A field of Winston Cup stars and Busch Series regulars lined up under threatening skies for the Cabela's 250 at Michigan International Speedway. A haze hung over the two mile track as drivers got the command to start their engines, and from the start it looked as though the drivers would be racing the rain as well as one another.
Kasey Kahne took the pole in Friday's qualifying, joined in the front row by David Reutimann. Winston Cup regulars, led by Tony Stewart, making his first Busch Series start since 1998 in the Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned Chance 2 car, claimed starting spots 4 through 8.
As the green flag waved, Jamie McMurray made an illegal pass before the field came to the start-finish line to begin the race, and was called in to the pits for a stop and go penalty. Tony Stewart passed Kasey Kahne for the top spot on lap 2 and opened up a small lead before an early caution brought the pace car back to the track. Greg Biffle lost control of his car in turn 4 and slid down into the infield grass to bring out the first caution of the day.
The second caution of the event came when Jamie Mosley spun on lap 47, bringing out the yellow flag in the middle of a pit cycle. Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, Jason Keller, and Scott Wimmer, all racing in the top 20, lost ground to the rest of the field because they made their stops just before the caution flew. Mosley's day only got worse, when he brought out another caution on lap 65, after spinning hard into the turn 3 wall, and he retired his car to the garage.
Fuel mileage and pit strategy became the question of the day over a long, green flag run. Many teams, including Tony Stewart who dominated the entire event, could not make it to the finish on fuel, but the rain looming on the horizon made pitting a gamble. Stewart was among the first to pit, giving up a 7.5 second lead to head down pit road on lap 101. Kevin Harvick inherited the lead. Stewart exited the pits 17th, and worked his way up to 11th in 8 laps before he ran out of time. The rain began falling on lap 109, bringing out the yellow with Harvick still in the lead. NASCAR red flagged the event on lap 110, and made an attempt to dry the track, but a second wave of showers forced them to call the race after a 40 minute rain delay. Harvick took his 3rd Busch Series victory of the season in the 13th of 22 races to be won by a Winston Cup regular. David Green finished 4th, just ahead of current points leader Scott Riggs, to cut Riggs' lead in the standings to just 2 points.
Unofficial Results
- Kevin Harvick
- Kasey Kahne
- Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
- David Green
- Scott Riggs
- David Reutimann
- Casey Mears
- Michael Waltrip
- Shane Hmiel
- Dave Blaney
Unofficial Standings
- Scott Riggs
- David Green -2
- Jason Keller -96
- Ron Hornaday -134
- Brian Vickers -148
- Bobby Hamilton Jr. -292
- Scott Wimmer -404
- Shane Hmiel -405
- Johnny Sauter -420
- tacy Compton -495
