

Eric Johnson