Rusty Wallace crashed late, all but ending any shot of him making the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Credit: Autostock

Penske mates fall short after dominating day

LOUDON, N.H. -- Penske Racing took a punch to the midsection at the end of Sunday's Siemens 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The team went from a situation with less than 80 laps remaining having Ryan Newman's potential winning car and Rusty Wallace's Dodge, which ran in the top-10 all day, poised to excel.

Newman led the most laps, 187 of 300, but slipped to third at the finish behind winner Kurt Busch and second man Jeff Gordon.

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Wallace started eighth and never fell lower than 11th before he got booted coming out of Turn 4 on lap 294 by Dale Jarrett.

Wallace spun, nosed into the outside wall and finished 30th after making several pit stops to make repairs.

Brendan Gaughan started 29th and never made it into the top-20 in the third Penske car.

He was one driver that mentioned having problems when the braking markers attached to the outside wall on the front straightaway were removed, and he ended up 22nd.

Ryan Newman scored his first top-10 finish since his win at MIS in June. Credit: Autostock

Newman said in the end, lack of track position hurt him more than lack of adjustments on his car.

"I think our car was good, obviously, from the start," Newman said. "It paid to come up here and test for sure, but I think our car pretty much stayed the same and the 97 (Busch) and 24 (Gordon) got a little bit better.

"Once they got track position they were pretty tough to beat. I think what you saw at the end were the fastest cars. That was pretty much my day."

With the finish Newman, who won the first Cup race of his career here in 2002, maintained his 10th place in the Nextel Cup standings, which is the cutoff point in seven races for the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

VIDEO Busch wins Siemens 300 Kurt Busch focuses on taking the checkered flag at Loudon Race Reaction Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman review their top-five finishes Bumper Tag Rusty finishes 30th after being tagged by Jarrett late Heavy Contact Rudd and Craven suffer heavy damage in separate incidents Disappointment Contact with Schrader sends Truex Jr. into the wall Siemens 300 Junior runs 61 laps before handing it over to Truex Early Exit Contact with Johnson and Sadler sends Craven to the garage

Newman -- who scored his first top-10 in four races since he won at Michigan in June -- did pick up 41 points on 11th place Jeremy Mayfield, who finished 10th.

"After the last few weeks we've had it's not frustrating at all," Newman said of his finish. "To lead the most laps and come home with a top five is good for the points -- it's good for the championship playoff perspective and we'll take it and run.

"I wish we could have won, obviously. I wouldn't say we're disappointed with finishing third. We'll do all we can to come back and be better."

Wallace, unfortunately, was well on his way to his second consecutive top-10 finish at NHIS before heavy traffic and an anxious Jarrett caught him out in Turn 4.

"He (Jarrett) just got into my rear end coming off Turn 4," Wallace said. "I don't know what happened, but it was just tight racing and it was getting late in the race.

"I was looking in my rear view mirror and I was getting held up by that 8 car (Martin Truex Jr.) that was two laps down. Then the 88 (Jarrett) got into me. That was uncharacteristic of Dale, so I don't have a problem with that -- he's a good guy and I know he just made a mistake."

The biggest tragedy for Wallace is that the finish all but ends any hope he had to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Wallace came into the day 208 points out of 10th, in 17th position.

He left New Hampshire unofficially 19th in the points, but a nearly insurmountable 310 points back.

"Every single race this car is in the top 10 or top five and something goofy happens," Wallace said. "That's the most stupid thing I've ever seen. I like Dale a lot -- he just made a mistake."