Dixon came in with an 11-3 career edge over Russell, 4-1 in final rounds. To add to that, his crew chief, Dick LaHaie, was undefeated in final rounds at this race, both as a crew chief and as a driver. Chalk up another one for Dixon and LaHaie, Russell up in smoke as soon as he hit the throttle. That makes Dixon the only driver to win this even three years in a row and extends his points lead over Doug Kalitta to 268 points.