Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move: Richmond

Pit strategy was all the rage before the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, but in the end, it didn't matter much.

It was a no-brainer, but Tony Stewart kept his top-10 streak alive by coming in and getting four tires with just 54 laps to go.

Credit: Autostock

Results Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Pos. Driver Make 1. Kurt Busch Ford 2. Matt Kenseth Ford 3. Greg Biffle Ford 4. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 5. Rusty Wallace Dodge Complete results, click here Standings, click here Victory LaneKurt Busch celebrates his win at Richmond Bubble troubleEdwards gets wrecked and McMurray's day ends No drive for fiveJeff Gordon's ill-handling car gets knocked into the wall Bubble burst?Chase bubble driver Elliott Sadler spins on Lap 115 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Stewart ran in the top five for much of the night, but his next-to-last set of tires made his car handle erratically, so he pitted when the yellow flew on Lap 346.

Stewart gained seven spots on the new tires, and his seventh-place finish was his 12th top-10 in a row. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli is one of the best on pit road at fixing in-race problems, which will make Stewart tough to beat down the stretch.

Marked improvement for Busch's team

Kurt Busch's pit crew cost him the victory earlier this year at Las Vegas, but they have gotten stronger and stronger every week.

The team had outstanding stops at Richmond, and crew chief Jimmy Fennig successfully worked around damage Busch's Ford suffered just before mid-race.

Kahne gets much-needed boost

Crew chief Tommy Baldwin got Kasey Kahne a second straight top-10 largely because they elected to stay out on old tires when the caution flew on Lap 311.

As always, clean air meant a lot at Richmond, and Kahne was able to lead until Lap 320. Even though the car got way too tight, Kahne hung on and wound up eighth.

It was just the second time this season Kahne had scored back-to-back top-10s.

"We're working on being consistently in the top 10, top 12 and getting ready for next year's Chase," Kahne said. "We need the make the Chase and one way we need to do it is to be consistent and starting running in the top 12."

The No. 11 finally gets a top-10

Pound for pound, the best call of the race was made by Mike Ford.

Ford, 35, hasn't made much noise since joining Joe Gibbs Racing's struggling No. 11 Chevy at mid-season, but the team is starting to make some small gains.

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A big step came at Richmond. Terry Labonte qualified just 39th, but he stayed on the lead lap even as Kevin Harvick was mowing down the field.

On Lap 143, Labonte was one of just three cars who elected to stay out, and the move gave Labonte the lead.

Labonte was never lower than 11th the rest of the way, and he wound up ninth, the team's best finish of the year.

Quotable

"They did such a great job on pit road. They're the reason why we're here." -- Matt Kenseth, who has moved from 21st to ninth in the standings in just 12 weeks