Live: Nextel Cup from Dover
The weather has held, and the Autism Speaks 400 is running at Dover. But not without incident:
Major developments:
- Bill France Jr. passed away during the race at his home in Daytona Beach, Fla. NASCAR.com has a comprehensive obit.
- Kurt Busch, his car damaged after tangling with Tony Stewart, pulled alongside Tony Stewart on pit road to get in a few words. Both cars are in the garage, and one or both may be in a bit of trouble.
All times Eastern. Updates in reverse order
3:39 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr. wins his first Nextel Cup race in a rout. Ryan Newman second, Carl Edwards third. Then Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton and Casey Mears.
3:34 p.m.: 10 to go. Truex running by himself. Newman has an edge on Edwards, then Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin are battling for fourth. Jeff Gordon, Biffle, Bowyer, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne jockeying for the rest of the top 10.
3:30 p.m.: 20 to go, and it'll take a mishap to stop Truex from claiming his first Nextel Cup win. Johnson and Newman are battling for second, Edwards is floating in fourth and we have a jam at fifth through 10th.
Oops ... count out Johnson. Flat tire sends him to the pits.
3:22 p.m.: 39 laps to go, and we're off. Truex still has the lead and pulls away quickly.
3:17 p.m.: Another yellow for a wreck during the last ad break. David Gilliland swayed in the turn and took out Ricky Rudd.
Coming into the pits -- Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Robby Gordon, Matt Kenseth -- all guys on the lead lap but not in the top five. Casey Mears joins the lead lap.
3:11 p.m.: Truex on Newman's tail; Jimmie Johnson on Edwards'. Truex makes it through into the lead. 53 laps to go. Johnson, 42nd at one point, is taking a different line and making things interesting.
3:09 p.m.: Back to green on lap 343. Newman tries to put some distance on Truex.
3:08 p.m.: Kasey Kahne pits while most of the lead-lap drivers stay out. Robby Gordon, who worked his way onto the lead lap, also pits.
3:03 p.m.: And we're yellow again. Michael Waltrip slips up and hits the wall. He masterfully avoids everyone else as he slides down the track, so no one else gets caught up.
3:01 p.m.: Green flag for lap 333. Newman, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer, Johnson, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton on lead lap.
2:56 p.m.: Ward Burton hits the wall. We'll go to yellow. We'll watch pit road ...
Newman slips ahead of Truex. But Truex has been so much faster on the track. We'll see how long it lasts. Edwards in third.
2:48 p.m.: Kurt Busch says what happened on pit road is his fault, and he passes along condolences on France's death. But he says Stewart tried to wreck him twice on restarts and that he doesn't know what happened when they finally made contact.
Meanwhile, Truex has slipped past Newman. Edwards still third, then Bowyer, Johnson, Mark Martin, Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth. Fox says that's it for the lead lap, though that contradicts other data we've seen showing Jeff Gordon in 10th and only three-quarters of a lap down. That's 315 laps gone, 85 to go. We should have another set of pit stops.
Fox graphic: Truex and Bowyer have never won on the Nextel Cup circuit. Newman and Edwards haven't won since 2005.
2:35 p.m.: We go green again. Newman roars into the turn in first. Currently on lap 283. Top five: Newman, Truex, Edwards, Bowyer ... Mark Martin! Then Jimmie Johnson. The top 10 are bunched within four seconds, then Kasey Kahne is little ways back. That's it -- just 11 on the lead lap now.
2:30 p.m.: This won't improve Kurt Busch's popularity -- with Stewart in the pits, Busch pulls up alongside him, forcing a crew member to leap out of the way. Busch spends a few seconds next to him, then backs up a bit and peels out. Busch's car is headed for the garage.
2:27 p.m.: Newman's pit crew gives him the lead.
2:25 p.m.: Fox faded to commercial after announcing France's death, then returned to the aftermath of a wreck. Kurt Busch tries to get in front of Tony Stewart, but he's not quite clear. His right rear hits Stewart's left front, and Busch gets the worst of it. Looks like everyone else made it through, and we'll have a crowd on pit road with the caution out.
2:19 p.m.: Whatever happens here is going to be overshadowed in the NASCAR headlines -- Bill France Jr. has passed away, Fox reports. France presided over the growth of NASCAR in the '70s, '80s and '90s.
2:13 p.m.: The gray sky is giving way to blue. Truex still holding a solid lead over Edwards, Bowyer and Newman. Coming up fast to fifth: Jimmie Johnson.
2:04 p.m.: Leaders pitting, and not without incident. A Jeff Gordon crew member slips. Here comes Newman, here comes Truex. Edwards, who had been running second, stays out a little longer but comes in soon afterward for a quick stop. Bowyer is next.
With the leaders back out and running, Fox says 14 cars are on the lead lap, with Truex leading by four seconds over Edwards, Bowyer, Newman, Stewart.
1:56 p.m.: Halfway done. Truex is back in front, and Fox pops up this stat -- he has led more laps today than he had in his career through this point. Earnhardt has more trouble and is going back to the pits. Edwards is second. Newman's in third ... make that fourth, as we see Bowyer pass him while Fox has Newman's in-car camera running.
1:33 p.m.: Newman takes back the lead, but Truex isn't dropping far behind. Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Bowyer are in striking range, and Tony Stewart is running quietly in sixth. Down to 24 cars on the lead lap. Notables who aren't: Kevin Harvick, Earnhardt (two down), Kyle Busch.
1:24 p.m.: Kyle Busch bumps the wall, and we'll go yellow. Everyone to the pits, and Truex hangs on to the lead. Newman scoots up to second. Edwards drops to fourth.
1:20 p.m.: Your new leader is Martin Truex Jr. He works his way through lapped traffic while Edwards drops back. 133 laps down, 267 to go.
1:12 p.m.: Flat tire and unscheduled green-flag pit stop for Earnhardt. Meanwhile, Edwards has somehow found a way past Newman.
1:05 p.m.: Newman is dominating. He leads on lap 105. The best news: The threatening clouds are dissipating.
12:50 p.m.: Kasey Kahne keeps going backward. Newman get held up trying to lap Michael Waltrip, who was having none of it so close to the lap-65 caution, but Newman finally pushes his way past as Earnhardt draws closer. We're told 40 of 43 cars are still on the lead lap.
Yellow out, into the pits we go ...
They step out of the pits like this: Newman, Earnhard, Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon.
12:45 p.m.: Riggs, second at the last green flag, could do little but watch the contenders pass him -- Newman on lap 39, then Dale Earnhardt Jr., then Carl Edwards, then Kyle Busch, then we lost track.
Then Newman challenged Kasey Kahne for the lead on lap 56. He got it.
12:33 p.m.: With the yellow flag out, it's a nose-to-tail line through pit road. Kasey Kahne gets out first, with Scott Riggs second. Newman slips to third. The green flag is back out. Next "competition caution" on lap 60. Jimmie Johnson got tangled up on pit road and had to make a second stop, the Fox crew tells us. He's 38th.
12:25 p.m.: We'll have a "competition caution" at lap 25, and we're almost there. Newman is running well with the lead. Carl Edwards is second. Neither car is in traffic on lap 22, but you can see some battles behind them -- Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne for fourth.
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