Jun 5, 2006, 0:32 GMT
Dover, DE - Matt Kenseth won Sunday's Neighborhood Excellence 400 Nextel Cup event at the Dover International Speedway. The No.17 DeWalt Ford crossed the finish line 0.786 seconds ahead of Jamie McMurray.
The victory was Kenseth's second of the season and 12th of his Nextel Cup career.
After winning his first pole of the season Ryan Newman led the 43-car field to the green flag for 400 laps of racing.
Newman led the first 12 laps of the afternoon before yielding the lead to Jeremy Mayfield. The No.19 Dodge quickly opened up over a one-second lead. But Mark Martin, who started in sixth, drove through the top-five and passed Mayfield on lap 27.
The first caution of the race came out when Tony Raines spun out his car.
While the leaders headed for pit road 2006 Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart, who was in 25th and on the lead lap stayed out to lead a lap instead of going down pit lane for a driver change as previously planned.
Stewart, who was driving with a broken right shoulder blade, was scheduled to be replaced at the first pit stop by veteran Ricky Rudd.
When Stewart finally came down pit lane on lap 39 his pit crew expertly lifted him out of the car and just as quickly jammed Rudd into the drivers seat. The exchange was made in less than a minute and Rudd re-enter the track still on the lead in 37th place.
Jeff Gordon won the race off pit road and led Newman, Martin, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick to the restart.
The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet became the dominant car as he maintained a one-second margin over the field. Burton and Martin battled for second behind Gordon.
Gordon continued to lead the field when another caution came out on lap 114. After a good pit stop Gordon came out of the pits first. Kenseth and Burton came out second and third, respectively.
During the restart Kenseth took his first lead of the race as Gordon slid back to fourth.
The No.17 Roush Racing Ford held a small margin over Burton, who won the Busch Series event the day before. Burton cut into that lead and on lap 164 took to the inside to pass Kenseth. Kenseth refused to fold and came right back to retake the lead. The two drivers traded the lead back and forth as the halfway point approached.
After 200 laps of racing, the top-five read: Kenseth, Burton, Martin, Kyle Busch, and Newman.
On lap 201 Burton re-took the lead from Kenseth once again as green flag pit stops began. Burton maintained his lead as Martin started to make a run at him. And on lap 238 Burton gave up his lead when Martin passed him.
Martin opened up a two-second lead when the next caution flag came out on lap 264.
This allowed for another round of pit stops. Martin had problems with a left- front tire lug nut in the pits. Due to the problem he had to come back around for another stop to fix it properly. He came back onto the track in 11th spot.
Kenseth inherited the race lead after all the drivers had made their stops.
A few laps after the restart the points leader, Jimmie Johnson, was spun out by rookie David Stremme. Johnson somehow managed to keep his No.48 Chevrolet off the ways and continued on.
During the lap 279 restart Kenseth and Kyle Busch battled side-by-side for the top spot. When they crossed the start/finish line next time by Kyle Busch took the outside lane to pass Kenseth.
Kyle Busch led the field through three cautions until pit stops on lap 301.
When the stops were completed McMurray was the leader because he didn't stop.
His last pit stop took place on lap 293 and he was going to try and make it too the finish on one tank of fuel. Harvick and Newman only took fuel on their stops and improved their positions as well.
McMurray maintained around a one-second lead over Harvick as the laps dwindled down. On lap 345 Robby Gordon spun out to bring out the caution flag.
Under this caution the top-five drivers (McMurray, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Burton, and Kenseth) chose not to pit.
The race got back under way with only 51 laps to go. On the restart McMurray started to build a comfortable margin as Harvick and Kyle Busch battled each other for second.
The No.26 Roush Ford's lead was being cut down very quickly by Harvick who had disposed of Busch. With 20 laps Harvick was on McMurray's bumper looking for a way to pass.
This side-by-side battle gave Kenseth, who was two seconds down, time to make up the gap. He did just that and with only seven laps left he made an inside pass of Harvick for second.
Would McMurray be able to hold off a charging Kenseth?
That question was answered with three laps remaining in turn two when Kenseth made an another inside move for the lead. This turned out to be the winning pass since McMurray wasn't able to pass him back.
Kenseth crossed the finish line with McMurray settling for second place.
Harvick, Burton, and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
Rudd, who took over for Stewart, finished the race in 25th. Since Stewart started the race he will be rewarded the points that Rudd earned during the 400-lap race.
Johnson finished sixth and maintained a lead over Kenseth despite the win. His margin is 74 points over the 2003 series champion (2,011 - 1,937). Martin (1,795) is third overall, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1,729) slid past Stewart (1,718) into fourth place.
The next race in the Nextel Cup series is set for Sunday, June 11th at the Pocono Raceway.
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