Friday, June 08, 2007

Busch penalty puts Truex in Chase top 12

The heavy penalty against Kurt Busch (#2 Miller Lite Dodge) that NASCAR imposed on thursday, that of a 100 point hit in the standings, both driver and owner, moved Martin Truex, Jr., into the 12th and final spot for the chase, still 632 points behind the leader, and bumped Dale Earnhardt, Jr. into 14th in the standings, just 23 points behind Truex. The surprise in the mix is Mark Martin, who, despite missing three races, sits in 11th in Driver points and is still in chase contention.

Truex's win on Monday was the first for the DEI #1 car since Steve Park at Rockingham in February 25, 2001 - a week after Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap at the Daytona 500. The only other time the DEI #1 car won was in August of 2000 at Watkins Glen, also Steve Park. DEI's cup wins now stand at 17 for the #8 car (All Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), 4 for the #15 car (all Michael Waltrip, three at Daytona and one at Talledega), and now 3 for the #1 car, for a total of 24 team Cup wins, including three Daytona 500s. DEI has also won the All-star race in the #8, and the Bud Shootout as well in the #8, and a Nextel Open event with the #1 car this year.

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