JOLIET, Ill. -- An incident on the track between Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart during Sunday's Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway spilled over onto pit road.

On a restart on lap 127, Kahne led the field to the green flag, followed by Sterling Marlin and Stewart. As the field headed for Turn 1, after Stewart got by Marlin, his car appeared to tap Kahne's car from behind, spinning the No. 9 Dodge sideways into the outside wall.

Stewart went on to win the race, while Kahne was saddled with a 36th-place finish and a beat-up car.

"I got around the 40 car and got into the slot," Stewart said. "I started checking up, then he checked up. I don't know if somebody was pinching him to where he had to get out of the gas, if he missed a shift or what.

"I was right on his butt but all of a sudden he checked up and I don't know what happened. But that was a bad deal.

"We could have been taken out as easily as anybody. I hate it for him."

Obviously, Kahne had a completely different opinion of what happened.

"As I put it into fourth gear, my car turned right, right into the wall," Kahne said. "Obviously, (Stewart) was right in the back of me. I don't know why he did that, or what happened there.

"He had the car to beat all day. All he need to do was go through a couple of corners and he would have probably passed us."



Shortly thereafter, Kahne's crew chief, Tommy Baldwin Jr., went down to the No. 20 Chevrolet pit stall and a scuffle broke out between members of both crews, with several crewmen ending up being knocked to the concrete. As Nextel Cup officials attempted to separate the combatants, Baldwin was led away, his face crimson and his shirt unbuttoned.

At least seven other cars including John Andretti, Dave Blaney, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Scott Riggs and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were involved. Blaney and Kahne were seen and released from the infield medical center.

Gordon was able to recover and finish fourth while Andretti was 16th.

Burton was solidly in the top 10 when the incident occurred. He wound up 33rd, 70 laps down.

"All I saw was the 9 car sitting sideways," Burton said. "Obviously, someone got into him or something, and there was just nowhere to go."

"I had it pretty much cleared. The guys behind me didn't get slowed down. They didn't do anything wrong, behind me, it's just one of those big wrecks."

NASCAR.com

redriderbob

 

Here is how they finished...

1 10 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 190/10 267 Running
2 3 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 175/5 267 Running
3 29 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 165/0 267 Running
4 1 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 165/5 267 Running
5 19 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 160/5 267 Running
6 24 #5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Kellogg's 155/5 267 Running
7 32 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 151/5 267 Running
8 9 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet USG Sheetrock 142/0 267 Running
9 39 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 138/0 267 Running
10 17 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 134/0 267 Running
11 20 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 130/0 267 Running
12 26 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 132/5 267 Running
13 14 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 124/0 267 Running
14 4 #25 Brian Vickers * Chevrolet GMAC Financial Services 121/0 267 Running
15 12 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 118/0 267 Running
16 31 #1 John Andretti Chevrolet Kraft Foods 115/0 267 Running
17 23 #31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 117/5 267 Running
18 11 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Wellbutrin XL 114/5 267 Running
19 22 #0 Ward Burton Chevrolet NetZero HiSpeed 106/0 267 Running
20 5 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 103/0 267 Running
21 13 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 100/0 267 Running
22 25 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 97/0 267 Running
23 40 #22 Scott Wimmer * Dodge Caterpillar 94/0 267 Running
24 18 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 96/5 265 Running
25 34 #4 Jimmy Spencer Chevrolet Wide Open Energy Drink 88/0 265 Running
26 42 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia-Pacific/Brawny 85/0 265 Running
27 41 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Red Baron Frozen Pizza 82/0 263 Running
28 38 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories 79/0 248 Off Track
29 16 #10 Scott Riggs * Chevrolet Valvoline 76/0 245 Running
30 15 #77 Brendan Gaughan * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 73/0 240 Running
31 7 #180 Mike Bliss Chevrolet ConAgra/Slim Jim 70/0 205 Off Track
32 30 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft/U.S. Air Force 67/0 204 Running
33 6 #99 Jeff Burton Ford Comcast 64/0 197 Running
34 8 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 61/0 166 Off Track
35 21 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools 58/0 151 Running
36 2 #9 Kasey Kahne * Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 60/5 136 Off Track
37 36 #30 Dave Blaney Chevrolet America Online 57/5 129 Out of Race
38 35 #32 Ricky Craven Chevrolet Tide 49/0 116 Out of Race
39 43 #50 PJ Jones Dodge Arnold Development Companies 46/0 108 Off Track
40 33 #02 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet SCORE Motorsports 43/0 103 Out of Race
41 28 #09 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Dodge Phoenix Racing 40/0 86 Out of Race
42 27 #251 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet NegotiationsSeminar.com 42/5 34 Out of Race
43 37 #137 Chad Blount Dodge Carter's Royal Dispos-all 34/0 3 Out of Race

* Denotes Rookie

redriderbob

 

Points:

1 -- Jimmie Johnson 2720 Leader 18 3 13 14
2 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2615 -105 18 3 9 12
3 -- Jeff Gordon 2478 -242 18 4 7 13
4 -- Tony Stewart 2393 -327 18 1 6 9
5 -- Matt Kenseth 2321 -399 18 2 6 10
6 -- Bobby Labonte 2278 -442 18 0 5 9
7 +1 Elliott Sadler 2252 -468 18 1 4 7
8 +2 Kevin Harvick 2229 -491 18 0 3 7
9 -2 Kurt Busch 2211 -509 18 1 3 7
10 -1 Ryan Newman 2173 -547 18 1 5 8

11 +1 Jeremy Mayfield 2108 -612 18 0 3 6
12 +3 Dale Jarrett 2083 -637 18 0 2 5
13 -- Jamie McMurray 2068 -652 18 0 4 9
14 -3 Kasey Kahne* 2044 -676 18 0 5 5
15 -1 Mark Martin 2035 -685 18 1 2 7
16 -- Casey Mears 1998 -722 18 0 0 7
17 -- Rusty Wallace 1965 -755 18 1 3 6
18 -- Michael Waltrip 1960 -760 18 0 2 7
19 +1 Sterling Marlin 1941 -779 18 0 2 5
20 -1 Brian Vickers* 1913 -807 18 0 0 3
21 -- Terry Labonte 1894 -826 18 0 0 5
22 +1 Robby Gordon 1838 -882 18 0 2 3
23 +1 Greg Biffle 1806 -914 18 0 0 1
24 -2 Jeff Burton 1795 -925 18 0 1 3
25 +1 Joe Nemechek 1763 -957 18 0 0 3
26 -1 Ward Burton 1737 -983 18 0 0 2
27 -- Scott Wimmer* 1700 -1020 18 0 1 2
28 -- Ricky Rudd 1667 -1053 18 0 0 0
29 -- Brendan Gaughan* 1581 -1139 18 0 0 1
30 -- Scott Riggs* 1517 -1203 18 0 1 1
31 -- Ricky Craven 1472 -1248 18 0 0 0
32 -- Ken Schrader 1468 -1252 18 0 0 1
33 -- Kyle Petty 1444 -1276 18 0 0 0
34 -- Jeff Green 1422 -1298 18 0 0 0
35 -- Johnny Sauter* 1217 -1503 13 0 0 0
36 -- Dave Blaney 953 -1767 11 0 0 0
37 -- Jimmy Spencer 943 -1777 12 0 0 0
38 -- Derrike Cope 841 -1879 13 0 0 0
39 -- Kevin Lepage 582 -2138 11 0 0 0
40 -- Morgan Shepherd 502 -2218 10 0 0 0
41 +2 John Andretti 460 -2260 5 0 0 0
42 -1 Kirk Shelmerdine 397 -2323 10 0 0 0
43 -1 Todd Bodine 350 -2370 8 0 0 0
44 +1 Hermie Sadler 315 -2405 6 0 0 0
45 +2 PJ Jones 282 -2438 4 0 0 0
46 -2 Bill Elliott 272 -2448 3 0 0 0
47 -1 Johnny Benson 271 -2449 4 0 0 0
48 +4 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 226 -2494 4 0 0 0
49 -1 Joe Ruttman 207 -2513 6 0 0 0
50 -1 Andy Hillenburg 206 -2514 5 0 0 0
51 -1 Larry Foyt 194 -2526 3 0 0 0
52 -1 Geoffrey Bodine 192 -2528 3 0 0 0
53 -- Stanton Barrett 184 -2536 4 0 0 0
54 -- Scott Pruett 170 -2550 1 0 1 1
55 -- Boris Said 150 -2570 1 0 0 1
56 -- Carl Long 138 -2582 3 0 0 0
57 -- Kerry Earnhardt 137 -2583 2 0 0 0
58 -- Larry Gunselman 113 -2607 2 0 0 0
59 -- Klaus Graf 112 -2608 1 0 0 0
60 -- Kyle Busch 107 -2613 2 0 0 0
61 -- Jim Inglebright 106 -2614 1 0 0 0
62 -- Mike Wallace 103 -2617 2 0 0 0
63 -- Andy Belmont 98 -2622 2 0 0 0
64 -- Mike Skinner 97 -2623 1 0 0 0
65 -- Eric McClure 90 -2630 1 0 0 0
66 -- Mike Bliss 70 -2650 1 0 0 0
67 -1 Kenny Wallace 52 -2668 1 0 0 0
68 -1 Austin Cameron 49 -2671 1 0 0 0
69 -1 Tony Raines 43 -2677 1 0 0 0
70 -1 Brandon Ash 40 -2680 1 0 0 0
71 -1 Randy LaJoie 34 -2686 1 0 0 0
72 -- Chad Blount 34 -2686 1 0 0 0
73 -2 Tom Hubert 34 -2686 1 0 0 0

* Denotes Rookie

redriderbob

 

That was CRAZY!! I couldn't believe the teams tangled like that... two officials were in the middle of it all trying to stop it, what a mess, but thrilling none the less. Glad Tony won it.

~Amanda

 

redriderbob

 

Don't forget, the points race will take on a new meaning in September!!!!![sm=smiley16.gif]

 

I wonder of Tony will be banned from NASCAR Seems his temper has gone too far I think. That's my 2 cents!

Karen

 

Tony didn't do it on purpose, Kasey couldn't drive into the turn as hard as he did... you could see Tony slowing down. I don't think he eve really hit him... maybe a tap... but I think the pit crews are going to get in more trouble then the drivers this time...

~Amanda

 

I wasn't able to actually see it but someone told me they were debating if it was on purpose or not...it's hard to tell but I can imagine the huge trouble the crews will be in...Seems like NASCAR is turning into a demo derby these days with more fights and all. oh so sad!

Karen

 

nascar chevy cup has just gotten to be too much. i watch nascar for racing, not to watch demo derby. if i wanted to watch this CRAP, id watch days of thunder. cheatin kenseth and harvick should have both been HEAVILY fined and suspended for their little game of tag a few weeks ago, and this isn the first time tony "didnt check up". he went out of his way to spin gordon a few years back on pit row, and while i dont care what happens to either of those 2 morons, there is the inherent risk of hurting someone who isnt involved, like pit crew members..in the mid 90s...failing to check up was called intentionally wrecking someone, which is supposed to be grounds for a black flag. if it were to be one of nascars golden boys, say Jr, who was spun out today, by someone who nascar doesnt are about, say joe nemecheck, im sure there would have been a big to-do, but since its kahne, in a dodge, nascar doesnt give a damn. i think evernham should have told mayfield that when tony went around him with 17 left, and thers no way jeremy can hang with him, Spin him into the wall. not just around, but make sure its in a turn to end his race. tony isnt concerned about others well being, so why should anyone be concerned about his. maybe its time that sterling gives stewart a little piece of the wall love that he gave dale sr.

AND...when there was a late caution, they amde a point of saying that all of the rear-runners came in except for robby gordon..and i thought..."that no talent piece of trash doesnt need fresh tires to spin people"...and what did he do right after the next restart??

he spun jeff green...he just drove right up into him, and the announcers made a big joke about "thats his way of saying im running for position, now get out of my way"...and i find very little humor in that. nascar needs to start policing this series before it ends up becoming WWF in cars.
IMO.