Category: Race Central

Kevin Harvick swept the weekend at Kansas Speedway and won the caution filled Hollywood Casino 400 from the pole. The victory was Harvick’s 22nd career victory and his third victory in 2013. This is his first victory at Kansas Speedway.  “It was an interesting weekend with everyone battling tires and the track. It was like driving on a razor blade and I said we have to find consistency. It was like driving two different cars – one out front and no one else even close and a different one back in traffic,” said Harvick.

After having to go to a back up car and starting in the rear, Kurt Busch came back to take second. Busch would have an exchange with third place finisher Jeff Gordon. Both competitors discussed the situation and came away with an understanding of the situation according to Jeff Gordon. Busch said, ” Today is a small victory in my own mind. This was the last track I needed a top-5 at and we got that today.”

Third place finisher Jeff Gordon said, “We had a great car all day. These surfaces are too smooth. It doesn’t dissipate the heat. Goodyear is at the mercy of the track. But to me it’s the surface. We are paving these tracks like we pave new highway and this isn’t a highway, it’s a racetrack.”

Tires were the story of the day. With the new tire cording and blistering, the race teams struggled to find consistency and grip on the newly repaved racetrack.

Kyle Busch’s curse at Kansas continued. Busch who started in the rear in a backup car was wrecked three times in one race. Busch commented, “The race track is the worst race track I’ve ever driven on. The tires are the worst tires I’ve ever driven on and track position is everything. You can’t do anything unless you’re out front. You get back in traffic — Kevin Harvick couldn’t pass me — he led the first 80 laps of the race, so I’d say it’s pretty pathetic.”

The race had 15 cautions for 71 laps and there were 24 lead changes among 12 drivers. Harvick crossed the start finish line 1.140 seconds ahead of Kurt Busch.

Matt Kenseth took the points lead over Jimmie Johnson, who finished the race on 7 cylinders.

Finish Order:
1) Kevin Harvick 2) Kurt Busch 3) Jeff Gordon 4) Joey Logano 5) Carl Edwards 6) Jimmie Johnson 7) Paul Menard 8) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 9) Marcos Ambrose 10) Aric Almirola 11) Matt Kenseth 12) Jeff Burton 13) Greg Biffle 14) Clint Bowyer 15) Kasey Kahne 16) Jamie McMurray 17) Brad Keselowski 18) Juan Pablo Montoya 19) Martin Truex Jr. 20) A.J. Allmendinger 21) Casey Mears 22) Mark Martin 23) Denny Hamlin 24) David Gilliland 25) Dave Blaney 26) Travis Kvapil 27) JJ Yeley 28) Timmy Hill 29) Tony Raines 30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr 31) Cole Whitt 32) Brian Vickers 33) Landon Cassill 24) Kyle Busch 35) Ryan Newman 36) David Ragan 37) David Reutimann 38) Michael McDowell 39) Justin Allgaier 40) Josh Wise 41) Joe Nemechek 42) Reed Sorenson 43) Danica Patrick

Chase Points Following Kansas:
1) Matt Kenseth                       2183
2) Jimmie Johnson                      2180
3) Kevin Harvick                          2158
4) Jeff Gordon                              2151
5) Kyle Busch                               2148
6) Greg Biffle                                2139
7) Kurt Busch                               2136
8) Dale Earnhardt Jr                     2129
9) Clint Bowyer                            2128
10) Joey Logano                           2124
11) Carl Edwards                         2123
12) Ryan Newman                       2110
13) Kasey Kahne                          2100

As the sun went down over the Kansas Speedway qualifying for the fourth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series began. Kevin Harvick would take the pole with a lap of 28.796 seconds or 187.526 mph.

The stories of the day were varied although the action was pretty calm with drivers fighting the new tires brought to the track by Goodyear. They included a scare for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team when a spin and a puff of smoke took Johnson to the garage and the attention of Chad Knaus.

Mark Martin and Tony Stewart’s Bass Pro Shops number 14 team struggled to find the handle and speed. Clint Bowyer searched in vain for speed.

But there were good stories too, Ricky Stenhouse Jr would take the outside pole. Denny Hamlin would break through with a tenth place starting spot. Hometown boy Carl Edwards would take home ninth.

The pole position was Harvick’s first in 254 races. “When you when that few poles you can remember what happens to you on that day. The car was really fast right off the truck. We went back to where we started and we had a really good qualifying run.”

Starting Order for the Hollywood Casino 400: 1) Kevin Harvick 2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3) Jimmie Johnson 4) Brad Keselowski 5) Joey Logano 6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7) Matt Kenseth 8) Paul Menard 9) Carl Edwards 10) Denny Hamlin 11) Brian Vickers 12) Juan Pablo Montoya 13) Martin Truex Jr. 14) Jeff Gordon 15) Kasey Kahne 16) Jeff Burton 17) Ryan Newman 18) Kyle Busch 19) Kurt Busch 20) Aric Almirola 21) Justin Allgaier 22) Clint Bowyer 23) Mark Martin 24) Jamie McMurray 25) Marcos Ambrose 26) Greg Biffle 27) David Reutimann 28) A.J. Allmendinger 29) Danica Patrick 30) Cole Whitt 31) Michael McDowell 32) David Ragan 33) J.J. Yeley 34) David Gilliland 35) Timmy Hill 36) Travis Kvapil 37) Casey Mears 38) Josh Wise 39) Joe Nemecheck 40) Reed Sorenson 41) Dave Blaney 42) Tony Raines 43) Landon Cassill

DOVER, Del. – Jimmie Johnson has already written a few pages in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history book and Sunday afternoon at Dover in the AAA 400 he added one more.

Johnson won for the eighth time at the Monster Mile to take first place on the all-time win’s list, breaking a tie with Bobby Allison and Richard Petty. It was Johnson’s fifth win of the season, his first since Daytona in July, and 65th of his career. He held off a hard charging and hungry teammate in Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Two [tires] worked good for us in practice. And believe me; I wanted to see four tires line up in the fourth or fifth row. When they lined up right behind me, I thought I was going to have my hands full,” Johnson said about the series of events. “And I really did. Junior drove a whale of a race and track position really gave me the advantage I needed to hold him off.”

Earnhardt Jr. started the day on the pole and led 77 laps but didn’t have enough for Johnson at the end. Even after lining up first among those off pit road with four tires on the final pit stop. Johnson led a race high 243 of 400 laps to clinch the record.

“It’s incredible. To do anything that Bobby or Richard has done is quite an accomplishment,” Johnson said. “We’ve a few sneak away from us here, too, over the years. I’m just so happy to get that done and be the sole leader of race wins here. It’s a very special day.”

The win also moved Johnson to second in points, only eight markers behind Matt Kenseth who finished seventh. Kenseth led early as he looked for his third straight win to open the Chase but lost the handling of his car late. The same affected his teammate, Kyle Busch, who finished fifth and slipped to third in points.

There were only four cautions on the day – three for debris and one for fluid from Brad Keselowski’s car – which allowed for long green flag runs and green flag pit stops. Earnhardt Jr. missed pit road during one and came in slow on another, costing him plenty of time on track both occasions. He overcame those problems for second place but found no solace in it afterwards.

“I’ll be honest with you, it sucks to lose regardless of who wins. It’s probably harder to run second than it is fifth or tenth,” he said afterwards. “When you have a car like we had today, you don’t get good cars every week, you like to capitalize.”

Joey Logano finished third and Jeff Gordon fourth to move to fifth in points and tied with Kevin Harvick.

The NSCS heads to Kansas next weekend where Kenseth won earlier this season. Seven races remain in the NSCS season.