Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
An early crash sparked by Elliott Sadler (19) on Lap 16 took out 5 of the top 12 in points. Those Chase contenders involved in the wreck included Kasey Kahne (9), Dale Earnhardt Jr (88), Clint Bowyer (07), Tony Stewart (20), and his teammate Denny Hamlin (11).
Harvick, Stewart and Hamlin took the biggest hits in the points. Harvick dropped from 7th to 10th while Stewart went from 8th to 11th and Hamlin plummeted from 4th to 9th.
Dale Jr came out of it OK … sort of. Dale’s team managed to get his car back on the track after the crash and he stayed 3rd in points, but he went from being just 139 points behind first place Kyle Busch (18) to being 271 points behind.
My prediction that Dale Jr would win the race today quickly faded with the carnage caused by Sadler coming down on David Gilliland (28) and then bouncing off the wall into traffic. Stewart T-boned Sadler as he sat across the straightaway and then all heck broke loose as a result.
” The Dover track is narrow in both the corners and the straightaways, which can cause lots of problems for drivers as it’s tough to see ahead in the corners.
And if there is a spin in the middle or exit of the corner, it has the potential to involve a lot of other cars too.
This is why qualifying is more important here than at some of the other tracks. Because the potential of being caught up in a wreck increases proportionately the further back you are in the pack.”
Boy was I right.
Tony thought he had a good qualifying spot before the race, I wonder if he still thought that after he hit Sadler?
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