View From The Flagstand: Kurtster Beats Monster

Kurt Busch jumped out front on a late restart and was never challenged as he motored to the win on Dover's Monster Mile. The third race of the 2011 Chase continued the proof that last year's exciting Chase races were a fluke wrapped in an anomaly, as, even without it being a fuel mileage snoozer, there was no sense of urgency among the Chasers.

CHECKERED FLAG

How sweet it is! Busch had to enjoy beating his chief rival, Jimmie Johnson. Especially after hole shotting JJ on that last restart. Busch qualified second and the Penske Dodges have found some extra speed over the last couple of months.

GREEN FLAGS

Johnson led the most laps and went from 10th to 5th in the point standing on Sunday afternoon. Carl Edwards was third and is now tied for the points lead with Kevin Harvick. RPM drivers, AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose both had top-10 finishes.

YELLOW FLAGS

Why did the track, and, or ESPN drag out the pre-race festivities when the sky was black with rain approaching? Are they now trying to time the green flag starts with the NFL halftimes?

RED FLAG

Dale Earnhardt Jr (-34 points out of 1st) Ryan Newman (-41) and Denny Hamlin (-68). Thanks for playing The NASCAR Chase 2011! Among your parting gifts are our home version of The NASCAR Chase! and a year's supply (two cans) of Turtle Wax.

BLACK FLAG

Will someone please tell ESPN that the Lucky Dog is virtually meaningless now. They talked about it, and Tony Stewart and Dale Jr's chances of getting it, for hours on Sunday. With the "wave around rule", the Lucky Dog position is not that crucial.