So who is going to flinch first, Stewart or Edwards? Interesting enough that the three points Edwards has over Stewart is the three points he got for having a win in the pre-Chase set of races, otherwise the two have made the exact same amount of points so far in the Chase.
I wonder if we’ll have another storybook ending like Hornish’s yesterday? Time will tell.
It’s sad to see Stremme sitting out this week, even though he ran faster than 6 of the guys who are in the show for today’s race. I still hate the Top 35 rule and starting spots determined by Owner Points and not speed. I guess I’m a minority in that department.
Starting line-up and group discussion after the jump. See you on the other side
***
Starting line-up via nascar.com.
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 137.101 | 26.258 | Leader |
| 2 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Wix Filters | 136.446 | 26.384 | -0.126 |
| 3 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 136.307 | 26.411 | -0.153 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 136.080 | 26.455 | -0.197 |
| 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 136.080 | 26.455 | -0.197 |
| 6 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 136.008 | 26.469 | -0.211 |
| 7 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Tums | 135.988 | 26.473 | -0.215 |
| 8 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 135.911 | 26.488 | -0.230 |
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 135.701 | 26.529 | -0.271 |
| 10 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 135.675 | 26.534 | -0.276 |
| 11 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Peak / Menards | 135.609 | 26.547 | -0.289 |
| 12 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 135.415 | 26.585 | -0.327 |
| 13 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS My Choice | 135.399 | 26.588 | -0.330 |
| 14 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar Global Mining | 135.298 | 26.608 | -0.350 |
| 15 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 135.272 | 26.613 | -0.355 |
| 16 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 135.247 | 26.618 | -0.360 |
| 17 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 135.227 | 26.622 | -0.364 |
| 18 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 135.216 | 26.624 | -0.366 |
| 19 | 84 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | Red Bull Racing Team | 135.211 | 26.625 | -0.367 |
| 20 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy | 135.186 | 26.630 | -0.372 |
| 21 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 135.181 | 26.631 | -0.373 |
| 22 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Retro Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard | 135.166 | 26.634 | -0.376 |
| 23 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 134.887 | 26.689 | -0.431 |
| 24 | 46 | Scott Speed | Ford | Green Stuff Absorbent | 134.862 | 26.694 | -0.436 |
| 25 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 134.852 | 26.696 | -0.438 |
| 26 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 134.811 | 26.704 | -0.446 |
| 27 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 134.756 | 26.715 | -0.457 |
| 28 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios “Send Cheer” / Hamburger Helper | 134.574 | 26.751 | -0.493 |
| 29 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Meguiars | 134.549 | 26.756 | -0.498 |
| 30 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army Veterans Day Tribute | 134.509 | 26.764 | -0.506 |
| 31 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Wounded Warrior Project / Clorox | 134.363 | 26.793 | -0.535 |
| 32 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 134.143 | 26.837 | -0.579 |
| 33 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 134.078 | 26.850 | -0.592 |
| 34 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 133.650 | 26.936 | -0.678 |
| 35 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 133.437 | 26.979 | -0.721 |
| 36 | 37 | Mike Skinner | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 133.220 | 27.023 | -0.765 |
| 37 | 55 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Aloft Hotels | 133.136 | 27.040 | -0.782 |
| 38 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 133.028 | 27.062 | -0.804 |
| 39 | 32 | Mike Bliss | Ford | Veterans United Home Loans | 132.431 | 27.184 | -0.926 |
| 40 | 36 | Geoffrey Bodine+ | Chevrolet | Luke & Associates | 131.305 | 27.417 | -1.159 |
| 41 | 38 | J.J. Yeley+ | Ford | Vampt | 128.981 | 27.911 | -1.653 |
| 42 | 34 | David Gilliland+ | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 123.068 | 29.252 | -2.994 |
| 43 | 135 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Big Red | 132.562 | 27.157 | -0.899 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 123 | Scott Riggs | Toyota | North Texas Pipe | 131.695 | 27.336 | -1.078 |
| 45 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Inception Motorsports | 131.603 | 27.355 | -1.097 |
| 46 | 71 | Andy Lally* | Ford | TRG Motorsports | 127.592 | 28.215 | -1.957 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie
* Denotes Rookie
