Race 28 - LifeLock 400We're here in sunny Kansas City for the 2nd race of the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. Last week, the #1 seed Tony Stewart got off to a fast start by holding off the red-hot Kyle Busch in the last few laps to earn a series-leading 5th victory of the season. Smoke enters today with a solid lead in the points standings, but all 12 drivers are well within reach of winning the championship still. That being said, after last year's tight battle, all 12 know that a bad finish today could doom their Chase hopes as no mulligans are allowed. We're about to start the 28th race of the season. Which Chase driver will make a statement? Let's find out.
Green flag: Polesitter Casey Mears leads the 42 car field to the green flag, set for 267 laps of racing on a beautiful afternoon here in Kansas.
Lap 4: Kyle Busch looks fast out of the gate as he has taken the race lead away from Mears.
Lap 23: Busch surrenders the lead to his teammate Jeff Gordon. Hendrick looks very stout once again today.
Lap 34: On lap 34 the 34 car goes boom. Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s engine expires, sending him to a 42nd place finish.
Lap 51: 50 laps have been completed, so here's our first Chase update:
Jeff Gordon - 1st
Clint Bowyer - 2nd
Travis Kvapil - 3rd
Tony Stewart - 4th
Kyle Busch - 6th
Ryan Newman - 9th
Jeff Burton - 10th
Brian Vickers - 11th
Kevin Harvick - 12th
Casey Mears - 13th
Jimmie Johnson - 15th
Carl Edwards - 19th
Lap 61: Gordon begins to hit lapped traffic starting with Derrike Cope.
Lap 66: First cycle of green flag pit stops begins with Bobby Labonte.
Lap 67: Kvapil takes the lead as Gordon pits along with Kurt Busch, Stewart, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, Edwards, Todd Kluever, Kyle Petty, Mike Bliss, and Greg Biffle.
Lap 68: Bowyer assumes command as Kvapil pits with Jamie McMurray, Kenny Wallace, Johnny Sauter, Mears, Jon Wood, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Aric Almirola, and Michael Waltrip.
Lap 69: Stephen Leicht, making one of his final starts in a Robert Yates Ford before moving to the Hendrick NNS program next season, is now the race leader. Bowyer gave it up to pit with Robby Gordon, Burton, Kasey Kahne, Cope, Vickers, Johnson, Jeff Green, Elliott Sadler, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard, Dave Blaney, Scott Riggs, Reed Sorenson, and Jason Leffler.
Lap 70: Leicht, Newman, Harvick, and J.J. Yeley pit. Newman gets a lap led while on pit road.
Lap 71: Kvapil recycles to the lead.
Lap 72: Gordon takes the lead away from the Penske driver.
Lap 75: And Kvapil takes it right back.
Lap 76: CAUTION FLAG #1-Big trouble for one of our Chasers. Ryan Newman was on the outside of Kevin Harvick while battling for 12th in turn 2, and the slower lapped car of Robby Gordon was in the high line, and Newman tried to shoot the gap unsuccessfully, cutting off Harvick then spinning and backing into the wall. The back of his car is pretty flattened, but he'll be able to stay in the race, albeit off pace. On a day that has been very clean so far, Newman looks to be in trouble.
Lap 81: Green flag. Leicht stayed out under caution and retakes the lead with Gordon, Kvapil, Kenseth, and Harvick rounding out the top 5.
Lap 90: Kvapil gets past Leicht for the race lead after finally navigating lapped traffic successfully.
Lap 101: 100 laps in so here's a Chase update:
Kvapil - 1st
Gordon - 3rd
Johnson - 4th
Stewart - 5th
Mears - 8th
Burton - 9th
Bowyer - 11th
Edwards - 12th
Harvick - 13th
Vickers - 17th
Busch - 18th
Newman - 35th
Lap 110: CAUTION FLAG #2-Hard crash on the backstretch. Elliott Sadler blew an engine coming out of turn 2 and Michael Waltrip was the first to lose control from the oily surface, sending the 38 careening into the outside lane where Joe Nemechek creamed the 38. Reed Sorenson also got a very minor piece of damage. Sadler and Nemechek, two '06 Chasers struggling through '07, are done for the day.
Lap 115: Green flag with Kvapil, Stewart, Johnson, Burton, and Mears making up the top 5.
Lap 128: Michael Waltrip was struggling with a damaged racecar but his day will end early as he loses the engine on his #55 Toyota.
Lap 135: Burton takes the lead from Kvapil.
Lap 143: The top 4 are all over each other! Lapped traffic scrambles them up, with Burton falling to 4th as Kvapil, Harvick, and Bowyer move on through.
Lap 151: Here's a full-field rundown a few laps past halfway:
Lead Lap:
77, 07, 31, 29, 20, 48, 5, 2, 18, 25,
11, 33, 24, 88, 90, 99, 50, 17, 16, 0,
21, 8, 78, 1, 43, 91, 6, 15, 42, 22,
41, 12
-1 lap:
19, 9, 74, 7, 42, 00
OUT:
55, 38, 01, 34
Lap 152: Bowyer takes the lead away from Kvapil. A trio of RCR drivers is giving the Penske driver a fit right now.
Lap 173: Ryan Newman loses a lap. He can't afford that as gaining it back will be next to impossible with a damaged racecar.
Lap 175: Derrike Cope is off pace with a soft left front tire. He makes it to pit road without a problem though.
Lap 176: Harvick to the lead past his teammate.
Lap 177: Now Burton makes his move to the front.
Lap 178: Edwards, Sauter, and Petty begin the next cycle of green flag stops.
Lap 179: Harvick takes the lead as Burton, Kvapil, Sorenson, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Green, Bliss, Earnhardt Jr., Blaney, Riggs, Kluever, Wallace, Almirola, and McMurray pit.
Lap 180: New leader is Johnson as Harvick, Bowyer, Stewart, Vickers, Labonte, Leicht, Mayfield, Wood, Kahne, and Robby Gordon lead a strong contingent of cars down pit lane.
Lap 181: The Busch brothers, Mears, Menard, and Truex Jr. are the pittees this time by.
Lap 182: Yeley, Biffle, Kenseth, and Leffler make their scheduled 4 tire stops.
Lap 183: Johnson finally gives up the lead to get 4 fresh Goodyears.
Lap 184: Kvapil has recycled to the lead.
Lap 189: CAUTION FLAG #3-Debris being reported in turn 4.
Lap 194: We're back underway with Kvapil leading Burton, Bowyer, Harvick, and Kyle Busch. Most drivers elected to stay out, but some in the middle of the pack did and will be further back when the green waves. Some notable Chasers in that group are Gordon, Edwards, and Vickers.
Lap 201: Here's a Chase update with 67 to go. Our next will be with 25 to go on lap 243. From that point on, we'll make a note of every time a Chase car moves up or loses a spot.
Kvapil - 1st
Burton - 2nd
Bowyer - 3rd
Harvick - 4th
Busch - 6th
Mears - 7th
Stewart - 10th
Johnson - 12th
Gordon - 16th
Edwards - 18th
Vickers - 21st
Newman - 36th, -1 lap
Lap 223: Bobby Labonte is a man on a mission. He has moved from 6th on the lap 194 restart to 1st, taking the lead from Kvapil and hoping to steal the show from the Chase boys.
Lap 226: Oh no!!!!! The leader is up in smoke!!! Just 3 laps after taking the lead, Bobby Labonte's engine goes sour, and Clint Bowyer is now in front as Labonte limps to the garage with a dejected voice saying, "We're done."
Lap 227: Sauter makes his final pit stop.
Lap 229: Kyle Petty to pit road.
Lap 230: Bliss and Earnhardt Jr. make 4 tire stops.
Lap 231: First decent sized group of cars on pit road with Kvapil, Wood, Wallace, Blaney, Riggs, and Almirola.
Lap 232: Pitting this time by are Mayfield, Leicht, Jeff and Robby Gordon, Green, Kluever, and Sorenson. The hood has gone up on Leicht's car as he reported he was losing power. He is now saying it could be a battery problem. He'll likely lose a few laps as a promising day for the youngster goes bad.
Lap 233: Harvick moves to the front as a big group pits: Cars 07, 5, 48, 2, 31, 25, 16, 99, 19, 42, and 74 are making stops.
Lap 234: Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Kahne, Menard, and Truex Jr. pit.
Lap 235: Points leader Stewart makes his final stop.
Lap 236: Yeley gives up his spot as Harvick continues to hold out.
Lap 238: Harvick and Newman, the only remaining cars on track, finish the cycle.
Lap 239: Bowyer cycles to the lead.
Lap 243: 25 to go, and here's our final Chase update. From here on out, we'll let you know if any of these guys changes position.
Bowyer - 1st
Johnson - 2nd
Kvapil - 3rd
Busch - 5th
Harvick - 6th
Burton - 7th
Stewart - 8th
Vickers - 11th
Mears - 12th
Gordon - 14th
Edwards - 20th
Newman - 34th, -2 laps
Lap 245: Johnson uses a lapped car as a pick and gets past Bowyer for the race lead. This is the first time Johnson has led outside of a brief time during a pit stop cycle earlier. Elsewhere, Harvick has passed Kyle Busch for 5th.
Lap 246: Jeremy Mayfield is having a banner day as he gets around Kvapil for 3rd. Vickers has now passed Yeley for 10th while Edwards moves up to 19th past Bliss.
Lap 247: Mears passes Yeley to take 11th.
Lap 248: Gordon drops to 15th as Kurt Busch gets by. Not the day he envisioned after leading 47 laps early on.
Lap 249: Mears breaks into the top 10 as Vickers falls to 11th. The man who dominated the first 26 races of the season is not off to a blazing start whatsoever in the Chase.
Lap 251: Yeley takes 11th back from Vickers.
Lap 253: Yeley is a man on the move as he displaces Mears from 10th and moves back in the top 10.
Lap 256: Stewart has gotten around Burton for 7th, with Vickers passing Mears for 11th. Those two just keep on battling.
Lap 258: 10 to go this time, and Johnson only has a lead of 0.4 seconds. Mears and Vickers have swapped yet again with Mears taking 11th now, and further back, Edwards is doing his best to minimize the damage of a missed setup, as he passes Sauter for 18th.
Lap 259: Gordon past Busch for 14th.
Lap 262: Busch gets 14th back from Gordon.
Lap 263: 5 to go this time, Johnson increasing his lead. Stewart has moved past Kyle Busch for 6th while older brother Kurt surrenders 14th to Gordon.
Lap 265: 3 to go this time, Johnson loses 3 tenths off his lead. It's at a half second and with the 48 team rapidly approaching lapped traffic, things could get interesting in a hurry. Further back, Gordon has lost 14th again to Busch. And give a call to Jeff Green, running in front of both of them in 13th. That's a team with little funding if any at all and they won't even be racing next year with the advent of the COT, yet here they are having a great day and going largely unnoticed. Good for the #50 team.
Lap 266: Back up front Johnson is now in HEAVY TRAFFIC! Bowyer is on his bumper now with teammate Kevin Harvick in hot pursuit. Harvick passed both Mayfield and Kvapil that last lap.
Lap 267: WHITE FLAG! Harvick has taken 2nd from Bowyer, slowing them up just enough that Johnson may have enough breathing room. He had a tenth and a half that time at the line, but one mistake could mean he loses the win.
Checkered flag: A perfect lap for Jimmie Johnson! He holds off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick by just 8 hundredths of a second and claims his 2nd victory of the season in the LifeLock 400! Ryan Newman is the big loser of the day as he finishes 34th while the rest of the Chasers finished well. 9 of the top 12 finishers are Chasers, with Jeremy Mayfield in 4th being the top spoiler candidate.
Results:
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