Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Kyle Larson Wins in a Dash to the Finish at Rockingham Speedway

    Kyle Larson Wins in a Dash to the Finish at Rockingham Speedway

    Kyle Larson held off a hard charging Joey Logano to capture the win at the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock Sunday afternoon. This was his first NASCAR national series win in five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and his first top-ten finish in 2013. Larson currently drives full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Larson was dominant all afternoon, leading 187 laps, but the biggest threat came in the last 25 laps of the race.

    Logano had dropped to 18th after he had to pit under green to fix loose lug nuts. But a caution on lap 180 gave Logano the lucky break he needed to make a final pit stop and put on four fresh tires. He methodically made his way to the front and was in second place when the last caution fell.

    “I was passing a ton of cars on the newer tires,” Logano said. “That’s Rockingham for you. That’s what makes this race track so cool, because you can play a strategy like that. When we got the last caution, I thought it was playing out perfect for us.”

    Larson was apprehensive, but determined.

    “I was pretty nervous on that last restart because Joey was on a lot newer tires than me, and I’m not normally the best on restarts.”

    It was the veteran Logano, however, who made the mistake on the green-white-checkered start.

    “I just got beat. I spun my tires, so it was all my fault. I was so mad at myself. I felt like we should have won this race. We might not have had the truck to win, but we had the strategy to win.”

    Larson was all smiles after the race.

    “It was a great day,” he said. “We didn’t make any changes to the truck; it was perfect from the start. It was a lot of fun today.”

    Joey Logano finished in second place. Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Sauter and Chase Elliot rounded out the top five.

    Johnny Sauter remains the unofficial points leader. Jeb Burton is 16 points behind in second place. Matt Crafton is third followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. in fourth and Ryan Blaney in fifth.

    Hornaday met with NASCAR after the race and may face further sanctions for wrecking Darrell Wallace Jr. under caution during the final laps of the race.

    Wallace finished a disappointing 27th.  Hornaday was penalized at the time of the incident for aggressive driving and sent to the rear of the field. He finished the race in 15th place.

    Unofficial Race Results
    N.C. Edu. Lottery 200 at The Rock
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=3
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 30 Kyle Larson(i) Chevrolet 0
    2 7 19 Joey Logano(i) Ford 0
    3 9 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 41
    4 11 98 Johnny Sauter Toyota 41
    5 4 94 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 39
    6 5 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 38
    7 1 4 Jeb Burton # Chevrolet 37
    8 6 29 Ryan Blaney # Ford 36
    9 36 51 Erik Jones # Toyota 35
    10 18 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 34
    11 26 7 John Wes Townley Toyota 33
    12 14 3 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 32
    13 17 18 Joey Coulter Toyota 31
    14 2 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 31
    15 16 9 Ron Hornaday Jr. Chevrolet 29
    16 15 8 Max Gresham Chevrolet 28
    17 8 60 Dakoda Armstrong Chevrolet 27
    18 30 5 Tim George Jr. Ford 26
    19 23 77 German Quiroga # Toyota 25
    20 25 81 David Starr Toyota 24
    21 24 14 Brennan Newberry # Chevrolet 23
    22 12 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 22
    23 31 99 Bryan Silas Ford 21
    24 22 6 Tyler Young Chevrolet 20
    25 28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 19
    26 20 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 18
    27 10 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Toyota 17
    28 32 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 16
    29 21 75 Caleb Holman Chevrolet 15
    30 13 52 Tyler Reddick Toyota 14
    31 34 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb 13
    32 19 13 Todd Bodine Toyota 12
    33 35 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 11
    34 29 93 Chris Jones Chevrolet 10
    35 27 27 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 9
    36 33 84 Mike Harmon(i) Ford 0
  • Larson holds off Logano and wins at The Rock

    Larson holds off Logano and wins at The Rock

    Kyle Larson held off Joey Logano on the final green-white-checkered restart in Sunday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Rockingham Speedway and captured his first victory in just five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) races.

    Logano who was battling back from being a lap down early in the race due to a loose wheel, restarted in 18th place and diced his way through the field.  Logano was gaining on Larson as the laps were winding down.  But contact between Timothy Peters and Ryan Sieg brought out the final caution flag of the day with two laps remaining.

    With fresher tires and more experience, Logano looked to be in the drivers seat when the race restarted.  But Larson got a great restart as Logano spun his tires and pulled out to a two car length lead.  The lead was just enough to hold off Logano for the final two laps.

    “I’m usually not the best on restarts, so I was surprised I got that good of a start.” Larson said.

    “I just got beat. I was waiting for him to do something on the restart and he didn’t do what I expected him to do.” Logano said. ”I spun my tires and cost these guys the race.”

    Logano finished second, Brendan Gaughan third, Johnny Sauter fourth and Chase Elliott finished fifth.

    “It was fun as always — probably one of the best race tracks we go to all year.  I can’t thank Andy Hillenburg (track president) enough and everybody.  Our Carolina Nut Company/Curb Records Toyota was really, really strong.” Sauter said.

    During the final caution flag, Ron Hornaday Jr. spun out Darrell Wallace Jr.  Wallace’s car suffered heavy damage and was taken to the garage.  Hornaday Jr. was sent to the end of the longest line.

    “He just flat out wrecked us.  It’s unfortunate!  It was fun, we just couldn’t hit it all weekend.  Put it up to the top with that last restart and we were making up some ground.  Got to him and he wasn’t going to give me the top so I knew what to do.  I had to take his line away.  I didn’t put him in the fence or anything and he just pulls that bonehead move.” Wallace Jr. said.

    Hornaday Jr. was asked by NASCAR to meet with them after the race to discuss wrecking Wallace Jr. under caution.

    “I didn’t know the yellow was out and I got down in there and started racing on the back straightaway, and he slowed up and then I run into him a little bit.  But down the back, I went over to the other side and I don’t know if he hit his brakes on me or whatever, but I turned him in the fence and I feel like a total idiot.” Hornaday Jr. said.

    Johnny Sauter leads the point standings by 16 points over rookie Jeb Burton who finished seventh.

    Unofficial Race Results
    N.C. Edu. Lottery 200 at The Rock
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=3
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 3 30 Kyle Larson(i) Chevrolet 0
    2 7 19 Joey Logano(i) Ford 0
    3 9 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 41
    4 11 98 Johnny Sauter Toyota 41
    5 4 94 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 39
    6 5 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 38
    7 1 4 Jeb Burton # Chevrolet 37
    8 6 29 Ryan Blaney # Ford 36
    9 36 51 Erik Jones # Toyota 35
    10 18 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 34
    11 26 7 John Wes Townley Toyota 33
    12 14 3 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 32
    13 17 18 Joey Coulter Toyota 31
    14 2 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 31
    15 16 9 Ron Hornaday Jr. Chevrolet 29
    16 15 8 Max Gresham Chevrolet 28
    17 8 60 Dakoda Armstrong Chevrolet 27
    18 30 5 Tim George Jr. Ford 26
    19 23 77 German Quiroga # Toyota 25
    20 25 81 David Starr Toyota 24
    21 24 14 Brennan Newberry # Chevrolet 23
    22 12 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 22
    23 31 99 Bryan Silas Ford 21
    24 22 6 Tyler Young Chevrolet 20
    25 28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 19
    26 20 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 18
    27 10 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Toyota 17
    28 32 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 16
    29 21 75 Caleb Holman Chevrolet 15
    30 13 52 Tyler Reddick Toyota 14
    31 34 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb 13
    32 19 13 Todd Bodine Toyota 12
    33 35 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 11
    34 29 93 Chris Jones Chevrolet 10
    35 27 27 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 9
    36 33 84 Mike Harmon(i) Ford 0
  • Jeb Burton Wins the Pole and Sets New Track Record at Rockingham Speedway

    Jeb Burton Wins the Pole and Sets New Track Record at Rockingham Speedway

    Jeb Burton continues the momentum at Rockingham Speedway by winning the Keystone 21 Means 21 Pole Award in today’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. This is his second consecutive pole and also set a new track record with a speed of 146.909 mph in the No. 4 Arrowhead Chevrolet.

    This is the same truck that Kasey Kahne drove to victory last year in the inaugural North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

    James Buescher will start on the outside pole.  Last spring, he finished the race in second place and is hoping to capture his fifth win today.

    Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Matt Crafton complete the top five in the starting lineup.

    Today’s race will be Crafton’s 297th consecutive start and will replace a record previously held by Terry Cook.

    Ryan Blaney will begin the race from the sixth position, followed by Joey Logano in seventh place. Dakoda Armstrong, Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace Jr. will round out the top ten starting positions.

    The green flag will wave at 2:18 p.m. for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock when track president, Andy Hillenburg, gives the command, “Drivers, start your engines.”

    Starting Lineup
    N.C. Edu. Lottery 200 at The Rock
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/qual.php?race=3
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 4 Jeb Burton # Chevrolet 146.909 24.505
    2 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 146.58 24.56
    3 30 Kyle Larson(i) Chevrolet 146.336 24.601
    4 94 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 146.068 24.646
    5 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 145.408 24.758
    6 29 Ryan Blaney # Ford 145.191 24.795
    7 19 Joey Logano(i) Ford 145.033 24.822
    8 60 Dakoda Armstrong Chevrolet 144.66 24.886
    9 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 144.549 24.905
    10 54 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Toyota 144.532 24.908
    11 98 Johnny Sauter Toyota 144.3 24.948
    12 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 144.092 24.984
    13 52 Tyler Reddick Toyota 144.017 24.997
    14 3 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 144 25
    15 8 Max Gresham Chevrolet 143.908 25.016
    16 9 Ron Hornaday Jr. Chevrolet 143.644 25.062
    17 18 Joey Coulter Toyota 143.586 25.072
    18 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 143.581 25.073
    19 13 Todd Bodine Toyota 143.558 25.077
    20 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 143.524 25.083
    21 75 Caleb Holman Chevrolet 143.403 25.104
    22 6 Tyler Young Chevrolet 143.341 25.115
    23 77 German Quiroga # Toyota 143.329 25.117
    24 14 Brennan Newberry # Chevrolet 143.289 25.124
    25 81 David Starr Toyota 143.215 25.137
    26 7 John Wes Townley Toyota 142.823 25.206
    27 27 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 142.733 25.222
    28 92 Clay Rogers Chevrolet 142.495 25.264
    29 93 Chris Jones Chevrolet 142.445 25.273
    30 5 Tim George Jr. Ford 141.939 25.363
    31 99 Bryan Silas Ford 141.66 25.413
    32 7 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 140.603 25.604
    33 84 Mike Harmon(i) Ford 134.665 Owner Points
    34 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb 133.924 Owner Points
    35 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 130.336 Owner Points
    36 51 Erik Jones # Toyota 141.465 25.448
  • Rowdy Sweeps: Kyle Busch dominates NRA 500 for the Texas Sweep

    Rowdy Sweeps: Kyle Busch dominates NRA 500 for the Texas Sweep

    When we came to Texas Motor Speedway, we were promised a Wild Asphalt Circus by Eddie Gossage and the race on Sunday night delivered. From craziness in pre-race technical inspection with Penske Racing to a fire on pit road to sick drivers and motors to sideways cars and a dead battery, the race had something for every fan.

    In the end, it was a familiar face at the front of the field as Kyle Busch would pick up the victory in the  NRA 500 to pick up the Texas sweep as he won the Nationwide Series event on Friday night. It marks his second sweep of the year. It marks the 26th victory of his Sprint Cup Series career, his first victory at Texas though.

    “That felt good for Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller, nothing better than putting them right here,” Busch said. “Great job by Dave (Rogers). If it wasn’t for our pit crew, we wouldn’t be here. They couldn’t had done any better.”

    This victory continues Busch’s solid season to date as it marks his second victory and fifth top 10 of the season in seven races.

    “We’ve had a great start to the season and it feels good to keep this going,” Busch continued. “We had a talk over the winter, had a talk a couple weeks ago and things have just jelled nice. These things are amazing to drive – they’re fun.”

    A caution would come out for debris with 21 laps to go for debris in the fourth corner. The leaders would come down pit road and get pit road and Busch would be the first off. From there, Busch was able to hold off the field on the restart.

    If the caution hadn’t come out, it looked as though Martin Truex Jr. was going to run away with it. Instead, he finishes second for his sixth second place finish since his win at Dover and his eighth top 10 finish in 16 starts at Texas.

    “Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Truex Jr. said after the race. “Happened a couple of times to us last year too so I’m just disappointed. I knew the race was over right when we lost out of the pits. I was afraid of losing second there because he inside was so important. proud of my team.

    “We’ve had a tough season, had a great car all weekend long – a car worth winning – but finishing second is getting old.”

    Truex Jr. would fail post-race inspection as a result of being too low.

    Despite going through motor issues and at one point having his belts come loose, Carl Edwards would finish third for his eighth top 10 in 17 starts at Texas.

    “I got a great crew chief,” Edwards said, speaking of crew chief Jimmy Fennig. “He called an amazing race and he took every advantage pitting early. Then the engine started running poorly – it was tailpipes. Thought I had a tire going down with how sideways it was. Then the seatbelts – so I got them hooked back up but I lost a ton of time, but unfortunately got back up there. Third feels like a win tonight.”

    Greg Biffle would finish fourth despite having a pit road speeding penalty with about 100 laps to go.

    “I had my hands full tonight,” he said “Got a pit road penalty with a 100 to go and had to start at the tail end. Just drove it up through there. I just wished we would’ve started up there and got to race with the 18 and 56.”

    Despite issues in pre-race inspection that saw Joey Logano almost miss the start of the race, he would finish fifth. In pre-race technical inspection, Logano and Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski were asked to change the rear-end housing in both of their Fords as NASCAR didn’t like how they were hooked up. Logano’s team pushed his car out on to pit road just after the command had been given. Logano would be allowed to start, though had to start from the rear.

    “These guys dug real hard all day to get this car on the track and it was a little too close for my comfort,” Logano said. “We worked our way up and Todd Gordon did a good job keeping everybody under control. We just weren’t fast on the short run. We started fourth there and the top three guys were just gone. We have to figure out where that speed was. ”

    Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished sixth after running just outside of the top five most of the race. He holds the points lead, nine points ahead of Brad Keselowski. Aric Almirola finished seventh, followed by Brian Vickers, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman.

    Following the race, Brad Keselowski had some comments to say towards NASCAR and their inspection policy.

    “I have one good thing to thing to say and that was my team and the effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute (expletive) that’s been the last seven days in this garage area,” Keselowski said. “The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in. I’m not happy about it. I don’t have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that.

    “There’s so much stuff going on you guys have no idea, you have no (expletive) idea what’s going on. That’s not your fault. I can tell you there’s no team in this garage with the integrity of the No. 2 team. And the way we’ve been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve seen a team targeted in my life.”

    After leading the points lead just two weeks ago, it seems that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s season has ran into some problems. He started off the season well, having five straight top 10 finishes. Last week at Martinsville, the wheels fell off as they struggled with the handling. This week, Earnhardt Jr. was running third when on lap 190, he immediately turned down pit road, saying that the battery was dead. It was mentioned later that he could have just hit a switch to go over to the back-up battery.

    The issue would compound itself as he would be penalized for being too fast entering pit road. When they came back down pit road, LeTarte chose to put four tires on and take fuel. However, that is against the rule states, “Pass thru: Have the driver bring the car onto pit road and maintain pit road speed the entire length without stopping in his pitbox.”

    As a result, he would have to come down pit road a third time, putting him four laps down.  He would finish 29th.

    Earnhardt Jr.’s teammate Jeff Gordon would also run into problems, having to hit road with 28 laps to go due to a broken hub while running third at the time. He would take it behind the wall, finishing 38th.

    Bobby Labonte would exit his car under the first caution as a result of suffering a stomach bug. The team had planned to have Mike Bliss take over driving duties, however Bliss continued to drive his car. As a result, Michael McDowell would be the replacement driver, returning the car to the track after a couple of laps spent in the garage.

    Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had no success in Texas as he would have a left rear tire flat, causing him to hit Austin Dillon, before both drivers made contact with the wall. Stenhouse Jr. finished 40th with Dillon in 33rd.

    “I think we cut a left rear tire,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I got a little loose in one and two but we’d been a little loose so didn’t think any thing of it. I think we cut a left rear tire. That’s disappointing. Would’ve liked to see what the car would’ve done under the lights. Guess we’ll get back and ride around out there.”

    The other major incident of the day was with 55 laps to go when Marcos Ambrose would get hit by David Gilliland, sending Ambrose around. Behind them, Mark Martin would check up while Jeff Burton didn’t, resulting in Burton going around and hitting the wall.

    There’d be a scary moment under the lap 81 pit stops when a fire would start in Matt Kenseth’s pit, causing the gas man’s shoe to catch fire. There’d be no injuries in the incident.

  • Lap by Lap: NRA 500 won by Kyle Busch

    Lap by Lap: NRA 500 won by Kyle Busch

    Pull out your brooms as Kyle Busch would lead over 150 laps on his way to scoring the victory in the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for the weekend sweep.

     

    BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY LET’S GO RACING as Kyle Busch leads Kurt Busch off of turn two

    Lap 3 Kyle Busch leadsKu Busch Truex Johnson Almirola Edwards Ambrose Gordon Earnhardt McMuray. Truex and Johnson clear Kurt Busch for second and third.

    Lap 5 McMurray passes Earnhardt for ninth……Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Ku Busch Edwards Almirola Gordon Ambrose McMurray Earnhardt

    Lap 6 Vickers passes Earnhardt for 10th

    Lap 8 Gordon passes Almirola

    Lap 9 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Ku Busch Edwards Gordon Almirola Ambrose McMurray Vickers

    Lap 24 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Edwards Ku Busch Gordon Almirola Vickers Ambrose McMurray

    Lap 38 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Edwards Gordon Ku Busch Vickers Almirola Kenseth Ambrose. Caution for debris on the front stretch. Josh Wise gets the lucky dog. Leaders hit pit road. Ky Busch leads Johnson Truex Gordon Vickers Edwards off pit road. Bobby Labonte: “I can’t freaking make it.” Labonte has been sick with stomach bug, spent day in care center. Labonte to the garage.

    Restart lap 43 as Kyle Busch leads the field into turn one. Truex gets underneath Busch off of turn two for the lead and takes it. Caution as Stenhouse has something break and it snaps around, collecting Austin Dillon.

    Restart lap 48 Truex and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead down the backstretch. Truex with the lead off of turn four.

    Lap 52 Truex leads Ky Busch Johnson Vickers Gordon Kenseth McMurray Edwards Ambrose Ku Busch

    Lap 58 Gordon passes Vickers

    Lap 67 Keneth passes Vickers; Edwards passes McMurray

    Lap 69 Truex leads Ky Busch Johnson Gordon Kenseth

    Lap 76 Kyle Busch takes back to the lead

    Lap 78 Ky Busch leads Truex Johnson Gordon Kenseth Vickers Edwards McMurray Ku Busch Bowyer

    Lap 80 Carl Edwards experiencing motor problems.

    Caution Lap 81 Stenhouse Jr. smoking on the track. Looks like repairs not done all well. He had just returned back to the track from making repairs. Leaders make their way down pit road. Ky Busch leads the race off pit road. Flames erupt in Matt Kenseth’s pit. Fire crew right there to put it out. Michael McDowell climbs into Bobby Labonte’s car and brings it back to the track.

    Kyle Busch leads Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers. JJ fell to ninth.

    Restart lap 86 as Kyle Busch leads off of turn two.

    Lap 87 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Gordon Vickers McMurray Bowyer Ku Busch Edwards Biffle. Vickers passes Gordon for position.

    Lap 90 Ku Busch and Biffle pass Bowyer; Harvick moves into 10th as Edwards falls back with motor issue

    Lap 92 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Vickers Gordon McMurray Ku Busch Biffle Bowyer Harvick

    Lap 94 Gordon passes McMurray, who passes Vickers

    Lap 96 Ky Busch leads Truex Kenseth Gordon McMurray Ku Busch Biffle Vickers Bowyer Harvick

    Lap 99 Bowyer passes Vickers while Gordon passes Kenseth

    Lap 100 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Biffle Bowyer Vickers Harvick

    Lap 110 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Biffle Bowyer Earnhardt Vickers

    Lap 112 Johnson and Harvick pass Vickers; Bowyer passes Biffle

    Lap 116 Earnhardt Jr. passes Biffle

    Lap 117 Ky Busch leads Truex Gordon Kenseth Ku Busch McMurray Bowyer Earnhardt Johnson Biffle

    Lap 120 Earnhardt passes Bowyer

    Lap 129 Earnhardt, Ambrose, Truex, Stewart, Ku Busch, Kenseth and Biffle head down pit road

    Lap 130 Harvick, Gordon and Vickers on pit road

    Lap 131 Montoya and Logano on pit road.

    Lap 132 Kyle Busch pits. Johnson to the lead.

    Lap 133 Johnson to pit road. Newman to the lead.

    Lap 134 Newman heads down pit road to complete the pit cycle. Kyle Busch resumes his position as the top dog.

    Lap 137 Keselowski heads down pit road – vibration, possible loose left rear tire

    Lap 140 Montoya pits

    Lap 141 Ky Busch leads Gordon Truex Kenseth Ku Busch Earnhardt Bowyer Almirola Harvick Johnson. McMurray had to come down pit road to serve penalty for pitting outside of the box.

    Lap 150 Ky Busch leads Gordon Truex Kenseth Ku Busch Earnhardt Almirola Johnson Harvick Bowyer…..Caution for debris. Joey Logano gets the lucky dog. NASCAR says it made a mistake on call with McMurray and going to give him a lap back since they had held him for two, when the penalty is one. Leaders head down pit road. Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Ku Busch off pit road.

    Restart lap 156 Kyle Busch leads off the restart. Carl Edwards way off the pace.

    Lap 160 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Ku Busch Kenseth Johnson Almirola Harvick Ambrose

    167 laps down, 167 to go. KyBusch Gordon EarnhardtJr Truex KuBusch Kenseth Johnson Almirola Ambrose Harvick Biffle Kahne Bowyer Vickers

    Lap 170 Kurt Busch makes his way down pit road to the garage.

    Lap 180 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Kenseth Johnson Almirola Ambrose Harvick Kahne

    Lap 184 Ky Busch leads Gordon Earnhardt Truex Johnson Kenseth Almirola Ambrose Harvick Kahne. McDowell, who is driving Labonte’s car, is off the pace down the backstretch

    Lap 186 Gordon and Ky Busch battle for the lead.

    Lap 188 Earnhardt Jr. heads down pit road. “Battery is dead or something.” Dale Jr. just had to switch to a backup battery: “Sorry, Steve.”

    Lap 189 Gordon takes the lead from Ky Busch

    Lap 190 Earnhardt Jr off of pit road on lap 191 with new battery in. 2 laps down. Dale Jr. pass through .. too fast entering – when you don’t have power, tach doesn’t work. Dale Jr. will put four tires on the car during this pass-through and fix battery box. Letarte: “There’s nothing we can do at this point. Fix it right and we can race from here.” So he gets another penalty. Rule: “Pass thru: Have the driver bring the car onto pit road and maintain pit road speed the entire length without stopping in his pitbox”. Four laps down. Because gauges were going “haywire” and he just didn’t think to try it, he said.

     

    Lap 198 to 200 leaders begin making their way down pit road.

    Lap 200 Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon make their way down pit road.

    Pit cycle complete on lap 203 as Truex leads Ky Busch and Gordon. Kurt Busch has come back on track – it was a fuel pick up issue and they fixed it

    Kyle Busch slaps wall a little … drops to 3rd. Gordon moves up to second while Truex leads

    118 to go Truex leads Gordon Ky Busch Johnson Kenseth Almirola Kahne Ambrose Biffle Harvick

    116 to go Biffle passes Ambrose

    Caution 112 laps to go Reuitmann get into the wall to bring the caution out.  Leaders head down pit road. Truex beats Gordon barely to the line ahead of Ky Busch and Kenseth. Biffle too fast on pit road and will go to the rear. He came off pit road in sixth. Dale Jr. takes the wavearound. He’s now three laps down. Gilliland held a lap for pitting outside box. Martin Truex Jr’s windshield man has a cut lip. The jackman hit him in the lip.

    Restart 106 to go. Truex leads Kyle Busch with Gordon third

    104 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Kenseth Almirola Johnson Kahne Harvick Ambrose Bowyer

    89 to go Johnson passes Almirola

    75 to go Truex leads Busch Gordon Kenseth Johnson Kahne Almirola Ambrose Harvick Bowyer

    66 to go Truex leads Busch Gordon Kenseth Johnson Kahne Almirola Ambrose Harvick Menard

    63 to go Harvick passes Ambrose for eighth

    60 to go Harvick heads down pit road

    59 to go Yeley and Gilliland pit, along with Wise and Ambrose.

    57 to go Almirola pits

    56 to go Bowyer pits

    55 to go Kenseth and Johnson pit….Truex makes his way down pit road, followed by Busch as Ambrose and Burton go around to bring out the caution. Gilliland spun Ambose and then behind them, Burton spins behind them trying to slow up when Mark Martin slows right in front of him.

    On restart will be Truex KyBusch Gordon Logano Hamlin Edwards Newman Martin Biffle Kahne Kenseth Keselowski Ambrose Johnson Harvick Menard. Matt Kenseth gets the lucky dog.

    Restart 47 to go as Truex and Busch are side-by-side….Truex with the advantage off of turn two as Busch is second, Gordon third

    42 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Newman Vickers Biffle Kenseth Martin

    40 to go Vickers passes Newman for position. Joe Nemechek down on the apron with a puff of smoke

    39 to go Biffle passes Newman

    36 to go Kenseth passes Newman

    35 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Vickers Biffle Kenseth Newman Martin

    34 to go Biffle passes Vickers

    33 to go Kenseth passes Vickers

    29 to go Truex leads Ky Busch Gordon Logano Edwards Biffle Kenseth Vickers Nemwan Almirola

    28 to go Gordon has a flat tire on the front straightaway, dropping in positions as he coasts along. “It just went, it just went,” Jeff Gordon said of his tire. “It’s flapping,” Eddie D’Hondt says. End to a good run. Gordon to the garage. “Hub gone”

    22 to go Truex leads Busch Logano Edwards Biffle Kenseth Vickers Almirola Newman Johnson

    Caution 21 to go debris in the fourth corner. Leaders head down pit road. Ky Busch leads Truex Edwards Biffle Logano

    Restart 16 to go Kyle Busch pulls off the lead coming outta three ahead of Truex and Edwards

    14 to go Busch leads Truex Edwards Biffle Logano Johnson Almirola Vickers Newman Menard

    7 to go Keselowski passes Menard for 10h

    4 to go Keselowski passes Newman for ninth

    Kyle Busch. Truex. Edwards. Biffle. Logano. Johnson. Almirola. Vickers. Keselowski. Newman.

    Unofficial Race Results
    NRA 500, Texas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=7
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 48
    2 5 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 43
    3 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford 41
    4 35 16 Greg Biffle Ford 40
    5 18 22 Joey Logano Ford 40
    6 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 38
    7 3 43 Aric Almirola Ford 37
    8 15 11 Brian Vickers(i) Toyota 0
    9 16 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 35
    10 31 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 35
    11 14 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 33
    12 20 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 32
    13 29 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 31
    14 23 55 Mark Martin Toyota 30
    15 26 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 29
    16 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 28
    17 19 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27
    18 22 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Ford 0
    19 4 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 25
    20 10 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 24
    21 13 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23
    22 32 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 22
    23 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 21
    24 38 83 David Reutimann Toyota 20
    25 28 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 19
    26 25 34 David Ragan Ford 19
    27 33 30 David Stremme Toyota 17
    28 42 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 16
    29 6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 15
    30 40 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 0
    31 24 13 Casey Mears Ford 13
    32 27 38 David Gilliland Ford 13
    33 12 51 Austin Dillon(i) Chevrolet 0
    34 39 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 10
    35 41 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 0
    36 43 32 Timmy Hill # Ford 8
    37 2 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 7
    38 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 7
    39 36 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 5
    40 17 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 4
    41 34 19 Mike Bliss(i) Toyota 0
    42 30 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 2
    43 37 98 Michael McDowell Ford 1
  • Busch wins the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Busch wins the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway for his third consecutive win his fourth of the season.  It marked his  sixth victory at the speedway.

    Brad Keselowski finished second, Austin Dillon third, Dale Earnhardt Jr fourth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-5.

    Alex Bowman started on the pole for the first time in his young career.  Bowman led the first lap after Busch spun the tires. Keselowski went three wide to get fourth and Hornish Jr took over second on lap 2 as he looks like he had a very fast hot rod. Hornish battled with Bowman for the lead with Busch and Keselowski right behind the two. Hornish Jr took over the lead on the backstretch on lap 4. Keselowski took the lead on lap 23 when Hornish Jr was in lap traffic and it made Keselowski catch up to him and make the pass for the top position.

    The first caution waved when the No.23 of Robert Richardson Jr spun his Chevy in turns 1 and 2. All of the leaders came in to pit and everybody took four tires and Busch led the field off of pit road. Hornish followed him in second.

    They went back to green on lap 31 with Busch leading. There was three wide racing behind Busch and Hornish Jr. as they were trying to get every single position they could get.

    The second caution waved when the No.32 of Kyle Larson was spinning in the front stretch and barley avoided Earnhardt Jr. They both escaped with no damage except for Larson, who has a flat tire. None of the front runners came in to pit due to being in pit road during the first caution. Justin Allgaier, who was 17th, was the first one to come onto pit lane. Larson was trying to keep up with the pace car but his left front tire blew and he almost hit the safety truck. He hit the wall to avoid it which seemed to be the right choice.

    Green Flag waved on lap 50 when Busch continued to lead but was getting challenged from the two Penske cars. Keselowski took over the lead and pulled away from Busch.

    Caution waved for the third time for debris. Everybody came in for their second pit stop of the day and Keselowski, Hornish Jr, Busch, Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick did not take tires while Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith took four tires.

    Green Flag was back out on Lap 70 with Busch leading them to the stripe. Hornish Jr did not waste any time and took over the lead but they could not  just take it easy as Kahne, who took four tires, was  coming fast. He passed Hornish on Lap 73 for the lead and it told all of the crew chiefs that tires will be very much needed for the end of the race.

    Caution came out for the fourth time for debris in the same spot. Most drivers came in and everybody had a different strategy. Kahne took four tires but he has only one set of tires left for the reminder of the race. Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, Brian Scott and others took no tires and will start up in the front. Matt Kenseth, for crying out loud, did not even pit!

    They restarted the race on lap 99 with Kenseth leading. He cleared Dillon and Sadler and led the following lap while they raced 3 wide in the middle of the pack. Hornish Jr restarted in 16th and within four laps, he was up to second. Hornish Jr was flying and  zoomed past Kenseth with 94 to go and took over the lead. Kahne has gotten through the traffic and has got to Hornish Jr and was battling for the lead with 89 to go. He took the lead in the Great Clips Jr. Motorsports car. Busch then took the lead from Kahne at the start finish line with 85 to go.

    The fifth caution came out when the No.23 of Richardson Jr spun in the frontstretch while No. 4 of Landon Cassill was very slow on the backstretch. All of the leaders came in to pit with 78 laps to go. Hornish Jr, Earnhardt Jr and Kahne took no tires and came out first while Keselowski and other took four tires. Busch had trouble with some lug nuts and fell to 8th place on pit road.

    Green flag waved once again with 73 to go with Hornish Jr leading but it was his teammate who came out with the lead one lap later. Hornish Jr fell back to 13th. Dillon and Busch battled for second while Keselowski pulled away with the lead.

    The sixth caution waved when the No.92 of Dexter Stacey was basically drifting not spin out while the No.23 of Richardson Jr for the third time, spun onto the front stretch. When they went green, the action continued! Busch and Keselowski were battling but Hornish Jr spun out and has some damage! Junior and Vickers came in and got fuel while Junior got tires. Earnhardt Jr still has a set of tires on his pit box while most drivers do not have any tires left.

    They went back racing with 52 laps to go with side by side battles all around the track. With 40 laps to go, Bayne said that he is overheating and that it is about 310 degrees. He had to come in to get new tires and get the debris off the car.

    Caution came out for debris and everybody came in for what could be their final pit stops. Busch led them off as mostly everybody took four tires. Blake Koch took no tires and came out 7th but he will be sliding back really fast.

    Once again the green flag waved, Busch just flew! He was pulling away and never looked back.

    There were 22 lead changes among 11 drivers, both setting new track records.

    Hornish Jr. now leads the series point standings by two points over Regan Smith.

    Unofficial Race Results
    O’Reilly 300, Texas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=6
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 54 Kyle Busch(i) Toyota 0
    2 5 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Ford 0
    3 3 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 41
    4 11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.(I) Chevrolet 0
    5 7 33 Kevin Harvick(i) Chevrolet 0
    6 9 18 Matt Kenseth(i) Toyota 0
    7 6 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet 37
    8 16 5 Kasey Kahne(i) Chevrolet 0
    9 13 20 Brian Vickers Toyota 35
    10 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 20 2 Brian Scott Chevrolet 33
    12 8 77 Parker Kligerman Toyota 32
    13 10 11 Elliott Sadler Toyota 31
    14 1 99 Alex Bowman # Toyota 31
    15 25 43 Reed Sorenson Ford 29
    16 17 98 Kevin Swindell # Ford 28
    17 23 16 Chris Buescher Ford 27
    18 19 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. # Chevrolet 26
    19 27 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 25
    20 18 19 Mike Bliss Toyota 24
    21 28 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    22 36 79 Jeffrey Earnhardt # Ford 23
    23 30 92 Dexter Stacey # Ford 21
    24 35 24 Blake Koch Toyota 21
    25 31 55 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 19
    26 15 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 18
    27 24 70 Johanna Long Chevrolet 17
    28 34 74 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 16
    29 39 15 Juan Carlos Blum # Ford 15
    30 37 14 Eric McClure Toyota 14
    31 38 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 13
    32 12 32 Kyle Larson # Chevrolet 12
    33 21 60 Travis Pastrana Ford 11
    34 4 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Ford 11
    35 22 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 10
    36 26 4 Landon Cassill(i) Chevrolet 0
    37 33 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 7
    38 32 44 Hal Martin # Toyota 6
    39 40 42 JJ Yeley(i) Chevrolet 0
    40 29 10 Jeff Green Toyota 4
  • Lap by Lap: O’Reilly 300 won by Kyle Busch

    Lap by Lap: O’Reilly 300 won by Kyle Busch

    Amongst the mixed pit strategies, Kyle Busch wins the O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway for his fourth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season in six starts this season.

     

    Lap 1 Alex Bowman leads ahead of Kyle Busch while Hornish and Keselowski battle for third

    Lap 2 Bowman leads Ky Busch Hornish Keselowski Dillon Smith Harvick Kenseth Sadler Larson

    Lap 3 Hornish passes Busch second

    Lap 5 Bowman and Hornish are side-by-side for the lead

    Lap 6 Hornish Jr passes Bowman for the lead while Keselowski passes Ky Busch for third

    Lap 7 Keselowski passes Bowman for second

    Lap 8 Hornish leads Keselowski Bowman Ky Busch Dillon Smith Kenseth Sadler Vickers Harvick

    Lap 10 Kenseth passes Dillon and Smith for position

    Lap 19 Hornish leads Keselowski Ky Busch Kenseth Bowman Dillon Smith Sadler Vickers Kahne

    Lap 22 Vickers and Kahne past Sadler for eighth and ninth

    Lap 23 Keselowski and Hornish side-by-side for the lead and Keselowski takes the lead off of turn four

    Caution Lap 24 Robert Richardson Jr. goes around in turn two after getting loose. Leaders head down pit road. Ky Busch leads Hornish off of pit road as they all take four tires. Eric McClure has got out of the car, handing the reins over to Jeff Green. Jamie Dick gets the lucky dog.

    Restart lap 31 Kyle Busch gets the jump on the restart ahead of the field.

    Lap 33 Busch leads Hornish Vickers Smith Keselowski Kenseth Dillon Kahne Harvick Larson

    Lap 34 Keselowski passes Smith back for fourth

    Lap 35 Kenseth passes Smith for fifth

    Lap 37 Ky Busch leads Hornish Vickers Keselowski Kenseth Smith Kahne Dillon Harvick Larson

    Lap 38 Keselowski passes Vickers for third

    Lap 41 Kahne passes Smith for sixth; Earnhardt Jr. and Sadler pass Larson

    Caution lap 43 Larson spins around off of turn four.  Top 16 stay out as some drivers at the back make their way down pit road. “We’re done, left front blew & I almost hit that (expletive) truck” Larson blew the left front on the backstretch & just missed safety truck.

    Restart lap 50 Busch and Keselowski side-by-side through turns one and two. Busch holds the lead off of turn four as Hornish looks for second by Keselowski

    Lap 52 Busch leads Keselowski Hornish Vickers Kenseth Kahne Smith Dillon Harvick Earnhardt Jr.

    Lap 54 Keselowski looking under Busch for the lead going into turn three and gets the lead off of turn four. Keselowski to the lead.

    Lap 56 Kahne passes Kenseth for fifth; Smith passes Kenseth for sixth

    Caution lap 65 debris in turn three on the high side. Leaders head down pit road – some just get fuel, some get tires. Keselowski leads Hornish Ky Busch Earnhardt Harvick Kahne Smith Vickers Dillon and Sadler off of pit road. Top five took no tires. Teams have five sets of tires for the race. Dexter Stacey got the lucky dog.

    Restart lap 69 as Hornish and Keselowski go into turns one and two side-by-side for the lead. Hornish grabs the lead off of turn four from Keselowski.

    Lap 72 Hornish leads Kahne Keselowski Vickers Ky Busch

    Lap 73 Hornish and Kahne side-by-side for the lead as Kahne grabs the lead off of turn two

    Lap 75 Kahne leads Vickers Hornish Keselowski Smith Busch Sadler Dillon Bayne Bowman

    Lap 76 Sadler passes Busch

    Lap 77 Dillon passes Busch

    Lap 78 Bayne passes Busch

    Lap 79 Bowman passes Busch

    Lap 80 Kahne leads Vickers Hornish Smith Keselowski Sadler Dillon Bayne Bowman Busch…..Smith passes Hornish; Sadler passes Keselowski

    Lap 82 Dillon and Bayne passes Keselowski

    Lap 83 Kahne leads Vickers Smith Sadler Dillon Hornish Bayne Keselowski Bowman Kenseth

    Caution lap 93 debris at the bottom of turn three. Leaders head down pit road. Mix of strategies. Sadler leads Dillon Vicker Bowman Smith Bayne Scott Allgaier Swindell and Kligermann of pit road. Kenseth stays out to take the lead.

    Restart lap 99 Kenseth and Sadler are side-by-side into turns one and two as Kenseth pulls off the corner in the lead

    Lap 100 Kenseth leads Dillon Sadler Hornish Bowman Vickers Kahne Allgaier Bayne and Smith

    99 to go Earnhardt Jr., Busch and Keselowski pass Smith; Hornish passes Dillon for second

    97 to go Kenseth leads Hornish Dillon Sadler Kahne Bowman Busch Earnhardt Keselowski Vickers

    96 to go Kahne passes Sadler, and then Dillon

    94 to go Hornish passes Kenseth for the lead

    93 to go Hornish leads Kenseth Kahne Busch Dillon Keselowski Earnhardt Sadler Bowman Vickers

    92 to go Sadler makes an unscheduled pit stop so put Bowman eighth and Vickers ninth

    90 to go Hornish leads Kahne Busch Kenseth Keselowski Earnhardt Dillon Bowman Harvick Vickers

    89 to go Kahne passes Hornish for the lead

    Lap 115 Kyle Busch to the lead past Kasey Kahne

    81 to go Busch leads Kahne Keselowski Hornish Earnhardt Kenseth Harvick Dillon Bowman Vickers

    80 to go Landon Cassill slow down the backstretch – Caution as Richardson Jr. goes for a slide through the frontstretch grass. Leaders head down pit road for a mix of fuel and tires again. Hornish leads Earnhardt Kahne Keselowski Vickers Dillon Harvick Kenseth Ky Busch M Wallace. Kenseth was too fast off pit road so he will go to the rear. Nelson Piquet gets the lucky dog.

    Restart 73 to go Hornish and Earnhardt side-by-side off through turns one and two for the lead. Keselowski grabs the lead off of four ahead of Earnhardt and Dillon

    70 to go Keselowski leads Dillon Busch Earnhardt Harvick Kahne Bowman Vickers Allgaier Smith; Allgaer passes Vickers

    69 to go Busch passes Dillon for second

    68 to go Harvick and Bowman pass Earnhardt; Vickers, Bayne, Allgaier, Smith and Swindell pass Kahne

    Caution 67 to go Dexter Stacey goes around off of turn four. Richardson Jr. spins to avoid Stacey. Leaders stay out. Kasey Kahne puts the set of tires he ran earlier in the race back on while Hornish gets fresh tires. Sadler fuel only.

    Restart 60 to go Keselowski and Busch side-by-side for the lead

    Caution 59 to go Hornish and Clements wreck after making contact while racing for position. Leaders stay out. Vickers gets fuel only while Earnhardt comes and gets one of his two sets of tires left. Kahne fixing right rear damage.

    Restart 52 to go Busch and Keselowski side-by-side for the lead

    51 to go Busch to the lead ahead of Keselowski

    50 to go Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dillon Bowman Bayne Allgaier Smith Kligerman Scott. Earnhardt from 22nd to 12th in two laps

    48 to go Bayne passes Bowman. Earnhardt Jr. passes Swindell for 11th

    46 to go Scott and Earnhart pass Kligerman

    43 to go Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dllon Bowman Bayne Allgaier Smith Earnhardt Scott

    39 to go Bayne to pit road, unscheduled, with overheating issues

    36 to go Busch Keselowski Harvick Dillon Bowman Earnhardt

    34 to go Caution for debris in turn three. Leaders head down pit road. Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Earnhardt Dillon Koch Bowman Scott Vickers Allgaier.

    Restart 29 to go Keselowski and Busch side-by-side into turns one and two. Busch grabs the advantage off of turn two.

    27 to go Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dillon Bowman Earnhardt Vickers Scott Smith Kenseth

    25 to go Earnhardt, Vickers and Scott pass Bowman

    24 to go Smith passes Bowman……Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dillon Earnhardt Vickers Scott Smith Kenseth and Allgaier.

    23 to go Smith passes Scott

    21 to go Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dillon Earnhardt Vickers Smith Scott Kenseth and Allgaier

    19 to go Kenseth passes Scott for eighth

    15 to go Allgaier passes Scott for ninth

    14 to go Smith and Kenseth pass Vickers

    12 to go Busch leads Keselowski Harvick Dillon Earnhardt Smith Kenseth Vickers Kahne Allgaier

    8 to go Dillon passes Harvick; Kenseth passes Smith; Scott passes Allgaier

    5 to go Kahne passes Vickers; Allgaier passes Scott back

    3 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Harvick for fourth

    2 to go Kenseth and Smith pass Harvick for fifth and sixth

    Kyle Busch wins at Texas. Keselowski. Dillon. Earnhardt. Harvick. Kenseth. Smith. Kahne. Vickers. Allgaier.

    Unofficial Race Results
    O’Reilly 300, Texas Motor Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=6
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 2 54 Kyle Busch(i) Toyota 0
    2 5 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Ford 0
    3 3 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 41
    4 11 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.(I) Chevrolet 0
    5 7 33 Kevin Harvick(i) Chevrolet 0
    6 9 18 Matt Kenseth(i) Toyota 0
    7 6 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet 37
    8 16 5 Kasey Kahne(i) Chevrolet 0
    9 13 20 Brian Vickers Toyota 35
    10 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 34
    11 20 2 Brian Scott Chevrolet 33
    12 8 77 Parker Kligerman Toyota 32
    13 10 11 Elliott Sadler Toyota 31
    14 1 99 Alex Bowman # Toyota 31
    15 25 43 Reed Sorenson Ford 29
    16 17 98 Kevin Swindell # Ford 28
    17 23 16 Chris Buescher Ford 27
    18 19 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. # Chevrolet 26
    19 27 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 25
    20 18 19 Mike Bliss Toyota 24
    21 28 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 24
    22 36 79 Jeffrey Earnhardt # Ford 23
    23 30 92 Dexter Stacey # Ford 21
    24 35 24 Blake Koch Toyota 21
    25 31 55 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 19
    26 15 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 18
    27 24 70 Johanna Long Chevrolet 17
    28 34 74 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 16
    29 39 15 Juan Carlos Blum # Ford 15
    30 37 14 Eric McClure Toyota 14
    31 38 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 13
    32 12 32 Kyle Larson # Chevrolet 12
    33 21 60 Travis Pastrana Ford 11
    34 4 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Ford 11
    35 22 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 10
    36 26 4 Landon Cassill(i) Chevrolet 0
    37 33 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 7
    38 32 44 Hal Martin # Toyota 6
    39 40 42 JJ Yeley(i) Chevrolet 0
    40 29 10 Jeff Green Toyota 4
  • Johnson dominates at Martinsville; Takes over series points lead

    Johnson dominates at Martinsville; Takes over series points lead

    Jimmie Johnson captured his 62nd career Sprint Cup Series victory on Sunday’s in the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway.  Johnson led 346 laps in route to his eighth win and 20th top-10 finish in 23 races at Martinsville.

    “I feel like the fastest car won the race. It was a very standard Martinsville race; although I thought some guys might peel off and take tires. It was just a hard race. This race track is tough to get around.” Johnson said.

    Johnson started from the pole and dominated another race at this speedway.  Now only Richard Petty (15) and Darrell Waltrip (11) have more wins.

    Clint Bowyer finished second, Jeff Gordon third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth.

    “We had a good car all weekend long so it’s incredibly disappointing to be honest to have such a good car.  Second is decent in this sport, but it still sucks.” Bowyer said.

    Heading into the final laps it looked like another repeat from last years race with Johnson, Bowyer and Gordon fighting for the race win.  But Johnson got a great restart with eight laps to go and kept enough space between himself and Bowyer.  Gordon was also unable to make a run on Bowyer for second place in the closing laps.

    “Well, we just didn’t need those cautions there at the end. I made a mistake on pit road and got us way behind. But, what an incredible effort for this Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet team.” Gordon said.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., the points leader heading into Martinsville had some late race contact with Danica Patrick and finished in 25th, 2-laps down.

    Patrick, who went two laps down at one part of the race, battled back onto the lead lap and finished a very respectable 12th place.

    “We obviously went down real early with that spin and then were two laps down at one point.  So I feel that is one of the things that I am most proud about is coming back from two laps down and being on the last lap.   Then grabbing a 12th place finish in the end was good and I think it was the right call to stay out because I don’t think tires were quite worth enough to pit, so it was a good run today.” Patrick said.

    Johnson took over the series points standings by 6 points over Brad Keselowski and 12 over teammate Earnhardt Jr.

    “We had a great weekend, probably the most calm, relaxed thought-out we’ve had. We really fell back on our experience and stayed committed to that,” said Johnson, who took over the Sprint Cup points lead with the win. “In the race we had to adjust on the fly. The track changed more than we thought it would. And then the 15 (Clint Bowyer) and the 24 (Gordon) showed up and I had my hands full.”

    Unofficial Race Results
    STP Gas Booster 500, Martinsville Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=6
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 48
    2 15 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 42
    3 6 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 41
    4 5 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 40
    5 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 40
    6 7 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 38
    7 13 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 37
    8 2 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 37
    9 22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 35
    10 35 11 Mark Martin Toyota 34
    11 3 55 Brian Vickers(i) Toyota 0
    12 32 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 32
    13 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 31
    14 8 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 31
    15 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford 29
    16 41 13 Casey Mears Ford 28
    17 26 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 27
    18 29 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 26
    19 16 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 25
    20 34 43 Aric Almirola Ford 24
    21 31 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 23
    22 18 51 Regan Smith(i) Chevrolet 0
    23 4 22 Joey Logano Ford 21
    24 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 20
    25 20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 19
    26 14 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 18
    27 37 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 17
    28 30 38 David Gilliland Ford 16
    29 39 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 15
    30 23 34 David Ragan Ford 14
    31 10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 13
    32 36 32 Ken Schrader Ford 12
    33 33 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 11
    34 43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 0
    35 42 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 0
    36 24 30 David Stremme Toyota 8
    37 19 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 7
    38 40 83 David Reutimann Toyota 6
    39 25 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 6
    40 12 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 4
    41 28 95 Scott Speed Ford 3
    42 38 44 Scott Riggs Ford 2
    43 27 98 Michael McDowell Ford 1
  • Lap by Lap: STP Gas Booster 500 won by Jimmie Johnson

    Lap by Lap: STP Gas Booster 500 won by Jimmie Johnson

    After getting the lead on a late race pit stop, Jimmie Johnson would hold on to the lead for the final 51 laps to pick up his eighth Martinsville Grandfather Clock.

     

    Lap 1 Marcos Ambrose leads on the outside

    Lap 2 Jimmie Johnson finally clears Ambrose and grabs the lead.

    Lap 7 Johnson leads Ambrose Vickers Logano Kahne Gordon Keselowski Kenseth Edwards Ky Busch

    Lap 12 Keselowski passes Kahne

    Lap 13 Kenseth and Edwards pass Kahne

    Lap 14 Ky Busch passes Kahne

    Lap 15 McMurray passes Kahne; Travis Kvapil bounces off the wall

    Caution lap 16 Danica Patrick spins after Ken Schrader pinches her down. A few people head down pit road, including Kahne and McMurray

    Restart lap 22 Johnson grabs the run off on the restart while Ambrose and Vickers fight for second.

    Lap 23 Johnson Vickers Ambrose Goron Kenseth Logano Keselowski Ky Busch Edwards Montoya…Gordon passes Ambrose off of turn four

    Lap 24 Kenseth passes Ambrose off of turn two

    Lap 27 Logano passes Ambrose……Earnhardt Jr. and Bowyer pass Edwards

    Lap 28 Keselowski, Ky Busch and Earnhardt pass Ambrose

    Lap 30 Johnson leads Vickers Gordon Kenseth Logano Keselowski Ky Busch Earnhardt Ambrose Montoya

    Lap 41 Johnson leads Vickers Gordon Kenseth Ky Busch Earnhardt Bowyer Logano Ambrose Harvick

    Lap 45 Harvick, Keselowski and Kahne pass Ambrose

    Lap 47 Ky Busch passes Kenseth; Kahne passes Keselowski

    Lap 48 Gordon passes Vickers for second

    Lap 50 Johnson leads Gordon Vickers Ky Busch Kenseth Earnhardt Bowyer Kahne Harvick Logano

    Lap 60 Johnson leads Gordon Vickers Ky Busch Kenseth Bowyer Earnhardt Kahne McMurray Harvick

    Lap 63 Kahne and McMurray pass Earnhardt

    Lap 65 Ky Busch passes Vickers

    Lap 67 Kahne and McMurray pass Bowyer; Burton passes Harvick

    Lap 68 Johnson leads Gordon Ky Busch Vickers Kahne McMurray Kenseth Bowyer Earnhardt Truex

    Caution lap 70 Scott Speed is stopped on the front stretch. Juan Pablo Montoya gets the lucky dog. Leaders head down pit road. Johnson leads Ky Busch McMuray Vickers Gordon Bowyer Kenseth Earnhardt Truex off pit road.

    Restart Lap 77 Johnson gets the jump and Ky Busch tucks down behind him

    Lap 80 Johnson leads Ky Busch Gordon Kenseth Earnhardt Vickers Bowyer Truex McMurray Kahne

    Lap 81 Earnhardt passes Kenseth for fourth

    Lap 90 Ky Busch takes the lead away from Johnson

    Lap 98 Montoya with an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire

    Lap 102 Ky Busch leads Johnson Gordon Earnhardt Kenseth Bowyer Vickers McMurray Kahne Harvick

    Lap 104 Johnson passes Ky Busch back for the lead

    Lap 120 Johnson leads Gordon Kenseth Ky Busch Bowyer McMurray Kahne Earnhardt Harvick Truex

    Lap 125 Harvick and Truex passes Earnhardt

    Lap 126 Vickers passes Earnhardt

    lap 135 McMurray passes Bowyer

    lap 136 Johnson leads Gordon Kenseth Ky Busch McMurray Bowyer Kahne Harvick Truex Vickers

    lap 153 Johnson leads Kenseth Gordon Ky Busch McMurray Bowyer Kahne Harvick Truex Keselowski

    lap 163 Ky Busch passes Gordon

    lap 165 McMurray passes Gordon as Josh Wise gets up into the wall after contact from Menard, but continues

    caution lap 171 debris as Stenhouse loses grill. Leaders hit pit road. Johnson leads Ky Busch Kenseth McMurray Gordon Boyer Harvick Kahne Earnhardt off pit road

    restart lap 99

    caution lap 101 Bowyer around as Truex and Logano have heavy front end damage. Burton has heavy front damage, Mark Martin with some side damage. Jr doesn’t get off the corner that hard, Vickers hits him, others make contact from behind. Caution comes out – Johnson slows up, McMurray hits him, Bowyer hits McMurray, Keselowski dumps Bowyer completely. No. 93 involved. Edwards gets the lucky dog. 1 9 11 15 22 31 55 56 88 and 93 have damage from the incident. Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained his view on radio: Said 5 slowed down in restart stackup, he got drilled by 55 then couldn’t go.

    Johnson said he slowed due to getting in marbles, not due to caution. Got lucky with scoring line. Kyle Busch: “He should be about sixth. It’s just perfect timing, horseshoe up his a**.” Kyle told NASCAR reverts back to last timing line.

    Restart lap 197 as Johnson leads ahead of Kyle Busch

    Lap 200 Johnson leads Ky Busch Gordon Kenseth Gordon Harvick Keselowski Kahne Ku Busch Newman

    Lap 201 Ku Busch passes Kahne

    Lap 203 Johnson leads Ky Busch Kenseth Gordon Harvick Keselowski Ku Busch Kahne Newman Stewart

    Lap 213 Kenseth passes Ky Busch for second

    Lap 215 Keselowski passes Harvick for fifth; McMurray passes Stewart for 11th

    Lap 222 Kenseth takes the lead with a bump by Johnson in turn two

    Lap 231 Kenseth leads Johnson Ky Busch Gordon Keselowski Harvick Kahne Newman McMurray Ku Busch

    Lap 234 Stewart and Earnhardt pass Ku Busch

    Lap 240 Caution David Reuitmann goes around after contact from Regan Smith. Kenseth leads Ky Busch Johnson Martin off pit road.

    Restart lap 248 Kenseth wins the drag race into turn one as Ky Busch slides behind him.

    Halfway

    Lap 251 Kenseth leads Ky Busch Johnson Keselowski Harvick McMurray Earnhardt Newman Stewart Kahne

    246 to go Earnhardt passes McMurray…..Caution as Edwards has a left rear flat tire and goes around. Leaders stay out while some others pit. Mark Martin comes in for four tires and Mark goes to pull away before the left front is tightened. Being held also for pitting outside box.

    Restart 240 to go Kenseth grabs the clean line going into turn three. Kurt Busch has a left front tire down, Gordon bumps him out of the way. No caution. “You know that was the 22.”

    236 to go Ky Busch passes Kenseth for the lead out of turn two as Kurt Busch makes it to pit road

    231 to go Ky Busch leads Kenseth Johnson Keselowski Harvick McMurray Earnhardt Newman Stewart Logano

    Caution lap 280 Truex goes for the spin in turns three and four.

    Restart 215 to go Ky Busch grabs the lead on the restart as Keselowski gives Kenseth a shot. Johnson slips by Keselowski for third

    208 to go Ky Busch leads Kenseth Johnson Keselowski McMurray Earnhardt Stewart Logano Harvick Kahne….Caution as Kurt Busch goes for a spin thanks to Gilliland. Leaders stay out. Some of the back runners pit.

    Restart 202 to go Ky Busch grabs the lead on the restart with Kenseth tucked in line in second

    200 to go Ky Busch leads Kenseth Keselowski Johnson Earnhardt

    198 to go Johnson passes Keselowski for third

    197 to go Ky Busch leads Kenseth Johnson Keselowski Earnhardt McMurray Kahne Stewart Harvick Vickers

    191 to go Kenseth passes Kyle Busch for the lead

    189 to go Johnson passes Kyle Busch for second

    182 to go McMurray and Kahne by Earnhardt for fifth and sixth

    180 to go Kenseth leads Johnson Ky Busch Keselowski McMurray Kahne Earnhardt Harvick Vickers Bowyer

    159 to go Kenseth leads Johnson Ky Busch Keselowski Kahne McMurray Vickers Bowyer Harvick Gordon

    152 to go Gordon passes Harvick; Kahne passes Keselowski. Kurt Busch holds up Kenseth, Kenseth gives him a poke and gets him sideways to cause a bottle neck on the front. No contact, no damage. Kenseth continues but now with Johnson and Ky Busch closer to bumper.

    147 to go Kenseth leads Johnson Ky Busch Kahne Keselowski Vickers McMurray Bowyer Gordon Harvick

    Lap 361 Caution as Newman has a flat tire. Leaders hit pit road. Johnson first off pit road. NASCAR says that Ryan Newman deliberately caused the caution so they are holding him for three laps on pit road.

    Restart lap 368 as Johnson holds the lead on the restart ahead of Kenseth

    125 to go Johnson leads Kenseth Kahne Ky Busch Bowyer Keselowski Gordon McMurray Harvick Vickers

    124 to go Stremme gave Schrader a bump, Schrader returned the favor. Stremme holds on to it. No caution.

    123 to go Kahne passes Kenseth

    119 to go Johnson leads Kahne Kenseth Bowyer Ky Busch Gordon Keselowski McMurray Harvick Stewart

    101 to go Johnson leads Kahne Bowyer Kenseth Ky Busch Gordon McMurray Keselowski Vickers Harvick

    92 to go Gordon passes Ky Busch; Reuitmann slow down the front stretch with a flat tire.

    91 to go Reuitmann makes it to pit road

    89 to go Vickers passes Keselowski for eighth

    87 to go Johnson leads Kahne Bowyer Kenseth Gordon Ky Busch McMurray Keselowski Vickers and Harvick

    76 to go Ryan Newman to pit road with another flat tire

    74 to go Johnson leads Kahne Bowyer Gordon Kenseth Ky Busch McMurray Keselowski Vickers Harvick

    67 to go Ky Busch passes Kenseth

    61 to go Gordon passes Bowyer for third

    Caution lap 449 Brian Vickers goes around with a flat tire. Leaders head down pit road. Johnson leads Gordon Bowyer Ky Busch Kahne Kenseth Harvick Burton McMurray off pit road.

    Restart 42 to go as Johnson and Gordon drag race to turn one. Johnson gets the run off of turn two as Gordon pulls down behind him.

    40 to go Johnson leads Gordon Bowyer Ky Busch Kahne Kenseth Harvick Burton McMurray Biffle

    36 to go McMurray, Keselowski and Ambrose pass Burton for position

    35 to go Bowyer passes Gordon for second……Caution Vickers into Danica, which put her into Dale Jr. Jr goes for the spin. Vickers gets the lucky dog

    Restart 27 to go Johnson gets a good jump on the start and Bowyer falls back in line behind him

    25 to go Johnson leads Bowyer Gordon Ky Busch Kahne Harvick Kenseth McMurray Burton Biffle

    23 to go Biffle and Ambrose pass Burton for ninth and 10th

    15 to go Johnson leads Bowyer Gordon Ky Busch Kahne Harvick Kenseth McMurray Keselowski Biffle

    Caution 14 to go Kurt Busch hits the wall and catches fire. Once they restart, you will have Johnson leading Bowyer Gordon Ky Busch and Kahne. Almirola gets the free pass. Most stay out, while a couple pit including Kenseth, Harvick and Edwards

    Restart 8 to go Johnson escapes Bowyer off of turn two. Bowyer looks low on Johnson, but Johnson holds the line into turn three

    7 to go Johnson leads Bowyer Gordon Kahne and Ky Busch

    Johnson wins. Bowyer. Gordon. Kahne. Ky Busch. Keselowski. McMurray. Ambrose. Biffle. Vickers. Patrick. Harvick.

    After the race, Harvick spins Vickers. They made contact as they were coming to the checkered.

  • Two-for-Two: Johnny Sauter wins Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway

    Two-for-Two: Johnny Sauter wins Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway

    After suffering through some bad luck last year, Johnny Sauter is off to a strong start in 2013, having now won the first two races of the season. Sauter becomes the second driver in Truck Series to open up the season with back-t0-back victories; Mark Martin was the first to do so in 2006. It marks the eighth victory of Sauter’s truck series career.

    Sauter would take the lead from young Jeb Burton on a late race restart with 17 laps to go and never look back to take the victory.

    I just tried to time it just right – that’s the key,” Sauter said in victory lane. “So proud of everybody on this Toyota. All of our sponsors, all of the guys at ThorSport. They’ve been working hard in the shop. It was a long day. Tire wear was the main deal

    “Two for two, starting out is just unbelievable.”

    Sauter’s teammate Matt Crafton would get by Burton with five to go for second to make it a one-two finish for ThorSport Racing for his second straight top 10 finish of 2013 and 12th top 10 finish at Martinsville.

    “We’re going to be a championship contending team,” he said. “Our truck was terrible the first run, but it just shows how good these guys are as we were good at the end.”

    20-year-old Jeb Burton would hold on to third after starting on the pole and running inside the top five most of the day.

    “We just lost forward bite coming off the corner,” he said. “Just couldn’t stay with them at the end. But it was a good truck all day. It was just awesome from the beginning.”

    Timothy Peters would finish fourth, followed by outside pole-sitter Darrell Wallace Jr. in fifth.

    Chase Elliott, son of Bill Elliott, would finish sixth in his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start. Dakota Armstrong finished seventh, followed by Ryan Seig, Erik Jones and Ron Hornaday. Hornaday made his way back up to 10th after being spun by Burton while battling for the lead on lap 104.

    “I’m a rookie, live and learn,” Burton said. “I didn’t mean to wreck him (Hornaday)…sorry about that”

    Todd Bodine would finish 11th after being spun by Kevin Harvick with 23 laps to go. Harvick was running up front late in the race when he had a flat tire, causing him to fall back through the field.

    The 200 lap race at Martinsville resulted in 10 different cautions with the first coming on lap 58 for Grant Galloway going for a spin. He would also bring out the third caution on lap 86 after another spin, followed by a third spin for the sixth caution with 107 laps to go. Galloway would finish 27th.

    The second caution came out on lap 70 for German Quiroga putting down fluid through turns one and two with a gear problem while running inside the top seven. Quiroga would finish 29th.

    The fifth caution came out with 120 laps to go when Robert Bruce would go around. He would finish the race 28th.

    The seventh caution came out on lap 158 when Hornaday, Tim George Jr. and Galloway went around all together in turn two. George Jr. finished 22nd.

    Max Gresham went around in turn two for the eighth caution with 55 laps to go. Gresham would finish 30th.

    With 44 laps to go, Crafton got into John Wes Townley, causing Townley to make heavy contact with the outside turn four wall for the ninth caution. Townley would finish 32nd.

    Sauter continues to lead the points, 12 points ahead of Jeb Burton.

    The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is at Rockingham Speedway next weekend.