Top Drivers Done In By Early Accident

DOVER, Del. - Tony Stewart stood with a hand on his hip, looking grim faced as his crew worked on the No. 20. Kevin Harvick folded his arms and could only watch the rest of the field speed around the track.

Both drivers were helpless in the garage after a massive wreck only 17 laps into the race at Dover International Speedway wiped out five of the top-12 cars in the points standings.

Denny Hamlin was knocked out of the race, and Stewart, Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer all had their cars towed to the garage and missed laps.

"I can't really says it's anybody's fault right there," Hamlin said Sunday. "It's just tough racing."

Kasey Kahne's car also was damaged in the accident and he finished 31st.

Elliott Sadler was turned into the wall and went spinning down the concrete track after he made contact with David Gilliland. There was nowhere for the other cars to go.

"We just tried to survive," Kahne said. "It's very tough to go fast when these cars are perfect and impossible if you have any type of damage to them."

The race was red flagged on Lap 22. The Monster Mile became a Monster Mess.

"It was just a complete roadblock," Hamlin said. "I had to just choose who I was going to hit."

Stewart got the No. 20 Toyota back on the track 113 laps later and finished 41st. Harvick also returned - without the hood and the setup entirely out of whack - and finished 34th.

The damage continued in the points standings. Hamlin fell five spots from fourth to ninth, and Bowyer, Harvick and Stewart all dropped three spots. Kahne remained stuck in the 12th and final position to make the Chase for the Cup title.

This was the second straight race Stewart was the victim of bad luck. He had victory in sight in the Coca-Cola 600 until a flat tire with three laps left cost him his shot at the victory.

"Unfortunately, adversity is our motto here at Joe Gibbs Racing," Stewart said.

ALLISON HONORED: Former Cup champion Bobby Allison was honored this weekend at Dover International Speedway for overall career success at the concrete track. He was the first driver to receive a special recognition plaque on the new Monster Monument at Victory Plaza.

Richard Petty will be honored at the September race. Both drivers won seven times at Dover.

Allison said he wished he could have driven on the track both after the surface was changed to concrete and the length was shaved from 500 miles to 400.

"There were a few times at this racetrack where I was going along somewhere just past halfway, been racing seemed like half a day and my tongue would be hanging out like a red necktie," he said. "I'd look up at the scoreboard and there were still 200 laps to go."

The Associated Press