Random Recap: The 2005 New England 300
Welcome to Random Recaps, a weekly feature at From The Marbles. In this space, we’ll recap a random race from the past at the track the where Sprint Cup Series is racing next.This week’s race is the 2005 New England 300. And as always, Random Recap is truly random thanks to Random.org.
Tony Stewart dominated Sunday’s race at New Hampshire for his third win in the last four races.
Stewart led 232 of the race’s 300 laps after starting 13th and was almost unchallengeable at times. The closest anyone got to swiping the win away from him was Kurt Busch after the race’s final restart.
The race went green on lap 240 for the final time and Busch took advantage of a challenge from his brother, Kyle Busch. Kyle restarted second and dove to the inside of Stewart as the two raced off into turn one. As Kyle tried the inside line, Kurt tried the outside and pulled even for second down the backstretch.
Kurt Busch then drove around Stewart on the outside to take the lead in the next set of corners. Busch’s lead was short-lived however. It lasted six laps before Stewart drove by and pulled away and held on for a win by just under a second.
Stewart won three weeks ago at Sonoma and then led 151 of the race’s 160 laps two weeks back at Daytona. At Chicago he “slumped” to a fifth-place finish.
The midseason run has moved him to third in the points standings. He’s gained seven spots in the standings over the past four races.
Kyle Busch fell to fourth over the race’s final run as he was passed by Bobby Labonte. Greg Biffle finished fifth. Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished 13th.
Epilogue: Stewart went on to win five races in seven weeks, one of the greatest stretches in the last 15 years of the Cup Series. Especially when you consider how much he dominated at Daytona, New Hampshire and Watkins Glen. The five wins were his only wins of the season, though he won the 2005 Chase thanks to eight top-10 finishes in 10 races.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
