McMurray wins in Charlotte

Kyle Busch n?a pas dû être satisfait de sa deuxième place à l?issue des 334 tours de l?ovale de Charlotte. Après avoir mené la course pendant 217 tours, le pilote Toyota cédait sa première place dans le dernier restart (tour 314) sous la pression de Jamie McMurray. Il devait même protéger sa deuxième position des assauts de Jimmie Johnson, qui cherchait à accentuer encore davantage son avance au Championnat.

If Jamie McMurray is not in the race for the Chase, he still wins his third victory of the season, after winning the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. You just have to drive with your instinct », declared the winner after the finish line. “ We had a better car than Kyle (Busch) at the end. He was better during the race, but in the end we regained the advantage. »

Jimmie Johnson's third place is another good operation for the reigning Champion. But the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still pursued by Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), fourth, who is 41 points behind in the Championship. “I think we are still moving in the right direction,” commented the Toyota driver after the race. “ We keep (Johnson) in our line of sight, but that?s all we can do. We were a little behind today, but it's important to continue to get into the top five. »

With five races to go, the fight for the Chase seems to be tightening. There are really only Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick (Richard Childress Racing), eighth at the end of the race, who seem capable of maintaining the pressure on Jimmie Johnson. Jeff Gordon, fourth in the standings, is already 156 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. The fight for the Chase will resume on October 24 for the Martinsville race.