Truex Jr wins Nextel Open

Truex Jr achieved the first victory of the year for DEI, closely followed by Johnny Sauter, who had the fastest car on the track in the decisive second 20-lap period of the race.

"I had an awesome race car," Truex Jr said after the race. "We've had an up and down kind of year, and this is the kind of thing we needed to turn it around. So I'm real happy and man, going to race for that million bucks is a lot of fun."

Sauter will also race in the All-Star Challenge thanks to his second place, as the top two finishers from the Nextel Open advance into the main event - as does Kenny Wallace, who was selected by the fans through the Nextel Fan Vote to complete the 21-car field.

Edwards, who had started from pole, led all the way through the first 20-lap period and looked as the man to beat for most of the night. However, his car lost grip in the front end and he was unable to hold on to first place, eventually finishing third.

"That's the tightest race car I've ever had," said Edwards. "We tried some stuff on it, and it did not work. It's just so frustrating having a lead like that and then have the car get so tight, but that's the way it goes."

Juan Pablo Montoya had a very short evening after crashing on the first lap while trying to get fourth place. The Colombian overtook Dave Blaney for fourth at the start and then got loose into Turn 1, hitting David Gilliland's car and then hitting the wall.

He then bounced off the wall to crash with Joe Nemechek and Jon Wood. Paul Menard was also out of the race on the spot after spinning behind Montoya, while Scott Riggs and AJ Allmendinger had damage inflicted to their cars during the incident.

"We just got really loose," said a disappointed Montoya after leaving the Medical center. "I went to the bottom of the race-track, had a great start, and when I went to pick up the gas it just stepped out."

David Ragan, who ran second in the first half of the race, spun on the restart for the second period, crashing into the wall. Elliot Sadler also hit the wall, while Reed Sorenson retired with damage to the front-end of his car.

Mike Bliss and Boris Said were also involved in an incident in the first twenty laps, which provided only eight laps under the green flag.

Pos  Driver            Make        Laps
 1.  Martin Truex Jr   Chevrolet   40
 2.  Johnny Sauter     Chevrolet   40
 3.  Carl Edwards      Ford        40
 4.  Dave Blaney       Toyota      40
 5.  Ricky Rudd        Ford        40
 6.  Clint Bowyer      Chevrolet   40
 7.  Sterling Marlin   Chevrolet   40
 8.  Jeremy Mayfield   Toyota      40
 9.  Tony Raines       Chevrolet   40
10.  Jamie McMurray    Ford        40
11.  David Stremme     Dodge       40
12.  Jeff Green        Chevrolet   40
13.  JJ Yeley          Chevrolet   40
14.  Kyle Petty        Dodge       40
15.  AJ Allmendinger   Toyota      40
16.  Robby Gordon      Ford        40
17.  Ward Burton       Chevrolet   40
18.  Kenny Wallace     Chevrolet   40
19.  Kevin Lepage      Dodge       40
20.  Michael Waltrip   Toyota      38
21.  David Reutimann   Toyota      33
22.  David Ragan       Ford        20
23.  Reed Sorenson     Dodge       20
24.  Elliott Sadler    Dodge       20
25.  Mike Bliss        Dodge        9
26.  Boris Said        Dodge        9
27.  Scott Riggs       Dodge        2
28.  David Gilliland   Ford         0
29.  Juan Montoya      Dodge        0
30.  Paul Menard       Chevrolet    0
31.  Joe Nemechek      Chevrolet    0
32.  Jon Wood          Ford         0