It was a wild night in Thunder Valley.  Big names had problems, tempers flared, and nearly every car finished the race with at least one noticeable dent.  In the end, all this added up to just another race at Bristol Motor Speedway.  All the in-race updates in this post are compliments of NASCAR.com's Lap-by-Lap page. 

Keep in mind that Edwards, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr, and Burton could all clinch a spot in the Chase with a good run tonight.  The Five Winless Chasers also needed to have good runs tonight to stay in the Chase.

Carl Edwards started on the pole, and led the first 48 laps.  David Ragan had to start 43rd due to starting the race in a backup car.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. who started 40th was black flagged on the start for passing before the line, and had to serve a pass-through penalty.  He got a lap down very quickly, and never made it up, although he did make a decent recovery and finished 18th...not bad for being behind the 8 ball per se from the get-go, although he did finish 2 laps down.

The first Chase casualty happened on lap 27, when Jimmie Johnson got together with Sterling Marlin.  Jimmie had a flat tire, and some noticeable damage to the car.  He would have an extended stay on pit road, and finished 33rd, 18 laps down.  On lap 55, Kyle Busch took the lead.  Well, there goes the night, or most of it...as Shrub left the field in the dust for the next 414 laps.

Meanwhile, the rest of the field had some classic Bristol moments.  David Ragan had moved up to 26th by lap 62.  The first caution surprisingly didn't come out until lap 97, when A.J. Allmendinger and Martin Truex Jr. wrecked out, ending both of their nights before the race got to triple digits.  The field finally hits pit road for the first time.

Nearly another 100 laps passed before caution flag #2 came out.  This time it was again one of our 4 potential Chase clinchers that got caught up in the mess.  Marlin bumped Hornish, Marlin spun and collected both Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton.  Burton would be done for the night and would finish 42nd.

The saying is "cautions breed cautions," and this next crash was the killer.  Just 10 laps after the restart from the incident involving Jeff Burton, more Chase catastrophe ensues.  Matt Kenseth would get the lucky dog due to this huge crash which led to a red flag.  This crash involved Michael Waltrip, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon, and THREE Chase contenders, which were Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne.  Hamlin would go on to finish 3rd and Bowyer 7th.  Both cars had damage, but just some normal Bristol bumps and bruises.  Kahne wasn't so lucky, however, and was done for the night, finishing 40th.  Bowyer's comeback from this crash and Kahne's DNF knocked Kasey out of the Chase back to 14th, and allowed Bowyer to climb back up to 12th in the points.

The next crash involved Dave Blaney who again just can't catch a break.  His night was done, and even though he did finish the race, he was 221 laps down at the checkered flag.  Now that's the kind of Bristol numbers I know, make some repairs after heavy contact with someone or something, get back out, and try to make some laps even though your car can barely go the pit road speed limit.  Blaney wound up "finishing" 38th.

Caution flag #5 flew on lap 343 just as I was returning from work.  Yeah, I got to see the last 150 laps of this one, hooray for me!  This time it was for debris, and this was no phantom debris caution.  David Reutimann and Tony Raines had been battling for position, and went a lap down as they were racing each other.  Well apparently that battle wore the 44 car out in the sheet metal department, as the entire back fender flew off the car in the middle of the straightaway.  Reutimann and his fenderless UPS machine would finish 25th, 3 laps down.  Another debris caution came out shortly thereafter, and half of the lead-lap cars pit, half stay out.  Among those lead-lap cars who pit is Matt Kenseth who has made a nice rebound, and David Ragan, who after starting dead last in a backuup car has made his way to the front.  Ragan would take the checkered flag in 10th, and at Bristol that deserves a round of applause!

Ready for some more hilarious Bristol numbers?  Shortly after the restart for this 2nd debris caution, both Hornish and Robby Gordon return to the track.  Hornish is 170 laps down, Gordon 174 laps down.  Both would not finish the race though.  Gordon would end the night 39th and Hornish 37th.  Also "finishing the race" were A.J. Allmendinger in 34th at an even 100 laps down, Martin Truex Jr. in 35th at 104 laps down, and Reed Sorenson in 36th at 117 laps down...yay for Bristol melee!

With 49 laps to go, Kyle Busch is still leading, and has just put his brother Kurt a lap down again, when Kurt brings out another debris caution.  This time, it's a piece of sheet metal flying off the front of the Blue Deuce.  The leaders all hit pit road for the final time, and Shrub wins the race off pit road.

Another debris caution occurs shortly after this, leading to yet another restart for Kyle Busch.  This time, Busch pulls away but Edwards again runs him down.  He's finally able to pass Shrub with the ever so (un)popular bump-and-run.  Busch bumps him back in the following corner, but is unable to get back by the 99.  Carl Edwards goes on to win back-to-back races in two senses.  He wins for the 2nd week in a row, and also wins the Sharpie 500 for the 2nd year in a row, also extending owner Jack Roush's streak of winning at least one Cup race at Bristol for 7 years.  Is Bristol becoming another "House of Roush?"  The argument could very well be made, as the 17 and 99 have now combined to win under the lights at Bristol for 4 straight years.  Also, the other 4 Roushketeers all finished in a train with each other near the end of the lead lap.  All had solid runs, and finished 9-12 respectively in the order of Kenseth, Ragan, Biffle, and McMurray.

Kyle Busch and his hypocritical self is not happy with Carl Edwards.  Larry McReynolds always tells the drivers to "check your feelings in at the hotel when you come to a short track, because if you bring them to the track with you, they're going to get hurt."  Well it looks like Shrub missed Larry Mac's memo.  As "Concrete Carl" is celebrating another victory on the cool-down lap, Shrub comes up along side the 99 and smacks Edwards in the driver's side door.  Edwards is through with Shrub's crap, and when the 18 pulls up in front of the 99, Edwards spins Shrub around, generating a huge cheer from the crowd.  In his postrace interview, Kyle Busch said that Edwards would "say he's sorry and that he didn't mean it, and that he didn't want to race like that, you know, Mr. Ed-like."  *AHEM* Attention Crybaby Kyle Busch: You would have done the same thing to the 99 if you were running in 2nd and trying to make the winning pass!I  This is why I can't stand Shrub...HYPOCRISY, THY NAME IS KYLE BUSCH!

So Edwards closes that margin a little more for the start of the Chase.  With 6 wins, he's now guaranteed to start the Chase in 2nd behind Kyle Busch.  Shrub and Edwards have now combined to win 14 of the 24 races run so far in 2008.  The last time I can remember 2 drivers from 2 different teams dominating like this was 1998 with Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, when the 2 combined to win 20 of the 33 races run that year.

So Bowyer is back in the Chase, Ragan gains a spot but remains just outside of the Chase in 13th and only 12 points behind Bowyer, Kahne falls out, and Truex Jr. is all but eliminated.  It's time for some more number crunching!  The magic number is 322.  Every analyst will tell you differently, but all of the guys in Chase contention are going to be at California next week.  This means that the rule of a maximum 195 points means nothing, and that the most you can gain in one race is 161...double that and you have your 322.  Truex is 263 behind with only 2 races to go.  He definitely needs a miracle to make this Chase!

What about the drivers at the top of the standings who had a chance to clinch?  Well Edwards needed to fnish 25th or better, and obviously, he did.  Remember the magic number is 322.  Jeff Burton's 42nd place finish left him 48 points shy of clinching a Chase berth.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson swapped positions due to Johnson's misfortunes.  However, with Kasey Kahne's miserable night, both Earnhardt Jr AND Johnson were still able to clinch a spot in the Chase.

As for The Five Winless Chasers, they all finished in the top 11...Harvick 4th, Gordon 5th, Stewart 8th, Kenseth 9th, and Biffle 11th respectively.  Denny Hamlin also had a great comeback for a 3rd place finish, and Ryan Newman kept his slim Chase hopes alive by finishing 6th.

So with just 2 races remaining before the top 12 are vaulted about 2,000 points ahead of everyone else, here's the standings, who is in the 2008 Chase for the Cup, and the drivers who are on the outside looking and still mathematically in contention (there are 5 left):

1. Kyle Busch -IN
2. Carl Edwards -212 -IN
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -416 -IN (+1)
4. Jimmie Johnson -418 -IN (-1)
5. Jeff Burton -492 -IN
6. Tony Stewart -596
7. Greg Biffle -625
8. Kevin Harvick -637
9. Jeff Gordon -658
10. Matt Kenseth -688
11. Denny Hamlin -709 (+1)
12. Clint Bowyer -754 (+1)
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13. David Ragan -766 (+1)
14. Kasey Kahne -810 (-3)
15. Ryan Newman -935 (+2)
16. Brian Vickers -937 (-1)
17. Martin Truex Jr. -1017 (-1)

Keep it tuned right here to The Blitzburgh Pit Stop for up-to-the-minute NASCAR news.  Until next time, I'm Bryan Kramer wishing to break Kyle Busch's nose and giving the at-a-boy award to both Ragan and Edwards for a great move through the field and a warranted retaliation to the Shrub.