Jimmie Johnson won the race despite having to make an extra stop after seeing three of his crewman getting toppled over like bowling pins. A second scary incident later on became the last straw regarding the dreaded �gentleman�s agreement�, and resulted in a drastic rule change wiping out a practice that had gone on for decades.

The race actually started with a solid 128 laps (over 40 percent of the distance) of great hammer-down green flag racing action. It was 108 laps before anyone even went behind the wall. Then the dreaded �debris caution� reared it�s ugly head, and that�s when things got squirrelly. Running second at the time, Jimmie Johnson pulls into his pit stall, which is one of the first ones off of Turn 4. Meanwhile Jeff Gordon is on the rear bumper of Michael Waltrip when Gordon attempts to pass Waltrip on the left in an effort to gain track position, going through the #15 pit box. Waltrip doesn�t see Gordon and hits the #24, with the chain reaction clipping three of Johnson�s crewman, but resulting in no serious injuries. Johnson would fall to 22nd after the extra stop, but the crew manned up on the next pit stop to pull a 13.7. Later on, Johnson had to deal with an irate Ward Burton after an incident that had the #22 out for blood on the Lowe�s Chevrolet. Johnson attempted several times to apologize to Ward, but the angry Burton left the track afterwards without comment. As he did in June, Crew Chief Chad Knaus pushed the right button late by having Johnson come in for a fuel-only stop with 25 laps remaining. None of the other contenders could make it the rest of the way on fuel, ultimately giving Johnson an easy six-second win.

The race�s other defining moment came in Lap 160, when in a huge shock Jimmy Spencer caused a crash, taking out Dale Jarrett and leaving the #88 smack in the middle of the frontstretch just in front of the start/finish line. Race leader Bill Elliott slows down dramatically for safety�s sake to avoid the #88. However many drivers behind Elliott took that as an opportunity to get a lap back. Sensing this, the third place car of Michael Waltrip accelerated to stay ahead of drivers he did not want to see get the lap back. As Waltrip sped up, second place Ryan Newman did likewise to stay ahead of Waltrip. The result was total chaos with cars three-wide veering around the idle #88. Had someone plowed Jarrett, the results could had been disastrous, as the worst crashes occur with those sitting in an idle car. The lick Tony Stewart took from Spencer in Darlington last year along with the ARCA fatality in Charlotte last fall are classic examples.

Perhaps in a case of new CEO Brian France making an impact, both incidents resulted in immediate rule changes. On Thursday NASCAR announced that there will no longer be a �gentleman�s agreement� and no more racing back to the line. NASCAR also announced that drivers will no longer be allowed to pass to the left during pit stops.

The pit stop rule makes perfect sense and there should be no problem enforcing that. Not racing back to the stripe is another matter altogether. From now on, NASCAR will have to rely on existing telemetry to determine the running order when a yellow flag falls. It�s a new policy that could come back to bite NASCAR as soon as next week in Talladega. Hypothetically, lets say Kurt Busch pulls alongside race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap while a multi-car wreck occurs behind them. At that point, the race would be over. There would be no mad dash to the finish, and race fans would not be happy. Indy 500 fans recall a similar controversy that occurred in that race a couple years back, which left the official outcome in doubt for weeks. And you think there�s controversy now. Also, it has just gotten much harder to get back on the lead lap � unless you�re a Ryan Newman or a few others capable of staying ahead of the race leader after a restart. Call me old school, but if the crash is not in the way of the start-finish line I like to see them go back to the stripe.

Here are the driver profiles from the race�

Ricky Rudd � Harvick was waiting for him to call and apologize all week. Harvick thinks that the veteran rule is to call on Monday morning, Harvick says if �it weren�t on purpose, I didn�t hear the phone ring. But forget about Harvick, Rudd has another strong run (supposedly with the same car the Harvick crew members dented in) by finishing second.

Joe Nemechek � 1999 NHIS winner has his second best showing of this year, finishing third as the team stayed out on a Lap 184 caution, a move that paid off huge dividends.

Bill Elliott � Leads 55 laps in earning his second top-five in three races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � One of his better efforts of the year leading a race-high 120 laps, but drops a cylinder late and places fifth.

Rusty Wallace � By finishing sixth, Rusty wins something called the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race. I guess that goes to the driver who hasn�t won anything in a while.

Matt Kenseth � Places seventh and keeps his 400+ point lead. Isabel was the only chance for the point championship not to be settled before Phoenix.

Elliott Sadler � Nothing was expected from either of the Yates teams this week, but Sadler had simply a 'fast car', and comes through with a very respectable eighth place showing.

Ryan Newman � Wins yet another pole along with leading 47 laps. Faded down the stretch however and settles for ninth.

Jamie McMurray � Another Dodge that ran strong, placing 10th.

Jeremy Mayfield � The Evernham Dodges are on fire lately, 11th place is actually Mayfield�s worst showing in four races.

John Andretti � Has DEI found it�s third driver at last??? Andretti has given the #1 14th and 12th place showings in successive weeks.

Jeff Gordon � The freefall continues, as the #24 runs out of gas in the waning laps resulting in Gordon taking a 19th.

Robby Gordon � Attempted to go the final 102 laps on the last tank, which would had resulted in Robby�s second NHIS win. Robby runs out of gas with five laps to go, and was forced to answer a stop-and-go when an extra man went over the wall with the mustard container to refire.

Michael Waltrip � Like Junior was running strong and actually led for a while. A pit-road mishap (catch can) cost him dearly, with the #15 placing 26th.

Here is the latest edition of the KAC Top 20�

1. (1) Kenseth, 2. (5) Newman, 3. (4) Johnson (+2), 4. (3) Harvick, 5. (7) Busch (-2), 6. (2) Dale Jr., 7. (6) J. Gordon, 8. (8) B. LaBonte (+3), 9. (11) Stewart, 10. (9) T. LaBonte (+3), 11. (12) R. Gordon (-3), 12. (18) McMurray, 13. (10) Waltrip (-3), 14. (15) Elliott (NR), 15. (23) Rudd (NR), 16. (13) J. Burton (-1), 17. (14) Wallace, 18. (20) Biffle (-2), 19. (25) Mayfield (NR), 20. (16) Martin (-6)

The recent changing of the guard in regards to the CEO position may be the strongest indicator yet that President Mike Helton may leave his post to head DEI, according to the LTN Hour. Some drivers continue to find work. Jeff Green will drive the #43 for Petty Enterprises in races where Christian Fittipaldi has already been assigned the #44. Green also finds a Busch Series ride as will be in the #48, replacing Shane Hmiel who was fired as well as suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating the substance abuse policy.


DOVER PREVIEW

Ryan Newman has finished in the top-ten all three times here, including a win in June. Meanwhile Jimmie Johnson looks to rebound from an early exit in the spring after sweeping both 2002 races at Dover. Matt Kenseth has never led a lap here while Kevin Harvick has finished outside the top-25 in his last three Dover outings. Looking for a dark horse??? Try Jeff Burton who had a finishing average of 4.5 last year despite a qualifying Then there is Junior�s memorable win from two years ago along with Tony Stewart and his 4.44 finishing average. So will it be JJ with back to back wins or Newman taking #7 on the white asphalt of Dover.

Qualifying was scrapped this week, so the field is set on points.