Notebook: Truex's finish sets tone for run at Cup

LOUDON, N.H. -- Martin Truex Jr. and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. crew chief, Kevin "Bono" Manion, know the difference between Nextel Cup and the Busch Series. But after the pair -- who posted consecutive Busch championships in 2004-2005 -- posted a fifth-place finish in their first Chase for the Nextel Cup start on Sunday, they know they're a good fit in this playoff.

"We have a legitimate shot, just like 11 other folks out there," Manion said. "Back in the [Busch] championship days, each year we were racing one team -- Kyle [Busch] and Lance [McGrew, crew chief] and then Clint [Bowyer] and Gil [Martin, crew chief]. So you've got 11 other teams to play attention to here.

Lap-by-Lap

Clint Bowyer started from the pole at NHIS, relinquished the lead at only brief intervals and cruised to his first Nextel Cup victory in the Sylvania 300.

• Lap-by-Lap, click here
• Race Video, click here

"It's just fun, it's exciting, it's nerve-wracking -- you don't sleep, you don't eat, you eat too much, you get sick. It's endless nights and you get all kind of emotions. But there isn't a place I'd rather be than racing at the racetrack with this group of guys and this team -- except maybe a deer stand somewhere hunting.

"It's a great team and a great place to work and I'm really looking forward to the nine [races] we have left. Getting in [to the Chase] was a relief, but I guess getting the first race in and getting a top-five is pretty damned big for us. We worked hard all day and lost our track position early and often, but we worked on the car and got it back as good as it was [in the summer, when Truex finished third].

"So I was excited that we got the racecar back to a drivable condition, that Martin enjoyed to drive, and he could pass cars. Going up and passing that 48 [Jimmie Johnson] with a handful of laps left -- that 48, he's one of the best, so passing him was pretty cool for us, and Martin."

Manion echoed Truex's comments on Friday, when the driver commented on the advice his friend and DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., had given about competing in the Chase.

"He just told me to enjoy it and have fun -- you've worked all your life for it and to just make sure you have a good time," Truex said. "I don't think that's going to be a problem for us and our bunch. We love racing and enjoy coming to the racetrack -- this is what we love to do.

"We just feel blessed to be in the Chase and to have all the success we've had this year. We just hope to keep it going and have a great last 10 races."

"I'm really happy for our team, but even moreso I'm happy for [race winner] Clint [Bowyer] and the 07 guys," Manion said. "They edged us out for the pole and we raced them guys for a [Busch] championship and they're a good group of racers and a good group of guys -- and I'm really happy for 'em."

Tough customers
Tony Stewart must've had one of those looks on his face when he was asked what he thought about being beaten Sunday by two other Chase contenders.

"That's why they got in the Chase," Stewart said. "It doesn't take much rocket science to figure out why they're all there. The top seven [finishing] drivers are all Chase drivers. It doesn't take much to figure out why and how they all got here."

Tough customers, Part II
NASCAR history was made Sunday, according to sanctioning body officials, when all 43 cars in the starting field were running at the conclusion of the Sylvania 300 -- the first time it's happened, they said, since 43-car fields came into weekly use in 1998. (Continued)