SB Nation Atlanta - NASCAR At Dover Update: Kurt Busch Wins AAA 400; Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick Lead Standingshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2011-10-02T17:48:30-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/22281222011-10-02T17:48:30-04:002011-10-02T17:48:30-04:00NASCAR At Dover Results: Kurt Busch Bests Archnemesis Jimmie Johnson For Victory
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<p>Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson have genuine dislike for one another, and while Johnson has routinely outperformed Busch throughout his 10-year career, Sunday's round went to Busch, who won the AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway. Johnson took second ahead of Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, and Matt Kenseth.</p>
<p>Kyle Busch finished sixth, followed by A.J. Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Marcos Ambrose, and Kevin Harvick.</p>
<p>Tony Stewart, who entered the race looking for his third-straight victory, finished a dismal 25th and saw his one-week stay atop the point lead end. Harvick and Edwards - who fought back from a pit-road speeding penalty under green flag conditions - stand tied atop the standings, nine points ahead of Stewart and Kurt Busch. Johnson's runner-up effort boosted him to fifth in the standings, 13 markers off the pace.</p>
<p>Denny Hamlin was likely joined by Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as drivers without much hope remaining for a championship. Earnhardt finished 24th, two laps down after a broken right-front swaybar mount early in the race and cutting a right-front tire midway through the event. Newman, meanwhile, had a terrible day like his owner/teammate Stewart and finished 23rd.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/10/2/2464584/nascar-at-dover-results-kurt-busch-bests-archnemesis-jimmie-johnsonAaron Rosser2011-10-02T16:52:04-04:002011-10-02T16:52:04-04:00NASCAR At Dover: Jimmie Johnson Takes Command
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<p>Jimmie Johnson - no surprise - has assumed command of the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Johnson took the lead six laps from the halfway point and has dominanated the 100 laps since. The five-time defending Sprint Cup champion is seeking his seventh triumph at the Monster Mile and a jumpstart to what, through two races, had been a stalled pursuit of his sixth-straight championship.</p>
<p>Kasey Kahne is shown second, ahead of Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Marcos Ambrose. The top-10 is filled out by A.J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick.</p>
<p>Carl Edwards, who led much of the first half of the race, sped on pit road under green-flag conditions at lap 249 and is currently shown 21st, one lap of the pace. Brad Keselowski, who spent most of the race in the top-10, has lost his power steering and also runs off the lead-lap.</p>
<p>The day-long struggle by Tony Stewart has been joined by a bad break for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had a flat right-front tire. Both Chasers are two laps down.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/10/2/2464435/nascar-at-dover-jimmie-johnson-takes-commandAaron Rosser2011-10-02T15:48:16-04:002011-10-02T15:48:16-04:00NASCAR AAA 400 Update: Carl Edwards Handilly Dominating Field At Dover
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<p>He isn't nicknamed "Concrete Carl" for nothing.</p>
<p>Carl Edwards assumed the lead on lap 52 and has been on a Sunday drive as the AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway approaches its midpoint.</p>
<p>Edwards has led 111 laps and counting through 170 circuits. Jimmie Johnson runs second, more than three seconds back of the No. 99 Ford, with Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch rounding out the top-five. Brad Keselowski holds sixth, ahead of Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton - who stayed out under the previous caution flag to pick up track position - and Richard Petty Motorsports teammates Marcos Ambrose and A.J. Allmendinger.</p>
<p>While six of the top-10 drivers are battling for the title, the driver they were chasing entering Sunday's event is struggling mightily. Tony Stewart, seeking to win three-straight races for the first time in his career, is a lap down in 27th place with an ill-handling Chevrolet. As the positions stand, he would fall 16 points back of Edwards for the point lead.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/10/2/2464294/nascar-aaa-400-update-carl-edwards-handilly-dominating-field-at-doverAaron Rosser2011-10-02T14:52:08-04:002011-10-02T14:52:08-04:00NASCAR At Dover: Kurt Busch Dominates Opening 40 Laps
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<p>Kurt Busch took the lead on the second lap of the AAA 400 at the Dover and led the next 39 laps relatively uncontested through two restarts. Carl Edwards was second at the competition yellow at lap 40, followed by Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, and Jimmie Johnson.</p>
<p>The competition caution flew because of rain showers that fell overnight at the track. NASCAR customarily schedules the competition yellows in such scenarios.</p>
<p>The two cautions prior were for light rain and a near-spin by A.J. Allmendinger thanks to contact from Denny Hamlin.</p>
<p>Chase contender Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a sway bar mount under the first caution for Allmendinger's incident and lost significant track position before being able to pit under the yellow for rain. He lost a lap getting the repairs, but recieved the Free Pass back onto the lead lap for the competition yellow.</p>
<p>Point leader Tony Stewart, seeking to win three-straight races for the first time in his career, runs 15th after qualifying 28th.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/10/2/2464149/nascar-at-doverAaron Rosser2011-09-29T08:40:11-04:002011-09-29T08:40:11-04:00NASCAR At Dover: Jimmie Johnson Heads To Best Track With Title Reign On The Line
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<p>Jimmie Johnson's back is against the wall in his bid to win his sixth-straight Sprint Cup title, but the third race of the 2011 Chase comes at a track that has seen him lead 1192 of the 2000 laps run over the last five events: Dover International Speedway.</p> <p>For the first time in nearly five years, one can safely say Jimmie Johnson's back appears to be against the wall.</p>
<p>The five-time defending Sprint Cup champion sits 10th in the standings after two races in the Chase, 29 points behind leader Tony Stewart. Under the first-year point system, where payouts for each position decrease by one marker from second to 43rd finishing spot, Johnson effectively needs to make up 29 finishing positions on Stewart, 22 on current championship runner-up Kevin Harvick, and 18 on third-placed Brad Keselowski over the last eight weeks in order to extend his championship reign to a sixth season.</p>
<p>This is not unprecedented territory for Johnson. In 2006, the first year of their streak, Johnson sat 156 points behind then-leader Jeff Burton thanks to a last-lap crash in the fourth playoff event at Talladega. The wreck - triggered by Johnson's then teammate Brian Vickers and also collecting Dale Earnhardt Jr. - seemed to signal another season that would pass without a title for the El Cajon, CA, driver and his Chad Knaus-led team.</p>
<p>Instead, they reeled off five-straight finishes of first or second - including a win at Martinsville - to overhaul Matt Kenseth for the lead with two races left and held on to score their first title.</p>
<p>With all of that in mind, Johnson heads to what has undoubtedly been his best track, especially in recent seasons: Dover International Speedway.</p>
<p>Six of Johnson's 54 victories have come at Dover, including season-sweeps during his rookie season of 2002 and again in 2009. With 171 laps led Sunday, he would pass the 2000 laps-led plateau. Based on his performance there over the last five events - starting with his June 2009 triumph - that should be a piece of cake. Johnson has led 191 laps or more in each of those five events for a grand total of 1192 led out of 1999 laps run. He was a lap down at the end of the June 2010 race after a late pit-road speeding penalty.</p>
<p>If Johnson is to make a run towards another title, Dover is the perfect venue for him to jumpstart it. Conversely, a less-than-stellar showing Sunday - or even a good one that fails to take a chunk out of his gap to Stewart, Harvick, Keselowski, and the other title contenders ahead of him - could be the beginning of the end of one of the most dominant runs by a single team in the history of professional sports.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/9/29/2457503/nascar-dover-2011-chase-sprint-cup-jimmie-johnsonAaron Rosser