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“From the tower, I thought it was a good race,” NASCAR competition director Robin Pemberton said. “I think you saw there were more competitors up front who had been there in recent history, or teams that aren’t used to running in the top 10 or 15.
“There were people concerned with the splitter hitting the race track and all kinds of nightmarish things, you saw there were no problems with that. We were pleased.”
But the fifth-place car of Greg Biffle was too low in inspection, and Pemberton said NASCAR would take the car back to North Carolina to inspect. Busch’s winning car also is being taken as NASCAR will seize several vehicles after each COT race to inspect them.
Busch and Gustafson weren’t pleased that the car was being taken, but Pemberton said it would be back in their possession with plenty of time to prepare for next week’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
The drivers, meanwhile, said it’s too early to pass judgment on the COT. Martinsville is another short track, and the COT gets its first true test next month in Phoenix.
“If the car is safer and races better, then I am all for it,” Gordon said. “But we can’t answer that question this weekend.”
Kevin Harvick was fourth, followed by Greg Biffle, Jeff Green and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Clint Bowyer finished eighth and Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears rounded out the top 10.
Gordon took over the points lead as Mark Martin, who came into the race on top, skipped the event and turned his keys over to rookie Regan Smith.
Smith finished 25th and Martin dropped to eighth in the standings — 162 back. Gordon leads Burton by three points.
As expected, Juan Pablo Montoya struggled at his first short track, finishing 32nd after an early spin dropped him several laps down. But he still considered the day a success.
“We got the car home and scored some more points and just go on to the next one,” he said. “It was pretty easy, to be honest.”
A.J. Allmendinger, the former Champ Car star, also struggled. He was 40th in his Nextel Cup debut.
“You know, I used to think Champ Car was tough to drive,” Allmendinger said. “But do 500 laps around this place. That’s a lot of work.”
The race initially belonged to Tony Stewart, who pulled away to a huge lead during the 257 laps he was out front. But his Chevrolet lost power during a caution with 211 laps to go, and he was livid as he pulled into the pits.
He bemoaned his bad luck in an expletive-laden rant as his Joe Gibbs Racing team worked under the hood of his car. He returned to the track 23 laps down.
Kasey Kahne, who ran in the top five for the first half of the race, spun out moments before Stewart went out to take himself out of the competition.
With the two best cars out of the running, the race opened up for everyone else. Busch and Hamlin traded the lead several times until traffic allowed Busch to get by him for good.
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