After having a solid start to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson was able to capture his first win in the 2008 Chase and his fifth of the year, winning the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway. Johnson, who started on the pole, had a strong run the entire race, leading 124 laps. A strong performance by the #48 crew gave Johnson the track position he needed to take the lead during the final pit stops. Johnson did have to earn the trip to victory lane, fending off a last lap pass by the #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards, who gave up the race when he got into the wall in turn four. The victory by Johnson puts Johnson and the #48 Lowes Chevy at the top of the points standings, ten points ahead of Edwards.
Jimmie Johnson had a solid run all day, but Carl Edwards saw the most action on Sunday.
Edwards was one of the Chase drivers who had a poor qualifying, starting in 34th position. By lap 41, Edwards had made it up to 16th. On lap 51, Edwards had some trouble on pit road during green flag pit stops. As he was exiting his pit, the #83 Red Bull Toyota driven by Brian Vickers pushed Edwards down into his pit under his car, and in front of the #20 pits. During the next round of pit stops, Edwards was once again hit on pit road, this time by Dave Blaney. Despite all that contact, Edwards was able to come back for a second place finish.
Casey Mears had the his best run of the season. Mears, who led 29 laps finished in 14th place and was in place to be a factor for the win. Mears and his team did stumble, however when he failed to pit when the rest of the leaders came down for fresh tires. The lack of fresh tires made Mears an easy target on the restart. His team was not able to get him back to the front, but they did manage a 15th place finish.
Jeff Gordon had one the strongest runs of the season in Kansas, running in the top five all race long and finishing in the fourth position. The run by Gordon was impressive, considering that Gordon had stated that he had never felt that sick going to a race in his career. The #24 team did have Brad Keslowski on stand by, in case Gordon felt too ill to finish the race, however the driver change was not necessary.
AJ Allmendinger, who was racing for a job in Kansas, had a strong qualifying effort, starting in 14th place. Allmendinger, in what may have been his final race in the #84 Red Bull Racing Toyota, ended the day with a career high ninth place finish, showing owners what kind of skills he can bring to any race team. A decision will be announced by Red Bull Racing on Tuesday as to the immediate future of the #84 team.
Once again, Joe Gibbs Racing did not have a race that they wanted to have.
Kyle Busch, who started in 27th place, seemed like he was going to be able to recover from the last two weeks, and at least compete for some wins, had another mechanical trouble in Kansas. On lap 27, Kyle Busch notified his crew that his engine was sputtering and thought that it was going to blow. Though he was able finish the race, his team was not able figure out what caused the engine issues.
Tony Stewart, started the race in 41st after human error caused him to have a poor qualifying speed. Stewart was able to blow through the field and have a top 15 run most of the day until lap 130, when he spun his #20 Home Depot Toyota on the front stretch, and slid through the grass, which damaged his splitter. With 75 laps to go, Stewart was forced to go into the pits for repairs, putting him four laps down and effectively ending his day.
The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were not the only ones having trouble on Sunday. After running in the top five all race long, the #1 Chevy driven by Martin Truex Jr. had a broken shifter, ending his day early. Clearly disappointed, Truex Jr. felt that he could have competed for a victory.
