The day started out as Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were the odds on favorites to finish in front at the end of the day, but as the “Monster Mile” of Dover, Delaware proved that it took no prisoners to have Gordon and Martin with top ten finishes, knocking out several Chase contenders in their wake. 

But the “Monster” could not slow down Greg Biffle who started the race in 5^th, Matt Kenseth starting 8^th and Carl Edwards way back in 22^nd, who battled each other in the last 30 laps of the day’s challenging event. 

We saw in the last segment of the race where Edwards took only two tires while Biffle and Kenseth took four. Edwards run lasted about 15 laps to where Biffle started the challenge for the lead. This battle allowed Kenseth to buy into the mix for the lead. 

Less than 20 laps to go Kenseth found himself in the lead and Biffle all over his rear bumper chomping at the bit. 9 to go and Biffle, like his last race at New Hampshire was able to sling shot past Kenseth to take the lead. 

Kenseth had his hands full of Edwards vying for second place, which gave Biffle the gap he needed to stay in the lead to take the win. 

The top three finish allowed Edwards to remain on top of the points chase. With his win today, Biffle tied Jimmy Johnson for 2^nd in points, 10 behind Edwards. 

The “Monster” played havoc with several Chase contenders today though. Johnson, Jeff Burton and Harvick started in the 20^th through 24^th positions. Tony Stewart began his day 33^rd. The four drivers finished in the top 11 but not without serious battles to move up into those finishing positions.   

Our other Chase drivers of Denny Hamlin started 3^rd and Kyle Busch 11^th. Busch suffered a blown engine which expired on lap 172. Busch had suffered the same fate back in 2006 where he suffered an accident in the first Chase race and expiring an engine in the second race to seal his fate, last in the chase. 

At the end of the event today, Busch has fallen to 12^th in the standings, 210 points back after his 43^rd place finish. 

Hamlin suffered the same fate as Busch with engine issues to finish his race 38 laps down to wind up 38^th. Hamlin overall slipped back to 11^th in the overall standings 193 points back.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a rough day as well. He started 10^th, but mid way through the race blew out a right rear tire, tearing the sheet metal of his car apart. Earnhardt finished his day 3 laps down in 24^th, slipping back 5 positions overall back to 9^th, 129 points back. 

The hard charger of the race was Michael Waltrip, who started 40^th. Waltrip was able to put together a hard run towards the front early in the race into the top 15 in the first 100 laps of the race. With excellent pit stops and good timing, Waltrip one lap for 5 bonus points and battled with Stewart to take 10^th place at the end of the day. Stewart finished 11^th. 

PRE RACE CHATTER 

The tensions of the post season are heating up this weekend at the one-mile concrete track known as ‘The Monster Mile’, Dover International Speedway. But this week Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) might not want to be atop the standings with the way the points have been shuffling.   

The Chase format proved to be the ultimate equalizer last Sunday at New Hampshire. Had there been no Chase, Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota) would have entered New Hampshire with a 207 point lead. Now, he trails new points leader Edwards by 74 – a 281-point swing. Busch took the biggest drop in the points after New Hampshire, dropping seven spots to eighth. 

And this week it could be more of the same. Since the inception of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004, the standings leader has changed after Dover every year.  

Roush Fenway Racing currently has two drivers in the top three of the Chase — Edwards and, last week’s winner, Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford). Only 30 points separate the two, and both Edwards and Biffle have won at Dover — fall of 2007 and spring of 2005 respectively. Could ‘the points shuffle’ happen two weeks in a row?

The surprise winner at New Hampshire last Sunday vaulted into third place and now sits just 30 points behind Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards. 

Another Biffle move up the standings could occur this weekend – only this time it would be expected. 

Biffle is phenomenal at Dover, boasting some of the top statistics in the series. He grabbed a Dover win in 2005 and has finished inside the top 10 in six out of the last seven races (including five straight coming into this race). 

Over that span, Biffle owns series-best numbers in Driver Rating (116.1), Average Running Position (6.3), Fastest Laps Run (267) and Laps in the Top 15 percentage (94.5%). 

Biffle finished third at Dover earlier this season; Edwards finished second. In that race, Biffle earned some of the best stats of his season. He had a Driver Rating of 130.6, an Average Running Position of 2.3 and 77 Fastest Laps Run. All three were personal bests for 2008. 

On the other end of the standings spectrum, this could be a redemption race for Matt Kenseth, another member of the Roush Fenway stable. 

Over the last two races, Kenseth has suffered finishes of 39th and 40th, and finds himself in 12th-place, 177 points out of first. The long march back into contention likely needs to begin this weekend. It could. 

In the last seven races at Dover (which includes a win in 2006), Kenseth has a Driver Rating of 112.3 (second-best), an Average Running Position of 7.0 (second), 244 Fastest Laps Run (second), a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 91.9% (second) and a series-high 222 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green). 

Kenseth and Biffle also rank one-two in average Green Flag Speed at Dover. Kenseth has an average Green Flag Speed of 141.752 mph; Biffle is at 141.742 mph.

TO WIN IT’S BEST TO QUALIFY 

Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA with a lap of 22.921 seconds, 157.061 mph.

This is his 66th pole in 537 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

This is his third pole and 20th top-10 start in 2008.

This is his fourth pole in 32 races at Dover International Speedway.

Mark Martin (second) posted his 10th top-10 start of 2008 and his 28th in 45 races at Dover International Speedway.

Denny Hamlin (third) posted his third top-10 start at Dover International Speedway.  It is his ninth in 28 races this season.

 Patrick Carpentier (17th) was the fastest qualifying rookie. 

NOW LET’S GO RACING!! 

5 of the Chase drivers will start 20^th or behind. Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick will start today’s race 20^th through 24^th and Tony Stewart starts 33^rd. 

After the pace laps, coming out of turn four Gordon and Martin bring the field to the… 

GREEN FLAG as Gordon and Denny Hamlin jump to the low line and start to pull away. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 2 as Kurt Busch and Paul Menard crash in turn one. We see that David Gilliland wash up into Busch who spins out and Menard is collected on the low side as Busch slides down the track. 

GREEN FLAG lap 6 as Gordon and Hamlin start the single file race restart. Lap 11 Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray pass Martin. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 13 as Patrick Carpentier crashes on the back stretch after getting tapped from behind by Johnson. Edwards was squeezed on the high side between Carpentier and the wall. Edwards picks up a bit of damage on the left front. Kurt Busch is the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG lap 17 as Gordon and Hamlin try it again. Lap 19 movement on the track early in the race is Kenseth from 9^th to 3^rd, McMurray from 9^th to 4^th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 10^th up to 6^th. Lap 21 David Reutimann started 14^th who has moved up to 7^th, Martin Truex Jr. from 16^th up to 10^th, Johnson 20^th to 11 and Edwards from 22^nd to 12^th. 

Lap 25 your top 10 drivers are – Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, McMurray, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Truex Jr. Lap 26 McMurray takes over 2^nd place from Hamlin. Lap 30 McMurray looks like he is on rails as he closes in on the leader Gordon. 

The big mover of the race so far is Michael Waltrip starting 40^th, runs 18^th. Lap 32 McMurray takes the lead. Lap 50 your top 20 drivers are – Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Martin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Reutimann, Edwards, Hamlin, Johnson, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Burton, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Waltrip and Stewart. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 64 as Joe Nemechek blows a right front tire and slams the wall. Elliott Sadler is the lucky dog. The leaders head for pit road for the first time today. Out of pit road it is Kenseth, Martin, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin and McMurray. 

GREEN FLAG lap 70 as we are off and running. Kenseth gets a great start to jump ahead of Gordon by a half second. Carpentier is back in the race, 47 laps down. Lap 75 your top ten drivers are Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Martin, McMurray, Edwards, Reutimann, Johnson, Bowyer, Biffle and Harvick. 

Lap 77 other drivers on the move so far are Stewart from 33^rd up to 17^th, Montoya from 35^th to 16^th, A.J. Allmendinger 30^th to 19^th, Bobby Labonte from 42^nd up to 21^st. Lap 80 some drivers sliding back are Hamlin from his start of 3^rd back to 22^nd, Kurt Busch from 4^th back to 24^th, Gilliland 7^th to 25^th, Tony Raines from 13^th to 30, Sadler 12^th to 33^rd and Carpentier from 17^th to 43^rd. 

Lap 85 drivers who are a lap down would be Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Regan Smith, Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Ken Schrader, Michael McDowell, Kyle Petty. Joe Nemechek is 2 laps down with Carpentier 47 down. The next on the list would be Sadler, Travis Kvapil, Sam Hornish Jr., Raines and Robby Gordon. 

Lap 92 Kenseth leads McMurray by 1.2 seconds. Jeff Gordon has slipped back to 5^th after Martin and Edwards passed him a few laps ago. Lap 98 McMurray has closed in on Kenseth to 8/10^th’s of a second. 

Lap 100 (300 to go) your top 20 drivers are Kenseth, McMurray, Martin, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Reutimann, Biffle, Johnson, Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Burton, Truex Jr., Newman, Montoya, Ragan, Stewart, Allmendinger, Hamlin and Blaney. So far we have seen 2 lead changes among 3 leaders and 3 cautions for 12 laps. 29 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

Lap 110 Vickers goes a lap down with Robby Gordon in Kenseth sights. Lap 11 he is down now with Menard, Marcos Ambrose, a surprisingly Earnhardt Jr., and Labonte will be the next ones on the list. 

Lap 117 Montoya and Hamlin battle for 16^th. Lap 120 Edwards and Martin battle for 3^rd place as they contend with lap down driver Robby Gordon. Lap 122 Reutimann and Biffle battle for 6^th. Lap 123 as the drivers contend with lap down drivers, Martin has a one second breather between him and Edwards. In fact Martin closes in on McMurray for 2^nd place. 

Lap 125 your top ten drivers are Kenseth, McMurray, Martin, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Reutimann, Biffle, Johnson, Bowyer and Kyle Busch. Lap 128 Biffle puts pressure on Reutimann for 6^th again. 

Lap 142 we hear Kyle Busch’s engine is blowing up. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 143 as Earnhardt Jr. blows a tire in turn four spins sideways on the front straight and misses the wall. He does have damage on the left rear of his car. We see smoke coming from Kyle Busch’s car. Gilliland is the lucky dog. It looks like Busch will drive the car until it blows up. 

The race back to pit road is Kenseth, Edwards, Martin, Jeff Gordon and Biffle. 

GREEN FLAG lap 149 as Kenseth and Edwards brings the field back up to speed. Your top 20 drivers are Kenseth, Edwards, Martin, Jeff Gordon, Biffle, McMurray, Reutimann, Bowyer, Harvick, Johnson, Truex Jr., Burton, Montoya, Stewart, Newman, Allmendinger, Waltrip, Blaney, Ragan and Hamlin. Lap 154 we still see Kyle Busch on the track. Bowyer passes Reutimann for 7^th. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 157 as some issue happens with Allmendinger. Labonte looks to be the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG lap 160 and back to... 

YELLOW FLAG lap 163 as Robby Gordon is loose and slides up into Jamie McMurray in turn 4. Ambrose is the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG lap 167 as Kenseth and Edwards get the field up to speed. Lap 169 Kenseth is a rocket up front, leading by almost 1 second over Edwards. Edwards leads 3^rd place Martin by 1 second. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 171 as we see Hornish Jr. loose his rear bumper panel after bouncing off of the wall coming out of turn 4. Hornish then hits the wall in turn one. Menard should be the lucky dog. Kyle Busch takes his car to the garage, after the engine lets go. 

GREEN FLAG lap 179 with Kenseth and Edwards racing into turn one and two rows of drivers behind them. Lap 181 two rows still remain. Lap 184 McMurray is back in the race. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 186 as Hornish crashes again in turn two. Mears is the lucky dog. The leaders head into pit road. The race back to the track is Edwards, Kenseth, Biffle, Bowyer and Martin.  

We see several drivers of Johnson, Newman, Blaney, Allmendinger, Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Reutimann, Hamlin, Gilliland, Labonte and Menard stay on track. 

GREEN FLAG lap 191 as Johnson and Newman get the race underway again. Lap 196 Jeff Gordon takes over 4^th place from Allmendinger. Lap 198 Montoya takes a look under Allmendinger for 5^th. 

Lap 200 (halfway) your top 20 drivers are Johnson, Newman, Blaney, Jeff Gordon, Montoya, Allmendinger, Reutimann, Hamlin, Gilliland, Edwards, Kenseth, Labonte, Biffle, Martin, Harvick, Bowyer, Stewart, Ambrose, Menard and Burton. So far we have seen 3 lead changes among 4 leaders and 8 cautions for 35 laps. 24 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

Lap 210 with the shakeup in pit stops and calamity to the drivers, where are our Chase drivers in the standings now? Johnson leads the points with 5410 running as the leader, Edwards 5362 in 8^th, Biffle 5320 in 11^th, Jeff Gordon 5291 in 3^rd, Hamlin 5282 in 10^th, Burton 5276 in 19^th, Stewart 5259 in 17^th, Bowyer 5255 in 15^th, Harvick 5255 in 14^th, Earnhardt Jr. 5243 in 30^th, Kenseth 5191 in 9^th and Kyle Busch 5183 in 42^nd and done for the day. 

Lap 220 Biffle passes Hamlin for 11^th. We hear about oil from Hamlin’s car. Lap 225 your top ten drivers are – Johnson, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Blaney, Edwards, Montoya, Kenseth, Reutimann, Allmendinger and Biffle. Hornish is back in the garage. 

Lap 227 we should start to see the drivers who gambled and did not pit, have to pit in the next 10 laps. Lap 231 Johnson leads Newman by 1.7 seconds. Lap 234 for those drivers who did pit Edwards is back up to 4^th, Kenseth 6^th, Biffle 8^th and Bowyer 14^th. 

Lap 237 Newman is on pit road as well as Kyle Petty. Lap 240 Johnson comes into pit road. Edwards is the leader now. Lap 244 Edwards leads Jeff Gordon by 2.3 seconds. Hamlin pops a tire and makes it to pit road before it explodes. Blaney is on pit road as well along with Smith. 

Hamlin is being pushed back to the garage with no power. Lap 248 Smith picks up a speeding ticket on pit road and will have to come back through. Labonte and Carpentier are in for stops. Lap 249 Allmendinger is in for his stop. Smith takes his car to the garage for an issue. 

Lap 250 Kahne, Montoya, Vickers and Kurt Busch are in for pit stops. Lap 254 Gilliland is in along with McDowell. Lap 256 Sadler is in along with Riggs and Menard. Lap 258 Robby Gordon is in. Joe Nemechek follows him in for his stop. Lap 259 Waltrip is in. Lap 261 Ambrose and Reutimann are in. Lap 262 Jeff Gordon is in.  

Lap 264 Ambrose’s team lets a tire roll out of the pit stall and will have to perform a drive through to make up for it. Lap 265 Truex Jr. is in for his stop. Lap 267 Kenseth is in along with Edwards, Martin, Petty, Stewart, Mears, Johnson, Biffle and a few others. Harvick leads at the moment. 

Lap 269 Harvick is in which allows Bowyer to lead a lap. Lap 269 Bowyer is in with Burton. Johnson is back to being the leader. Lap 275 your top 10 drivers are Johnson, Edwards, Kenseth, Biffle, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Blaney, Martin, Montoya and Reutimann. 

Lap 276 Johnson leads the field by 4 seconds. Lap 277 16 drivers remain on the lead lap. Lap 281 Edwards who is on fresher tires closes in on Johnson. Lap 285 Edwards closes the gap to 2.2 seconds. Kenseth is 5.2 seconds behind, Biffle 5.9 seconds behind and 5^th place Jeff Gordon behind by 12.6 seconds. 

Lap 288 Edwards is now to 1.5 seconds back and still closing. Lap 290 let’s throw a shoutout to Dave Blaney who started 37^th is now 8^th. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 291 for debris in turn 3.Labonte is the lucky dog. The leaders head to pit road. The race back to the track is Johnson, Edwards, Biffle, Kenseth and Martin. Waltrip will lead a lap for 5 bonus points. 

GREEN FLAG lap 298 with 17 lead lap and the rest of the lap+ down drivers race across the start finish line. 

Lap 300 (100 to go) your top twenty drivers are – Johnson, Edwards, Biffle, Kenseth, Martin, Blaney, Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Reutimann, Bowyer, Newman, Waltrip, Burton, Stewart, Allmendinger, Montoya and Labonte on the lead lap. Mears, Gilliland and Menard are a lap down. So far we have seen 11 lead changes among 9 leaders and 9 cautions for 41 laps. 17 drivers remain on the lead lap with 41 drivers still on the track. 

Lap 302 Biffle takes the lead from Edwards. Kurt Busch is given the black flag for some damage falling off of his car. Lap 316 Harvick passes Jeff Gordon for 6^th place. Lap 318 another shoutout to Waltrip for staying on the lead lap so far, running 12^th from his start of 40^th. 

Lap 320 your movers since the start of the race are Edwards from 22^nd up to the lead, Johnson from 20^th to 5^th, Harvick from 24^th to 6^th, Blaney from 37^th to 10^th, Waltrip from 40^th to 12^th, Stewart 33^rd up to 13^th, Montoya 35^th to 14^th, Labonte 42^nd to 15^th. 

Lap 325 Edwards cleanly passes Biffle for the lead. Lap 327 Martin closes in on Biffle for 2^nd place. It looks like Biffle has lost the tires as martin takes over 2^nd place on lap 329. 

Lap 330 (70 to go) Edwards leads Martin by 1.4 seconds and 3^rd place Biffle by 2 seconds. Lap 332 some of the drivers falling back in the field since the start of the race are Gilliland from his start of 7^th back to 19^th, Earnhardt Jr. from 10^th to 26^th, Sadler 12^th to 28^th, Raines 13^th to 29^th, Kurt Busch 4^th to 34^th, McMurray 9^th to 37^th, Hamlin 3^rd to 39^th and Kyle Busch from 11^th to last. 

Lap 342 Martin has closed the gap to Edwards to less than 1 second. Lap 348 Martin is now just a half second behind.  

YELLOW FLAG lap 350 (50 to go) as Montoya slams the wall in turn 4 after blowing a tire. Mears is the lucky dog. Leaders to pit road. The race back is Edwards, Martin, Biffle, Kenseth and Johnson. 

After pit stops your top twenty drivers are – Edwards, Martin, Biffle, Kenseth, Johnson, Harvick, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer, Burton, Waltrip, Blaney, Stewart, Labonte, Allmendinger and Mears on the lead lap. Reutimann, Gilliland, Ragan and Truex Jr. out the top 20 a lap down. 

GREEN FLAG with 44 to go as Edwards and Martin clear the lapped drivers and battle each other in front of the field. Biffle challenges Kenseth for 3^rd place. 42 to go Kenseth had a huge run and passes Martin for 2^nd place. 

40 to go Edwards leads Kenseth by a few car lengths. 39 to go, Biffle takes 3^rd from Martin. 36 to go Kenseth closes in on Edwards. Behind them Waltrip is almost taken out by Blaney a few laps earlier as he battled with Stewart as they fight for 11^th place. 

30 to go Kenseth has a big run out of turn two to get a peek on the inside of Edwards. 29 to go Kenseth taps Edwards on the back straight. 28 to go in turn 4 Kenseth almost had the lead. This challenge allows Biffle to close in on the two front runners. 

25 to go as Roush racing battles in the top 3. Biffle to the outside of Edwards in turn two. 23 to go Kenseth finds the sweet spot in turn two to take the lead as Biffle was on Edwards’ bumper. 

22 to go Biffle takes over second. On the last pit stop Edwards took only two tires while the others took four. 20 to go Biffle is all over Kenseth for the lead. 17 to go out of the top 16 lead drivers, the battle is for the lead. The rest of the field is spread out. 

15 to go Biffle continues to try the inside line but Kenseth holds him off. 14 to go Biffle taps the left rear panel of Kenseth’s car on the back stretch. 

12 to go Biffle goes high, goes low but nothing yet. This allows Edwards to reel in the top 2. 

11 to go Biffle tries the inside again. 

10 to go side by side out of turn two. Turn three Edwards on the inside of Biffle. 

9 to go Biffle tries the outside. Out of turn four the outside line holds for Biffle to take the lead. Biffle has a fender rub. 

7 to go Edwards working on Kenseth for 2^nd. 

6 to go as Edwards and Kenseth battles for 2^nd Biffle pulls away. 

5 to go Biffle leads the two by almost 1 second. 

4 to go Biffle has to contend with lapped drivers. 

3 to go Biffle has two lapped drivers between him and Kenseth. 

2 to go Biffle has the second race of the chase if he has no mistakes. 

WHITE FLAG for Biffle and Kenseth too far back. Out of turn four… 

CHECKERED FLAG for Biffle for a back to back win. 

It’s a Roush top 3 finish for Dover. Behind Biffle, Kenseth takes 2^nd, Edwards 3^rd, Martin was 4^th, Johnson 5^th, Harvick 6^th, Jeff Gordon 7^th, Bowyer 8^th, Burton 9^th and Waltrip 10^th. 

The race lasted for 3 and a half hours. We saw 15 lead changes among 9 leaders. We witnessed 10 cautions that lasted for 46 laps. 16 drivers stayed on the lead lap with 41 drivers still on the track. 

The unofficial Chase race is Edwards with 5390, Johnson and Biffle tied with 5380, Burton 5308, Harvick 5289, Bowyer 5284, Stewart 5277, Jeff Gordon 5272, Earnhardt Jr. 5261, Kenseth 5223, Hamlin 5197 and Kyle Busch 5179. 

POST RACE NOTES 

Greg Biffle won the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA, his 14th victory in 214 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

This is his second victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2008.

This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Dover International Speedway.

Matt Kenseth (second) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 20 races at Dover International Speedway.  It is his 16th top-10 finish in 2008.

Carl Edwards (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine races at Dover International Speedway.

Michael McDowell (29th) was the highest finishing rookie.