The rain-postponed Autism Speaks 400 quickly became another war of attrition, but this time the drivers were fighting to stay on the lead lap and stave off myriad mechanical problems
Due to the lack of rubber on the race track, NASCAR officials determined that two competition cautions would be thrown to assess tire wear and other issues related to the rain delay.
The race began with Ryan Newman leading the action. It continued without incident until the first competition caution at lap 25. With the exception of Jimmie Johnson tangling with Kyle Petty on pit road, the entire field pitted easily.
Kasey Kahne took the lead after the caution and led until Lap 57, when Newman assumed the lead for the second time. Newman led the field to the second competition caution. Newman continued to lead until lap 109, when Carl Edwards muscled past him to become the first non-Dodge to pace the field all day.
Edwards finally surrendered the lead on lap 126 when Martin Truex, Jr. climbed his way to the top. The first caution for an accident flew on lap 136 for Kyle Busch having minor contact with the wall. Newman stole the lead from Truex, and the two would battle for the lead until the halfway point, with Truex in front for lap 200.
As green flag pit stops began near lap 218, the lead cycled through Edwards and Clint Bowyer, but it was again Truex who emerged first in line after all stops were completed. The race continued under green conditions until lap 271 in which Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart make contact. Busch’s behavior immediately following the crash caused NASCAR to park the No. 2 Miller Lite machine.
Newman regained the lead during a cycle of pit stops taken while the caution flag flew, but Truex quickly made his way back to the front and handily took command of the race at lap 295.
A spin and contact with the wall by Ward Burton drew the fifth caution of the day on lap 328. Newman is in the lead, but a short time later Michael Waltrip’s blown tire begat the sixth caution during lap 338.
As the race went green again, Newman and Truex swapped the lead yet again, with Truex leading by lap 348. Only eight laps later on lap 356, the entire Robert Yates Racing contingent is taken out by one of its own. David Gilliland spun, taking veteran teammate Ricky Rudd along for the unfortunate ride.
After the field went green again at lap 362, Truex never surrendered the lead and went on to win his first Nextel Cup race. The top five was rounded out by Newman, Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.
The majority problems were mechanical, and of note, Kevin Harvick with electrical problems under the hood, Kyle Busch and J. J. Yeley experiencing problems with their shocks, and Jeremy Mayfield and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. both enduring flat right-side tires. Dale Jarrett came into the pits with no water pressure. On the non-mechanical side, David Stremme became ill during the race and was replaced by relief driver David Ragan.
During the race, it was reported that International Speedway Corporation Chairman Bill France, Jr. died at home June 4 after an extended illness. He was 74. An intrepid and shrewd businessman, he took NASCAR, the company his father founded, and made it into a powerhouse of racing and an American icon.
His health had been declining in the last decade, after a 1997 heart attack and a diagnosis of cancer in 1999. While the cancer was in remission, repeated years of treatments took their toll on Mr. France. His son Brian France assumed day-to-day duties of NASCAR in 2003.
Race Results
Samantha first became interested in NASCAR at the age of four when she
declared her life’s ambition was to be on Richard Petty’s pit crew.
From there, it has blossomed into an unhealthy love of the weekly
NASCAR soap opera. She is proud to call transplanted Californian Jeff
Gordon a favored Hoosier son. And some other guy named Tony, too. When
she isn’t TiVo-ing the NASCAR lineup from Friday to Sunday, she works
for an insurance company in Indianapolis. Aside from Christmas,
Memorial Day and the weekend of the Brickyard 400 are her favorite
holidays (who doesn’t like 1,100 miles of racing in one day?). Her
hobbies include writing, being a news junkie, and unintentionally
saying things that make the quotes in people’s e-mail signatures. 