Ryan Newman powered by Gordon on the final restart.

I rated Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., and Jimmie Johnson 1,2,3, and they finished 2, 12, 3, respectively. Johnson had the top car until late in the race when Kyle Busch edged past him. Gordon had a good car and benefited from a late caution. Junior had a decent car but developed a problem with his splitter, which caused him to fall back in the field and eventually come in for pit-road repairs. The fact he climbed back to finish 12th suggests his car was strong at the end, too.

I figured Ryan Newman would be strong, and he had a top-10 car most of the day. And he then capitalized on that late caution to power past Gordon for the win on the restart.

Kyle Busch was the surprise of the day for me. He had the best car at the end, but was foiled by the late caution that threw the race into the pits and the semi-lottery that is a green-white-checkered finish.

My Yahoo! Fantasy Picks
Group A
Johnson took 3rd, woo hoo!

Group B
Newman won, woo hoo!

I also started Jeff Burton. It looked as if he had at least a top-15 car, but a pit-road penalty put him a lap down and he never recovered, finishing 25th.

Group C
A.J. Allmendinger brought home a solid finish (15th). I thought he’d be a little stronger, but I’ll take it.

On to Texas!