The weather at Loudon was a lot warmer than it was for Qualifying, with not a cloud in the sky.  Happily, that meant there would be no rain issues for the short track shootout.  With only 300 laps in the race, the teams realised starting in the back might be a problem.......

Juan Pablo Montoya had the pole position alongside Tony Stewart, and on JPM's 34th birthday, it wasn't long before he took over the top spot, making a concentrated effort to give himself a birthday present. 

One of the top non-Chase stories before the race was the plight of Bobby Labonte.  Bobby had an incredible qualifying run and started in 8th, but the question of sponsorship loomed.  Bobby was open and said that without some additional sponsorship, the car wouldn't be able to run the full race.  Seven companies, local to the Loudon area, stepped up to the plate, putting enough money into a fund to allow them to buy tires and gas, enough to run the race.  At 20 laps into the race, Bobby was struggling a little with an ill handling car, but hadn't dropped like a rock, and was still hanging out in the top 20.  He would finish the day in 22nd.

Tony Stewart took over the lead at lap 36 and Kurt Busch quickly followed suit to take over second spot.  Meanwhile, an extremely confident Jeff Gordon was on the move.  His car was a rocket through turns 1 and 2 and he was quickly catching  and passing the cars in front of him.  By lap 50, Tony has settled out in front with JPM once again behind him in second, Kurt Busch  in third, and Jeff Gordon up to 4th. 

Another of the issues we reported on before the race was the merger between Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing.  Kasey had been open with the press and admitted there was turmoil in the garage, and part of that turmoil was in the engine department, with some employees feeling no loyalty at all and packing up.  Obviously, this had an effect on Kasey's car, as his engine detonated before the race was 1/3 done.  Pit stops ensued and Tony lost a few spots in the pits, with Juan Pablo Montoya again moving to the front after the restart.  The top ten was all Chase racers except two, and interestingly, the two were David Stremme and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

By the time the race was one third done and working towards the half way point, Tony had dropped back, but the third top story of the week, Pat Tryson leaving Penske Racing in favor of Michael Waltrip Racing, had also been a topic of conversation.  It seems with the announcement, came restrictions, imposed by Penske Racing, prohibiting Pat from being in the Penske shop, except for a specified time period on Tuesday, and on top of the pit box to make the calls.  The experts claimed we could write Kurt out of the Championship Chase, as the mesh between the driver, the crew chief and the rest of the team would not be there.  Well, early in the second third of the race, Kurt Busch got around Juan and took off.  An interesting stat that we all needed to take not of was the fact that only one driver has won at New Hampshire and go on to win the Sprint Cup Championship and that man was Kurt Busch, in 2004. 

A debris caution just before the halfway point had the cars on pit road for tires, fuel and adjustments and saw JPM get out in front again, followed by Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  The restart was like a restart for the Checkers with JPM and Denny Hamlin battling for top spot and Kurt Busch banging fenders with Dale Jr. 

At la 168, a crash involving a bunch of cars further back in the pack bunched the cars up yet again.  Jeff Gordon brushed the wall but carried on.  Logano, however, gave Elliott Sadler a small nudge, enough to get the 19 sideways and the chain reaction involved a number of cars, although none of them were Chase contenders.

With the race almost 2/3 done, Jimmie Johnson took over the top spot for the first time.  Tony Stewart fell back to second, with Dale Jr in third, but not for long.  Dale Jr. moved around the 14, who had an axle cap displaced on the left rear wheel.  Jamie McMurray got around Tony next and set his sites on the two Hendrick cars in front of him.  He'd stayed out on the last pit stop for track position and made it work to his advantage.  As we have seen all too often this year, once the leader got out in front, he seemed to be out front to stay.  Jimmie quickly moved out to a 3 second lead while the guys behind him traded positions back and forth.  Juan Pablo Montoya again showed his dominance on the day and moved up to third, tucking in behind Dale Jr.  

When Davide Stremme, who had been having a strong run smacked the wall, the caution flew again.  Tony's crew took advantage of the caution and replaced the axle cap and he came out for the restart back in the pack in 26th.  Mark Martin took the lead for the first time and, once again, the leader took off leaving the rest in his dust.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon rubbed fenders but carried on.  Tony Stewart started moving forward with the drop of the green flag, not at all happy about the axle issue.  A few of the cars had stayed out and the top ten looked a little changed up with some of the back runners from earlier in the day maintaining top 20 positions.

As the laps wound down to 60 to go, the teams had to make their first green flag pit stop on the day.  Mark took four tires and fuel, and went a lap down.  As the pit stops played out, seeming to take forever, a number of drivers would take turns leading laps, including Bobby Labonte.  Mark Martin once again took the lead however, with 26 laps to go and the top ten looked much like it had earlier in the race.  Only two laps later, the caution flag flew for debris on the track.  Whether the debris was a result of a shoving match between Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Burton, or not, was not discussed, but Burton was clear in his message to JPM that Chase racer or not, that doesn't give him the right to take out other cars on the track. 

The restart had Mark Martin out in front again, Denny Hamlin lock up his brakes getting into the corner and David Reutimann knock Dale Jr into the wall hard.  It wasn't on purpose, obviously, but it still ruined a great day for Earnhardt Jr, who described the incident as "the Double Zero running out of talent". 

Into ten laps to go, Mark continued in the lead, but Juan Pablo Montoy and Denny Hamlin weren't done.  Both drivers were gunning for the top spot, and driving aggressively.  With seven laps to go, AJ Allmendinger went around when Marcos Ambrose got a better start and gave him a rear bumper tap.. 

Restart again with 4 to go and Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark started side by side.   Mark got the advantage, and when JPM and Denny Hamlin were fighting to get to second and have a chance to get to the lead, Mark was able to pull away.  AJ Allmendinger spun again, after the white flag flew, and NASCAR didn't show the yellow until he pulled out right in front of Mark as he raced to the Checkers.

Mark moves out to 35 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson. Juan Pablo Montoya was a huge mover, jumping five spots in the Chase while Tony Stewart fell back. 

The Chase continues next weekend at Dover.