Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • Z8

M8D Monday, November 9, 2009 www.star-telegram.com A look at the day for the Chasers and where they stand now 1 Jimmie JohnsonStarted: 12thFinished: 38th Standings change: None His accident on Lap 3 became the story of the race (at least until the Busch brothers started playing gas mileage games). He spent more than an hour off the track trying to get his car rebuilt and back on the track to put in laps. He got 205 in, gaining six places from what could have been a last-place finish. He said it: thing was beat up. That was not a fun car to drive.

We kept it up to minimum speed and made 2 Mark MartinStarted: 7thFinished: 4th Standings change: None He spent the first half of the race trying to make sense of his car, dropping as low as 16th after the second caution. But he and his crew hit on the right combination in the sec- ond half, allowing him to make a steady climb through traffic to wind up with a top-5 finish, his sixth at TMS. He sits 73 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. He said it: comes down to performance. We go out and outperform them 70- something points.

But the racing is not over yet. Maybe we can make it 3 Jeff GordonStarted: 1stFinished: 13th Standings change: None Gordon started on the pole and had a golden chance to make up a bounty of points on Jimmie Johnson. But he have the engine to stay at the top, and a slow pit stop had him 11th by Lap 70. He was 18th on Lap 141 and battled to stay on the lead lap, which he ultimately could not hold onto. He said it: finish is thanks to the hard work by Steve Letarte and this team never giving up.

I am just really disappointed in this day a total missed opportunity that completely got away from 4 Kurt BuschStarted: 3rdFinished: 1st Standings change: Gained two He played cat-and-mouse on pit stops and restarts with his brother, Kyle Busch, stealing his shot at the three-race weekend sweep. He said it was a bittersweet experience because he knew what Kyle was trying to accomplish. But at the end, he held on to fuel better than his brother and passed him with two laps to go, keeping about another lap of fuel at the finish line. He said it: was rooting for him because I knew he was going for the three-win week- end. But Sunday is the big race.

It would take five wins in trucks and Nationwide to equal one Cup 5 Tony StewartStarted: 4thFinished: 6th Standings change: None Stewart cruised through the race with almost nothing to write home about. He stray much from the fourth through sixth. He spent the first third of the race battling for and winning position out of restarts, but he have the car to chase down the Busches or Mark Martin. He said it: kept talking about what we could do to make the car better. I thought team-wise we had an awesome day working together and mak- ing gains at it.

We never said, we just get it any We kept throwing things at it to try to make it 6 Juan Pablo MontoyaStarted: 20thFinished: 37th Standings change: Lost two Montoya started to become a factor as the race hit 100 laps. He was running in the top 10 and moved as high as eighth place. But as he was coming out of Turn 1 on Lap 175, he got loose and clipped Carl Edwards, sending both off the track. Montoya made repairs and returned but got in only 231 laps. He said it: have the car we wanted, but we were getting better and better as the day went on.

It kinda sucks, but things like this 7 Greg BiffleStarted: 8thFinished: 8th Standings change: None Biffle was not a contender for the victory, but he had good luck staying out of accidents and never let himself fall so far back during the heart of the race that he gave up the lead lap. In the end, he was in posi- tion to take advantage of the fuel drought at the top of the field and earn his ninth top-10 finish at TMS. He said it: have the best car today, because it was just a handful. We right in Happy Hour and get it right today. There any adjustments we could make to get it 8 Denny HamlinStarted: 25thFinished: 2nd Standings change: Gained three The big beneficiary of the mileage games at the end of the race, Hamlin sailed in for second place.

He have to push hard over the final laps because no one was competing for his spot, and he said that let him post the best fuel mile- age he has had in a while. It made for a nice ending to a day that included a brush with the wall that slowed his car. He said it: was trying to make something happen and got in the wall, which ended up killing our car. Track position means so much at this race track. I was frustrated, and we were behind, so I tried to make something happen.

As soon as that happened, we were in fuel-save mode. Luckily, it went green the rest of the 9 Ryan NewmanStarted: 26thFinished: 12th Standings change: Lost one Newman flirted with a top-10 finish, but he have grip in the turns and make up ground on the leaders. He saved his best run for the final third of the race, moving from 17th to 12th at the finish. He said it: struggled being loose throughout the course of the race. The guys did a great job working on it in the pits, but we never could get it quite right at the start of a run, and that is what hurt 10 Kasey KahneStarted: 2ndFinished: 33rd Standings change: Lost one Rough is about the best word to describe tours around the TMS oval.

His car was fast but too loose to make up ground. He steadily dropped back in the field, but he was still running in the top 10 with about 110 laps to go. The handling problems continued, however, and he eventually dropped a lap near the end. He said it: today was a tough day. The team fought all day, but we ended up running out of fuel at the end.

The guys did a good job of making adjustments. We just tighten it up enough to get out front, and then we had an engine issue at the 11 Carl EdwardsStarted: 6thFinished: 39th Standings change: Lost one Like everyone else, Ed- wards grew optimistic when Jimmie Johnson left the track. But day ended early with an accident on Lap 174. Juan Pablo Montoya got loose and clipped Edwards, sending him into the wall. He said it: got great car control.

His car must have been really loose, and it just snapped on him. It looked like he needed another couple of inches and it there. But 12 Brian VickersStarted: 15thFinished: 26th Standings change: None Vickers could not take advantage of a decent starting position. He was in the back third of the field before 100 laps were complete. He needed a chassis adjustment 48 laps later but was running three laps down with less than 100 laps to go in the race.

He said it: Vickers did not provide post-race quotes. CHASE FOR THE CUP BREAKDOWN Kurt Busch, driving the No. 2 Dodge, would pass brother Kyle with two laps left and gain two spots in the Chase standings. MCVEA top spot after 58 laps. He end- ed up leading a race-high 232 laps, but in the end, it all came down to the gas game.

On Lap 320, Rogers and Busch decided to forgo a pit stop for extra fuel and opted to let it ride. Unfortunately for them, the gamble pay off. thought for sure that we were going to make it until Turn 4 of that final Rogers said. know if we get the car full or if the fuel just pick up what we thought it could. We were pretty confident we knew what we had for fuel mileage.

So take it back and look at it and learn from If they would have played it safe and pitted for additional fuel, Rogers said they have won the race. So for a team without any Chase aspi- rations, it proved to be the only choice. Still, not the easiest call to make for Rogers, who re- placed Steve Addington as crew chief last week. to the club, Rogers said. know, part of the game.

what you sign up for and someone has got to do that job. I raised my hand and here I am. going to have days like this. discouraging for Kyle; hard for myself. There was a lot on the line today and it been a miracle if we could have won it.

It just Kyle Busch had it. Or so it seemed. With three laps remaining in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch had a comfortable lead and seemed destined to make racing his- tory, winning all three NASCAR races in one week- end. But, all of a sudden, No. 18 Toyota came up lame on Turn 3 of Lap 330, just like a running back who pulled a hamstring.

His car started swerving and, within seconds, he muttered most dreaded words: out of And how Busch end- ed up in pit road instead of Victory Lane. His dream of completing a clean sweep ended right then on a cool Sunday evening. He fell to 11th place, as his brother took the checkered flag. Afterward, the losing Busch in any mood to talk. He took off his helmet and made a beeline for his motor home, leaving new crew chief Dave Rogers to answer all the ques- tions.

know Rogers said. think he hand- led it well. tough. You lead all of these laps and he won all three in a row. He deserved to win all three in a row and you get beat.

tough. disappointed. This deserves to be in Victory Lane. I thought we had one of the best cars throughout the entire race. It just work out that way.

We were short on Indeed, Busch dominated the majority of the race. He started out fifth, but had the KYLE BUSCH COMING UP SHORT Kyle lament: out of With a three-race weekend sweep in sight at TMS, Kyle No. 18 car was left to coast back to the pits instead of heading for Victory Lane. MOSELEY A bid for a historic weekend at TMS runs out of gas. By DREW DAVISON Special to the Star-Telegram Date Track Race Winner Sept.

20 Loudon Sylvania 300 Mark Martin Sept. 27 Dover Camping World RV 400 Jimmie Johnson Oct. 4 Kansas Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman Tony Stewart Oct. 11 Fontana Pepsi 500 Jimmie Johnson Oct. 17 Charlotte Bank of America 500 Jimmie Johnson Oct.

25 Martinsville TUMS QuikPak 500 Denny Hamlin Nov. 1 Talladega AMP Energy 500 Jamie McMurray Nov. 8 Texas Dickies 500 Kurt Busch Date Track Race Time TV Nov. 15 Phoenix Checker Auto Parts 500 1:30 p.m. Nov.

22 Homestead Ford 400 1:30 p.m. SCHEDULE.