[Open Thread] Sprint Cup Series: Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway

by Diecast Dude on Jun 22, 2008 3:30 PM EDT in News

First, the starting lineup:

	Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Speed
Row 1:	1	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Dodge	77.740	92.153
	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's Chevrolet	77.836	92.040
Row 2:	3	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Dodge	77.865	92.005
	4	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge	77.918	91.943
Row 3:	5	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet	77.935	91.923
	6	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Dodge	78.003	91.843
Row 4:	7	21	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie Honey Buns Ford	78.023	91.819
	8	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	78.097	91.732
Row 5:	9	12	Ryan Newman	alltel Dodge	78.279	91.519
	10	16	Greg Biffle	3M Ford	78.340	91.448
Row 6:	11	45	Terry Labonte	Wells Fargo Dodge	78.340	91.448
	12	99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot Ford	78.487	91.276
Row 7:	13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office Toyota	78.547	91.207
	14	60	Boris Said	Slurpee/No Fear Energy Ford	78.568	91.182
Row 8:	15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet	78.585	91.162
	16	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar Toyota	78.589	91.158
Row 9:	17	77	Sam Hornish Jr. #	Mobil 1 Dodge	78.598	91.147
	18	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal Ford	78.604	91.140
Row 10:	19	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's Chevrolet	78.606	91.138
	20	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility Chevrolet	78.676	91.057
Row 11:	21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco/Havoline Dodge	78.704	91.025
	22	01	Ron Fellows	Principal Financial Group/DEI Chevrolet	78.715	91.012
Row 12:	23	5	Casey Mears	Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet	78.739	90.984
	24	78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet	78.764	90.955
Row 13:	25	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet	78.768	90.951
	26	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	78.784	90.932
Row 14:	27	41	Scott Pruett	Target Dodge	78.808	90.904
	28	66	Max Papis	Haas Automation Chevrolet	78.838	90.870
Row 15:	29	15	Paul Menard	Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet	78.895	90.804
	30	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	78.904	90.794
Row 16:	31	38	David Gilliland	freecreditreport.com Ford	78.906	90.792
	32	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet	78.922	90.773
Row 17:	33	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Ford	78.931	90.763
	34	00	Michael McDowell #	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	78.991	90.694
Row 18:	35	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	79.032	90.647
	36	84	AJ Allmendinger	Red Bull Toyota	79.152	90.509
Row 19:	37	10	Patrick Carpentier #	Valvoline Dodge	79.270	90.375
	38	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance Ford	79.286	90.356
Row 20:	39	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot Toyota	79.337	90.298
	40	8	Aric Almirola	U.S. Army Chevrolet	79.399	90.228
Row 21:	41	28	Travis Kvapil	California Highway Patrol Ford	Owner Points
	42	44	David Reutimann	UPS Toyota	Owner Points
Row 22:	43	34	Brian Simo	No Fear Ford	79.481	90.135

The running order for this race is interesting, to say the least. You have past winners like Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart starting deep in the field, whereas up front you have Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson, neither one of whom are exactly noted for being expert road course drivers.

Assuming Steve Letarte doesn't screw the car up (again) one has to figure Jeff Gordon as the favorite, but not a prohibitive favorite. Both of the drivers starting behind him, namely Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon, figure to be in contention for the win.

At any rate, this race figures to far far more competitive and action-filled than most every other race run thus far in 2008. Even if you're a confirmed road course hater, tune in. You will be pleasantly surprised.

I'll be liveblogging the race as best I can, so join me in the Comments area.

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