AAA Texas 500 Race Recap

It was the stuff of Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage’s dreams; points leader Carl Edwards and 2nd in points Tony Stewart battling it out mano y mano on his track for a one two

finish. Tony Stewart was victorious capturing his fourth win in the Chase and Carl Edwards came

in second maintaining a slim three point lead over Stewart. With two races left in the Chase, both drivers have the prowess to find ultimate success as the race for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup has come down to these two. The only thing that seems certain is the five year reign of the #48 team seems to be over.

Tony Stewart led the most laps on Sunday at the AAA Texas 500 dominating the event and bringing home the win that takes his all-time total victories to 43. Gossage, who had promoted the matchup between the two as a “fight” presented Tony Stewart with boxing gloves in Victory Lane. As previously stated, Carl Edwards came in second and Kasey Kahne brought home third. Matt Kenseth was fourth, and teammate Greg Biffle sewed up the Top 5. Jeff Gordon had a good run that led to a sixth while teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a solid run that landed him in seventh. Martin Truex Jr. picked up another Top 10 in so many weeks with an eighth. Clint Bowyer finished the race in ninth. A.J. Almendinger finished tenth.

Carl Edwards has the lead going into Phoenix with a narrow three points over Tony Stewart. Kevin Harvick maintains third with a thirty-three point deficit behind Edwards. Matt Kenseth picked up one position to fourth with Brad Keselowski slipping one spot to fifth. Jimmie Johnson, the five time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion stayed in sixth position, fifty-five points back from Edwards and most likely completely out of competition for the Cup. Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved up two places to land in seventh and his teammate Jeff Gordon also slid up two spots to eighth. Kurt Busch fell one position to ninth and Denny Hamlin picked up one to move into tenth. Kyle Busch had the most movement today losing four spots and landing hard in eleventh due to his being parked this weekend. The punishment came from NASCAR in response to Busch’s antics during the World Camping Truck Series race Busch was entered in on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch was racing with title contender Ron Hornaday when Kyle Busch, around lap 14 during a caution, rammed into Hornaday’s truck and put him soundly into the wall. Busch was parked for the rest of the weekend by NASCAR with more repercussions possible after this weekend. Mike McDowell stepped in to the #18 Joe Gibbs Toyota with the M&M’s sponsorship for the Sunday Cup race, but Kyle Busch was ineligible for earning points because he did not start the race. McDowell finished a disappointing 33rd three laps down. Ryan Newman occupies twelve again this week.

The Cup Series returns to Phoenix for the penultimate race of the season. The Kobalt Tools 500 will be run at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, November 13th. Coverage will be on ESPN and start at 3pm EST. Be sure to tune in to the broadcast and then return to this site for my Race Recap!