Reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson took his fifth win of the season with a strong perfomance at his “home” track in Fontana California. Johnson led 84 out of the 250 laps, dominating the last part of the race.

Last week’s winner Carl Edwards had another strong showing, finishing second. Kyle Busch, who lead most laps, finished third after a brush with the wall. Dale Earnhardt Jr. kept his slim hopes of making the Championship Chase alive with a fifth place. The race was relatively incident free although one wreck ended with veteran Ricky Rudd, making his 900th start, being taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays on his arm.

The most spectacular exit of the day was by Michael Waltrip who had a burst tire cut an oil line which engulfed his car in flames. It also appeared that Waltrip had some difficulty extricating himself from the burning vehicle once it had come to a rest.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1.  Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
2.  Carl Edwards (Ford)
3.  Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)
4.  Jeff Burton (Chevrolet)
5.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Chevrolet)
6.  Martin Truex Jr. (Chevrolet)
7.  Matt Kenseth (Ford)
8.  Brian Vickers (Toyota)
9.  Kurt Busch (Dodge)
10.  Kasey Kahne (Dodge)

Tony Stewart recoverd from an early race mistake that dropped him to 19th place to record his third victory in the last four NASCAR Nextel Cup races on the twisting Watkins Glen road course.

 Jeff Gordon had looked certain to score his fifth victory of the season until he made a mistake on lap before the white flag, handing the race lead to Stewart, who had battled his way back through the field. Carl Edwards also ran off the track in the closing stages allowing Denny Hamlin to come through and score a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The race included several spins, offs and a collision between Juan-Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick that saw the two end up in a shoving match once they had climbed out of their cars. Ironically neither of them were to blame for the incident which had been triggered by Martin Truex Jr.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1.  Tony Stewart
2.  Denny Hamlin
3.  Jimmie Johnson
4.  Ron Fellows
5.  Robby Gordon
6.  Martin Truex Jr.
7.  Kyle Busch
8.  Carl Edwards
9.  Jeff Gordon
10.  Greg Biffle

Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Pocono clocking fastest time in two of the three practice sessions, and leading for most of the race distance to score his first win of the season. The win also put him back into contention for the Championship Chase. 

Ironically Busch’s closest rival on track at Pocono was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is also battling for the last slot in the Chase.  Dale Jr started from pole and lead the race briefly before being passed by Busch. Junior also recovered from an early spin and an unscheduled pit-stop to change shocks to finish a strong second.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1.  Kurt Busch
2.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3.  Denny Hamlin
4.  Jeff Gordon
5.  Jimmie Johnson
6.  Tony Stewart
7.  Ryan Newman
8.  Clint Bowyer
9.  Mark Martin
10.  Casey Mears

It seems that once again Tony Stewart may be starting another late season run on the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship. After twenty races without a win, Stewart totally dominated Sunday’s race in Chicago, leading 108 of the 267 laps and finishing off th day with his trademark climb up the fence to salute the crowd from the flag stand. 

Jimmie Johnson looked to be the only person with any chance of catching Stewart until his right rear tire exploded in spectacular fashion sending Johnson into the wall. Matt Kenseth made a run at Stewart over the closing laps, even getting the car nose in front for a few seconds, but it wasn’t to last.  Perhaps the most entertaining drive of the day came from Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was up in the top five when he lost power steering, even though he dropped down to 19th he appeared to be having great fun wrestling the car around the circuit.

The Top 10 finishers were:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Carl Edwards
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Casey Mears
6. Kurt Busch
7. Jeff Burton
8. Ryan Newman
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Clint Bowyer

At the conclusion of another unpredictable race at Daytona on Saturday night Jamie McMurray broke his long losing streak (his last win was in 2002)  by beating Kyle Busch by just five thousandths of a second to take victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Raceway. It was the second closest finish in NASCAR history. 

The biggest and most controversial crash of the evening happened on  lap 14, when Tony Stewart tapped the back of teammate Denny Hamlin, sending both into the wall as they were running at the front of the field. Strangely in post race interviews Stewart blamed Hamlin for the incident. 

The Top 10 finishers were:

1. Jamie McMurray
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kurt Busch
4. Carl Edwards
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Greg Biffle
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Kasey Kahne
10. Jimmie Johnson