No. 2 was No. 1 again this week.

Back in the 1970s, free love and experimentation reigned free. More importantly though, it was the last era when a NASCAR race was held on a Tuesday. Now, more than 30 years later, that streak has been broken. After endless days of rain that pounded Michigan (and much of the north east too), racetrack conditions were reset to green, but the flag remained red. A heavy fog settled across the track, preventing the spotters and NASCAR officials from seeing on-track action, so an early red flag was called until the bulk of it lifted.

Due to two green/yellow starts, Jeff Gordon lead the first 11 laps uncontested. However, it did not remain that way for long; with the aid of a good restart, Greg Biffle easily drove past Gordon for the lead. Before Biffle could pull his lead out too far, Juan Pablo Montoya, Chad McCumbee, and Joe Nemechek all spun, but managed to keep their cars clean.

The entire field entered the pits for a competition yellow on lap 31. Robby Gordon remained out and led the field to the third restart of the day. Unhappy with his car, Greg Biffle faded to sixteenth, while the lead swapped hands between ex-Hendrick Motorsports teammates: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Brian Vickers.

An extended green flag run and the need to pit shook up the field and after the fourth caution of the day Matt Kenseth had clinched the lead, with Kurt Busch close behind in second. Kenseth and Busch battled for the lead lap after lap until another need for green flag pit stops landed Busch in the first spot on lap 172. 34 laps later, Kurt lead the rest of the field under the checkered flag and won his second win of the season.

Some credit this win to Kurt Busch’s newly found maturity. But even with the maturity that is earning him so much praise, this was a big win for Kurt and his entire team. With this win comes the extra insurance that they’re comfortably in the Chase, now 163 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, Busch cannot rest on his laurels yet. Earnhardt may have lost his number this week, but he still has drive. Dale maneuvered his car from 39^th to a twelfth-place finish, moving 27 spots to be one of the top “movers” of the race. Nevertheless, he still slipped 63 points further behind Kurt.

DEI teammate and fellow junior, Martin Truex came in a close second. With his recent success over the past few races, many people are wondering whether Truex will become the new “face” of DEI next year. And while Gibbs racing may be the new “face” for Toyota in 2008, the drivers already signed to the automaker showed a strong performance this weekend.

Brian Vickers qualified 18th, finished eighth, and led a few laps in between. Even though fellow TRB teammate AJ Allmendinger failed to qualify for this race, Vickers is helping his team and the entire Toyota stable move in the right direction. Vickers is not out there alone though; he has the company of Dave Blaney, whom has previously gone under the radar by many in the broadcasting booth. So far this season, Blaney has had two tops tens with an average finish of 28. Combine that with Vickers’ one top five, three top tens, and an average finished of 25.1, these two drivers have brought Toyota home five top tens with an average finish of 26. While this may not be looked at and marked as success, for the developing stable of Toyota cars, this is definitely and achievement worth noting.

Because of the long race delay, this is going to be a long week for all involved in racing. Drivers will have to quickly get back into the racing mindset after little time off. Hauler drivers will have no time to stop, having to pick up the short track car and turn around for Bristol. Will all this added stress prove to be too much for the teams to take? Will it cause tempers to flare on and off the track that already provides bumping and grinding racing? Whatever the case, I will be here to break down all the weekend’s Nextel Cup action!

Race Results

Cup Standings

Questions and comments may be sent to larissasmith@sportsgrumblings.com