Jimmie Johnson

Carl Edwards finished right behind Johnson. Edwards thought he could catch Johnson right up until the last second. "I thought he was going to be a sittin' duck. I even said to Bob on the radio, I feel like it's me and Kyle racin' for the win here," said Edwards. He had to settle for second.

Kyle Busch came in right behind Edwards. Busch admits he put himself at a disadvantage on the final run. "Trying a little bit too hard, gettin' up into the gray and gettin' lose and hittin' the fence and knocking the aerodynamics out of the car," said Busch.

Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. The fifth place finish for Earnhardt keeps him in contention for the final spot in the Chase.

Ricky Rudd

In his years in the sport, Rudd has seen a lot of change, including drivers entering NASCAR's major league at a younger age. "I'll says this, that there's been no better time in the history of racing where a young guy gets a chance to sort of prove himself," said Rudd. A strong driver development program is one reason this is happening. "And by the time they get to Cup, they're pretty prepared. Years ago they didn't get a chance to see the big tracks until their first opportunity to show up in a Busch car."

He believes each class of Cup rookies will get young and more talented, but there is a challenge they all face. "Not only do they have to learn how to drive the race cars and race tracks and how do they handle the media, there's a lot of things on their shoulders."