Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 was a race I could watch again

By Mike Smith (contact)

Monday, Sept. 7, 2009 | 9:10 a.m.

There were more headlines to come out of the Pep Boys Auto 500 than you would find on the front page of the New York Times. This was definitely the best race at a 1.5-mile track this season.

Carl Edwards was driving with a broken foot. Jimmie Johnson fought a loose car and had issues with his rear axle. Tony Stewart struggled with an ill-handling car. Despite a good start, Kyle Busch slipped one spot in the standings after fighting with his machine for most of the race. And many of the drivers looked like they were competing in a drifting event as the loose cars were repeatedly sideways in the turns. In addition, both grooves on the track provided competitive racing.

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Richard Childress Racing has stated that Kevin Harvick is staying with the organization through 2010 despite rumors that the driver was looking to move elsewhere. Earlier this week, Harvick also stated that he and Childress are on the same page regarding his status. Maybe having these issues settled erased an unnecessary distraction that allowed the team to focus and produce the second-place finish we saw at Atlanta.

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Juan Pablo Montoya looked like the car to beat late in the race after a scrape with the wall actually made his car faster. It’s ironic that a team can spend massive amounts of time, money and manpower in preparing a car to near perfection and a whack on the wall ends up being the adjustment that makes the car quicker.

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I was surprised to see Harvick choose the outside lane on the final restart. His car had performed well low on the track and the outside lane hadn’t produced a lot of good restarts throughout the race. Harvick’s choice may have given Kasey Kahne the advantage on the restart. Of course, the little push Kahne received from David Reutimann didn’t hurt.

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Kurt Busch’s night didn’t go well. After crashing out of the race, a visibly, and understandably upset Kurt was caught on camera exiting the car in the garage. But Kurt quickly regained his composure and gave a professional interview a few minutes later.

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One of the most amazing pit road repairs I can remember was when the No. 88 team kept its car in the race by patching a hole in the car’s oil pan. That was the year Dale Jarrett won the championship. I think the No. 83 team’s quick axle fix on pit road Sunday night may have topped that. The team accomplished this without losing a lap and Vickers went on to finish seventh.

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I can’t wait to see Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch battle for the final Chase position at Richmond.

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