Sunoco Pit Move: Talladega
Decisions to put on four new tires right call for top-three finishers
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
May 2, 2006
12:56 PM EDT (16:56 GMT)
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- It became a minor footnote, but Chad Knaus' decision to give Jimmie Johnson four tires on Lap 166 proved to be the right call.
Johnson, Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers all took four tires with 22 laps to go, and they went on to finish 1-2-3.
Johnson was one of 12 cars to come into the pits on Lap 166, and despite the loss of track position, he and Brian Vickers easily got back to the front.
Elliott Sadler had the dominant car in the middle part of the race, but he didn't pit during the caution. He finished 16th after failing to find any drafting help in the closing laps.
Edwards, Busch bounce back from pit mistakes
Carl Edwards had an eventful day. He was caught in the middle of the Lap 10 crash, and he wound up eighth despite a Lap 77 pit penalty where the catch can was left on his car.
Edwards lost a lap after he served his penalty from NASCAR, but he rallied back and got the free pass, putting him back on the lead lap. Edwards went on to lead seven laps.
In the middle of the race, Kurt Busch had to come back in to get some lugnuts tightened, but he stayed on the lead lap and finished seventh.
"We had a lugnut come off and we had to come back in, but we're a team," Busch said. " We're going to stick together no matter what happens out on the track. We brought it home in a good top-10 spot."
Quotable
"We had really good pit stops and everything just seemed to go really well for us. That's cool to head into the Charlotte test with that."
-- Jamie McMurray, who finished a season-high fifth
Linear Mode
