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  • Lap by Lap: Kroger 200 won by Johnny Sauter

    Lap by Lap: Kroger 200 won by Johnny Sauter

    Johnny Sauter would grab the lead with 17 laps to go from Jeb Burton and not look back as he would pick up his second straight victory of 2013.

     

    Lap 1 Jeb Burton takes the early lead from the pole, Darrell Wallace Jr. slips in behind Burton

    Lap 3 Burton leads Wallace Peters Sauter Quiroga

    Lap 12 Ron Hornaday pushes Crafton up to grab a spot within the top 10. Crafton keeps it going.

    Lap 24 Peters is up to second after passing Wallace, looking for a way around Burton

    Lap 28 Burton leads Peters Wallace Sauter Quiroga Dillon Hornaday Gaughan Elliott Coulter

    Lap 30 Coulter and Paludo pass Elliott for ninth and 10th

    Lap 34 Burton leads Peters Wallace Sauter Quiroga Dillon Hornaday Gaughan Coulter Paludo

    Lap 51 Burton leads Peters Sauter Quiroga Dillon Wallace Hornaday Gaughan Paludo Coulter

    Lap 52 Dillon and Hornaday pass Quiroga for fourth while Wallace falls back to seventh

    Lap 55 Harvick passes Paludo and Coulter to move up to eighth while Gaughan falls back to 11th; Hornaday passes Dillon for fourth

    Lap 56 Burton leads Peters Sauter Hornaday Dillon Quiroga Wallace Harvick Paludo Coulter

    Caution Lap 58 Galloway spins. Leaders head down pit road. Burton leads Peters Dillon Hornaday Harvick Quiroga off pit road. Coulter has a bad pit stop, suffering a pit road penalty which brings him back down pit road and puts him a lap down

    Restart Lap 66 Burton holds the lead as Hornaday jumps from the outside down in front of Dillon out of turn two, and then underneath Peters for second through turns three and four

    Lap 68 Burton leads Hornaday Peters Dillon Harvick Wallace Quiroga Sauter Paludo Piquet

    Caution lap 70 fluid down in turn two. Quiroga hits pit road just before the caution came out.

    Restart lap 77 Burton and Hornaday side-by-side through turns one and two…..Hornaday pulls the crossover into turn three and dives underneath Burton to grab the lead. Burton now hung out on the outside.

    Lap 79 Hornaday leads Peters Harvick Sauter Burton Paludo Wallace Dillon Piquet Buescher

    Lap 81 Paludo Wallace pass Burton; Buescher and Piquet pass Dillon

    Lap 82 Hornaday leads Peters Harvick Sauter Paludo Wallace Burton Buescher Piquet Dillon

    Lap 85 Burton, Buescher and Piquet pass Wallace for position

    Caution lap 86 Galloway goes around in turns one and two.

    Restart lap 91 Hornaday and Peters side-by-side through turns one and two….Hornaday grabs the lead as Harvick passes Peters for second

    Lap 93 Hornaday leads Harvick Peters Paludo Sauter Piquet Buescher…..Burton passes Paludo for fourth

    Lap 95 Harvick has caught Hornaday for the lead.

    Lap 96 Hornaday leads Harvick Peters Burton Paludo Buescher Piquet Sauter Elliott Dillon…..Hornaday gives Harvick just enough room to get underneath him. The pair are side-by-side off of turn four for the lead. Hornaday gets the run into corner of three, slides down in front of Harvick. Hornaday then slides up and allows Harvick to pass.

    Lap 100 Harvick leads Hornaday Peters Burton Paludo Buescher Piquet Sauter Elliott Dillon

    Lap 103 Harvick pulls down and allows Hornaday to pass him back for the lead……Burton passes Harvick for second place on the outside through turns three and four.

    Caution lap 104 Burton turns Hornaday for the lead, causing Hornaday to hit the wall with the back of the truck. Joey Coulter gets the lucky dog. “He shouldn’t have blocked me going down the back straigh-away.” Jeb Burton said, saying he didn’t mean to wreck Hornaday. Kevin Harvick, Hornaday’s NTS Motorsports teammate, pulled up alongside Jeb Burton to express his displeasure with the youngster’s move

    Restart lap 110 Burton grabs the lead on the restart from Harvick.

    Caution lap 112 for debris on the backstretch at about the entrance to pit road.

    126 to go Restart Burton and Harvick side-by-side through turns one and two. Harvick tucks in behind Burton going into turn three

    124 to go Burton leads Harvick Paludo Buescher Peters……Chastain slides sideways through the corner after going down across Sauter’s bumper, gets it straight and manages to keep it going.

    Caution 120 to go Robert Bruce goes for a spin coming off of turn two.

    Restart 114 to go. Burton holds the lead. Harvick tries the crossover but doesn’t make it work.

    112 to go Burton leads Harvick Paludo Buescher Peters Sauter Piquet Dillon Elliott Chastain…..Piquet passes Sauter for sixth.

    111 to go Dillon and Elliott also make their way past Sauter

    110 to go Burton leads Harvick Paludo Buescher Peters Piquet

    107 to go Caution. Galloway goes around in turns three and four. Some of the leaders pit, while others stay out. Harvick is the first to stay out so he will take the lead. Peters and Buescher have minimal contact coming off of pit road.

    Restart 100 to go as Harvick holds the lead while Piquet and Wallace battle for second.

    99 to go Piquet holds Wallace off and gets by Harvick through turns one and two. Wallace grabs second from Harvick through turns three and four.

    97 to go Burton leads Piquet Wallace Bodine Jones Sieg Blaney Helman Paludo Buescher Peters

    Lap 158 Hornaday, George Jr and Galloway all go around off of turn two to bring out the caution. Dillon makes his way down pit road – no tires, just making a wedge adjustment.

    Restart 88 to go as Piquet leads Wallace at the front of the field

    86 to go Darrell Wallace Jr. passes Nelson Piquet Jr. for the lead in turns one and two

    84 to go Devin Jones goes for a spin in turn four, no caution. Quiroga bounced off the curb into Jones to cut Jones’ tire.

    83 to go Wallace leads Piquet, Bodine, Eric Jones, Sieg, Blaney, Peters, Buescher, Burton, Paludo

    77 to go Blaney, Peters, Buescher, Burton and Paludo pass Sieg for position

    75 to go Blaney and Peters pass Jones for position

    74 to go Buesher and Burton pass Jones for position

    73 to go Wallace leads Piquet, Bodine, Blaney , Peters, Buescher, Burton, Jones, Paludo, Sieg

    62 to go Wallace leads Piquet Peters Burton Blaney Paludo

    61 to go Paludo passes Blaney for fifth

    60 to go Wallace leads Piquet Peters Burton Paludo Blaney Buescher Sauter Gaughan Jones

    56 to go Burton passes Peters for third; Crafton passes Jones for 10th

    55 to go Caution Gresham goes around in turn two. Leaders head down pit road while some others stay out. Nelson Piquet Jr. stalls on pit road and can’t get it restarted.

    Restart 49 to go Jeb Burton slides up through the corner, but keeps the leads.

    47 to go Quiroga goes around, but gets it going so no caution.

    Caution 44 to go Crafton gets into Townley, sending him around and into the outside wall.

    Restart 33 to go Burton and Peters side-by-side for the lead through turns one and two…..Peters takes the lead through turns three and four.

    32 to go Burton gets to the inside of Peters through turns one and two to get back side-by-side. Burton grabs the lead back off of turn four.

    28 to go Burton leads Peters Buescher Sauter Wallace Paludo Crafton Bodine Harvick

    27 to go Sauter passes Buescher for third

    26 to go Wallace passes Buescher for fourth; Sauter passes Peters for second

    23 to go Sauter has caught Burton and is looking for a way by for the lead. Bodine goes around off of Harvick’s bumper. Caution.

    Restart 17 to go Burton and Sauter side-by-side for the lead. Sauter grabs the lead off of turn two.

    14 to go Sauter leads Burton Wallace Crafton Harvick Peters……Crafton passes Wallace for third

    12 to go Harvick passes Wallace for position

    11 to go Coulter goes around virtue of contact from Hornaday but keeps it going so no caution

    6 to go Wallace passes Harvick back for position. Harvick has a flat tire. Sieg, Jones and Elliott also by Harvick; Seig passes Wallace

    5 to go Sauter Burton Crafton Peters Sieg Wallace Jones…..Wallace and Jones pass Sieg while Crafton passes Burton

    2 to go Elliott and Armstrong pass Sieg

    Johnny Sauter wins for back-to-back victories. Crafton. Burton. Peters. Wallace. Elliott. Amrstrong. Seig. Jones. Hornaday. Bodine. Gaughan. Starr. Buescher. Coulter. Blaney. Paludo. Dillon. Piquet. Chastain.

  • Jeb Burton scores first career pole at Martinsville Speedway

    Jeb Burton scores first career pole at Martinsville Speedway

    At the end of Camping World Truck Series qualifying, it’d be Jeb Burton scoring his first career pole in his seventh career truck start. The 20-year-old lapped the track in 19.589 seconds, 96.666 mph.

    “I was crying like a baby when I got out of that race car. It means a whole lot to me and my family,” said Burton, son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton. “It’s really cool for my sponsor to have out of South Boston too. I worked really hard to get here. I’m really happy.

    “I knew if I won or got the pole, I’m going to be emotional — anywhere, especially here. Like I said, it means something to me. I live it. I eat it. I sleep it. It’s just a passion of mine and I’m just thankful to be in front of you all right now.”

    Burton broke the old track record that was held by Timothy Peters. Peters held the record previous with a lap of 19.641 seconds, 96.641 mph.

    Burton will be joined on the front row by fellow rookie Darrell Wallace Jr., who is a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.

    “We just have to do our best on pit road and get the adjustments right and what the truck needs to be able to put us up front,” Wallace Jr. said. “Every track you go to pretty much is about saving tires.  Hopefully, we can do that or I can do that just well enough to keep us up front.  Track position is key, but you have to have your tires stay on there to have good track position.  We’ll work hard to get that and we’ll see how it goes.”

    Peters would qualify third for his 10th top 10 start at Martinsville Speedway.

    “When my crew chief called out the lap time I was pretty blown away, but I knew there was still a bunch more good trucks to come,” Peters said. “Being that qualifying is on Friday evening I was surprised with the lap times and what they were.  In the past we’ve qualified in very cool temperatures on Saturday morning where you would think there was more grip.”

    Daytona winner Johnny Sauter and German Quiroga rounded out the top five.

    Ty Dillon was sixth, followed by Matt Crafton, Chase Elliott, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Brennan Newberry.

    The truck race will take place tomorrow afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.

  • Jimmie Johnson breaks track record, wins pole for STP Gas Booster 500

    Jimmie Johnson breaks track record, wins pole for STP Gas Booster 500

    It is not strange to see Jimmie Johnson at the front of the field at Martinsville Speedway so it should be no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet won the pole, breaking the track record. Johnson clocked in a lap of 19.244 seconds, 98.400 mph, for the 30th pole of his career, first of 2013.

    “I’m really proud of (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the racecar he brought and all the work and effort that went into this … car today,” said Johnson, who won the last race at Martinsville last October. The car was fast right off the truck and I was happy I did my part and backed it up in qualifying.”

    Tony Stewart held the previous track record at 19.306 seconds, 98.083 mph. He qualified 26th this year.

    Marcos Ambrose would post the second quickest lap for his first top 10 start of 2013. Brian Vickers would time in third for his third top 10 start of the year. Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne qualified fourth and fifth.

    Jeff Gordon qualified sixth, followed by Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.

    Points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 17th. Mark Martin, who is subbing for Denny Hamlin, qualified 35th.

    The Sprint Cup Series will have two practices tomorrow to keep working on the cars.

  • Kyle Busch sneaks through to steal win in Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway

    Kyle Busch sneaks through to steal win in Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway

    When the field took the white flag, everybody knew that it’d be a finish for the ages. After all, it was Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano battling side-by-side for the win. The pair had a run-in the previous week at Bristol Motor Speedway that included some words after the race.

    While the pair fought side-by-side through turns three and four, Kyle Busch would make it three-wide, sneaking past them both to take the victory.

    “They forgot about me,” Busch commented in victory lane. “I knew they were going, but I thought the spotter would tell them the 18 was coming and to stop messing around. It’s so fun to come out here and perform like this. It’s been three years in the making.”

    It marks Busch’s 25th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career victory, his first of 2013. It also marks his second victory at Auto Club Speedway, but the first for Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “When they both went to the bottom side of three and four, I thought this was golden and knew I had enough room on the outside,” Busch continued. “I just put my peddle down and went for it.”

    Meanwhile, behind Busch, Hamlin and Logano would make contact causing Logano to bounce off the wall while Hamlin would go sliding down the track hard into the inside wall. Hamlin has been transported to the hospital as a result of back pains, as reported on SPEED. Logano would finish third, while Hamlin finished 25th.

    “We worked it last week,” Logano said. “He probably shouldn’t have done what he did last week, so that’s what he gets.”

    Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would sneak through the wreck to finish second and take over the points lead. He would make a late charge through the field from 24th to second in eight laps after struggling with the handling late in the race. It marks his fifth straight top 10 finish this year and his sixth top 10 at Auto Club Speedway in 21 starts.

    “Well, I got one of the best strategists on the box, and I got an outside row restart which was crucial to progression,” he said. “We made the most of it. The car was a top-5 car most of the day. We got off sequence, but it sorted out and we hammered it home there late.”

    Earnhardt Jr. now has the points lead, 12 points ahead of Keselowski.

    Carl Edwards would finish fourth, followed by Kurt Busch. Greg Biffle would finish sixth, followed by Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman.

    Meanwhile, Stewart who finished 22nd, was not happy with Logano after the race. He confronted Logano after pit road, displaying his displeasure about the final restart. Logano pulled down to block Stewart, in which Stewart did not agree Logano doing.

    “Joey spun the tires on the restart – everybody had the trouble with that,” Stewart said. “It’s not my fault. For him to complain about how everybody else is driving and then do that, it’s a double standard. He made the choice. He made the choice to drive us down there and you take the consequences there. He’s all tough once he gets one of his crew guys around him but till then, he’s a little scared kid. I’m going to get him. He’s going to run his mouth on twitter, and I’m going to have people watching for that. He’s nothing but a spoiled rich kid and it’s time he’s taught a lesson. He’s gonna learn from us working guys who had to come up working to get where we are. He’s talked the talk, but he hasn’t walked the walk. If he ever turns down across in front of me again, I don’t care what lap it is, he won’t make it to the other end of it. After he threw a water bottle at me like a little girl, we’ll go at it now.”

    “The 18 spun his tires and I was trying to peddle it cause you can’t pass the leader before the line,” Logano said. “I understand he is upset about that. if it was any earlier in the race, it would be dumb to do. With it being the end of the race, I had to run him down there to protect the position to win the race. ”

    The 400-mile event saw seven cautions with the first coming out on lap 29 for David Stremme spinning. Timmy Hill would blow up on lap 37 for the second caution, with debris bringing out the third caution on lap 91.

    The fourth caution would come out with 84 to go when Joe Nemechek would get into the wall with a flat tire. With 70 to go, Ambrose was slow on the track to bring out the fifth caution.

    With 25 to go, Mark Martin would go spinning on the backstraightaway after contact with David Gilliland for the sixth caution. The last caution came out with 15 laps to go for Clint Bowyer blowing up.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=5
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 48
    2 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 42
    3 6 22 Joey Logano Ford 42
    4 24 99 Carl Edwards Ford 40
    5 10 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 39
    6 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 5 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 38
    8 27 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 36
    9 16 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 35
    10 20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 34
    11 19 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 33
    12 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 32
    13 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 32
    14 23 43 Aric Almirola Ford 30
    15 11 13 Casey Mears Ford 29
    16 26 51 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 28
    17 22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 27
    18 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 26
    19 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 25
    20 31 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 24
    21 29 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 23
    22 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23
    23 3 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 21
    24 42 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    25 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 20
    26 40 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 18
    27 37 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 17
    28 25 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 16
    29 34 38 David Gilliland Ford 15
    30 36 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 14
    31 32 30 David Stremme Toyota 13
    32 43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 0
    33 28 83 David Reutimann Toyota 11
    34 33 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 11
    35 13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 9
    36 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 8
    37 9 55 Mark Martin Toyota 7
    38 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 6
    39 39 32 Timmy Hill # Ford 5
    40 30 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 0
    41 38 44 Scott Riggs Ford 3
    42 35 98 Michael McDowell Ford 2
    43 41 19 Mike Bliss(i) Toyota 0
  • Lap by Lap: Auto Club 400 won by Kyle Busch

    Lap by Lap: Auto Club 400 won by Kyle Busch

    While Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano refused to let each other win, it’d be Kyle Busch sneaking by them both to score the victory in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

     

    Hamlin elected the outside line as the pole sitter.

    Lap 1 – Hamlin and Kenseth side-by-side into turns one and two……Kenseth takes the lead off of turn four.

    Lap 2 Kenseth leads Hamlin and Ky Busch. An all Joe Gibbs top three.

    Lap 3 Kenseth leads Hamlin Ky Busch Logano Truex…..Ky Busch takes second off of turn turn two.

    Lap 5 Kenseth leads Ky Busch Hamlin Logano Truex Ku Busch Montoya Harvick Bowyer McMurray

    Lap 7 Logano passes Hamlin for third

    Lap 8 Bowyer passes Harvick

    Lap 12 Ky Busch passes Kenseth for the lead; Hamlin passes Logano for third

    Lap 16 Ky Busch leads Kenseth Hamlin Logano Ku Busch Bowyer Truex Harvick McMurray Martin

    Lap 17 Harvick passes Truex…..Martin and Johnson pass McMurray

    Lap 18 Bowyer passes Logano

    Lap 19 Harvick passes Logano

    Lap 20 Ky Busch leads Kenseth Hamlin Bowyer Harvick Ku Busch Logano Truex Martin Johnson

    Lap 25 Hamlin passes Kenseth for second.

    Lap 27 Harvick passes Bowyer for fourth

    Caution lap 29 David Stremme spun. Leaders head down pit road.

    Restart lap 34 Kurt Busch makes it four wide, going down to the apron as Harvick didn’t get the best restart……Ky Busch leads Hamlin and Harvick

    Lap 36 Ky Busch leads Hamlin Harvick Bowyer Ku Busch Logano Kenseth McMurray Keselowski Martin

    Caution lap 37 Timmy Hill blows up. Some stay out while others pit. Martin, Kahne, Bowyer and Ku Busch both pitted after getting into the wall when Hill blew up.

    Restart lap 43 Ky Busch and Logano side-by-side through the turns.

    Lap 44 Logano clears Ky Busch for the lead.

    Lap 45 Logano leads Ky Busch Hamlin Harvick Kenseth McMurray Stenhouse Truex Stewart Johnson

    Lap 46 Johnson passes Stewart for ninth….Stewart passes Johnson back

    Lap 47 Stewart passes both Truex and Stenhouse; Truex passes Stenhouse

    Lap 48 Ky Busch and Hamlin battle for second

    Lap 49 Logano leads Ky Busch Hamlin Harvick Kenseth McMurray Stewart Truex Stenhouse Earnhardt Jr…..Kenseth passes Harvick for fourth

    Lap 50 Earnhardt Jr. passes Stenhouse for ninth

    Lap 51 Logano leads Ky Busch Hamlin Kenseth Harvick McMurray Stewart Truex Earnhardt Jr. and Stenhouse

    Lap 57 Logano leads Ky Busch Harvick Kenseth Stewart Hamlin McMurray Earnhardt Truex and Edwards

    Lap 59 Stewart passes Kenseth for fourth

    Lap 63 Logano leads Ky Busch Harvick Stewart Kenseth Hamlin McMurray Earnhardt Truex and Edwards

    Lap 68 Earnhardt Jr. pits along with Ambrose and Almirola while Logano leads Ky Busch and Harvick. Race leader Logano, Martin, Biffle, Keselowski and McMurray pit to hand the lead over to Kyle Busch.

    Lap 69 Kyle Busch, Johnson and Hamlin pits, handing the lead over to Harvick.

    Lap 70 Harvick pits, to hand the lead over to Stewart. Harvick gets a speeding penalty.

    Lap 75 Kurt Busch has a penalty. Ryan Newman just pitted. Tony Stewart heads for pit road, handing the lead over to Kyle Busch

    Lap 81 Ky Busch leads Logano Hamlin Earnhardt Jr Kenseth Stewart Truex Kahne McMuray Bowyer

    Lap 83 Ky Busch and Logano battle for the lead. Ky Busch able to hold it for now.

    Lap 91 Caution for debris. Leaders hit pit road. Hamlin beats Kyle Busch off pit road. Keselowski penalized for being too fast.

    Restart lap 96. Kyle Busch and Hamlin side-by-side for the lead. Kyle Busch clears Hamlin off of turn four.

    Lap 97 Ky Busch leads Hamlin Logano Earnardt Kensetg Stewart Kahne Edwards Bowyer Truex

    Lap 104 Logano passes Hamlin for second

    Lap 105 Earnhardt Jr. passes Hamlin for third…..Ky Busch leads Logano Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin. Menard down pit road with a flat tire.

    88 to go Ky Busch leads Logano Earnhardt Jr Hamlin Stewart Bowyer Harvick Kahne Bifle Truex….Kenseth heads down pit road

    85 to go Harvick passes Bowyer

    Caution 84 to go Joe Nemechek got into the wall with a flat tire. Leaders hit pit road. Kyle Busch leads Hamlin Logano Stewart Harvick Edwards Bowyer off pit road. Earnhardt Jr.’s pit crew with troubles on rear.

    Restart 79 to go. Logano grabs the lead off of turn two ahead of Ky Busch.

    77 to go Logano leads Ky Busch Hamlin Harvick Stewart Newman Logano Biffle Stenhouse Bowyer.

    74 to go Logano leads Ky Busch Harvick Biffle Hamlin Stewart Newman Edwards Bowyer Earnhardt

    72 to go Bowyer passes Edwards for eighth; Stewart passes Hamlin

    Caution 70 to go Ambrose slow on the track. Leaders head down pit road. Stewart leads Bowyer Keselowski Kenseth Logano Harvick Biffle Hamlin Edwards Busch. Top four took two tires. Kyle Busch reported battery 1 is dead. Running on other battery.

    Restart 64 to go Bowyer and Stewart side-by-side for the lead……Stewart pulls ahead out of turn two.

    63 to go Stewart leads Bowyer Harvick Ky Busch Kenseth Keselowski Hamlin Logano Biffle Kahne

    61 to go Ky Busch and Harvick side-by-side for second after both got by Bowyer

    60 to go Stewart leads Harvick Ky Busch Logano Bowyer Keselowski Hamlin Kenseth Newman Biffle

    59 to go Ky Busch passes Harvick for second

    56 to go Ky Busch passes Stewart for the lead while Harvick grabs second

    53 to go Ky Busch leads Harvick Logano Stewart Keselowski Hamlin Bowyer Newman Kahne Kenseth. Montoya to the garage with shifter issues.

    47 to go Kahne passed Bowyer and Newman. Hamlin passes Keselowski.

    40 to go Ky Busch leads Harvick Logano Hamlin Stewart

    39 to go Bobby Labonte, Truex, McMurray, Martin and Earnhardt Jr. hit pit road.

    38 to go Patrick, Kenseth, Burton and Bowyer pit

    37 to go Martin gets penalized for speeding. Keselowski, Reuitmann, Gordon, Almmendinger, Menard, Stremme, Stenhouse, Ambrose, Ku Busch, Almirola and Kahne pit

    36 to go Stewart and Nemechek pit.

    35 to go Logano and Blaney pit.

    34 to go Newman and Hamlin pit…….Busch pits from the lead, followed by Harvick.

    33 to go Johnson pits. Pit cycle complete. Ky Busch to the lead.

    Lap 169 Caution for debris from Ambrose. Huge bumper cover on track. Ambrose has a tire go down on the left rear. Half of the drivers on the lead lap pitted. Stewart leads Earnhardt and Gordon off pit road. They took two tires. Kyle Busch stayed out with some others.

    Restart 26 to go Ky Busch gets the jump as Harvick doesn’t go on the bottom.

    Caution 25 to go Mark Martin goes spinning on the backstrightaway after bouncing off the wall and then directly into Gilliland. Leaders stay out, while some of the drivers in the back pitted. Hamlin has to come back to pit road – missing lugnuts.

    Restart 20 to go….three-wide for the lead……Ky Busch leads off of turn two ahead of Logano and Stewart.

    19 to go Ky Busch leads Logano Stewart Kahne Biffle…..Ku Busch passes both Kahne and Biffle off of turn four….side-by-side with Ku Busch at the line

    17 to go Ky Busch leads Logano Stewart Ku Busch Keselowski

    Caution 15 to go Clint Bowyer blown up. Top six stayed out while rest of the lead lap cars pitted. Newman got a speeding penalty

    Restart 11 to go land rush into turn one as they’re three, four wide as Logano is inside of Ky Busch for the lead.

    10 to go Kyle Busch leads as Edwards, Logano and Smith are thre-wide for second. Logano and Kurt Busch stay side-by-side off of turn four.

    9 to go Ky Busch leads as Logano makes it out of the nest

    8 to go Logano has chased Ky Busch down.

    7 to go Logano and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead off turn two…..Logano falls back behind Ky Busch……Hamlin to the inside of Logano, Logano got into Hamlin

    6 to go Logano to the lead in a three wide battle with Hamlin and Ky Busch

    5 to go Logano ahead of Hamlin Ky Busch Edwards Earnhardt Jr

    4 to go Edwards passes Ky Busch…..Ky Busch with the cross-over. Ky Busch keeps third…..Earnhardt Jr passes Edwards off of turn four

    Final lap. Hamlin to the outside of Logano. They bump off of turn two. They were bumping through turns three and four, Ky Busch sneaks past. Hamlin puts Logano into the wall off of four, Hamlin spins and into the inside wall hard.

    Kyle Busch wins. Earnhardt Jr. finishes second.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=5
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 48
    2 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 42
    3 6 22 Joey Logano Ford 42
    4 24 99 Carl Edwards Ford 40
    5 10 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 39
    6 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 38
    7 5 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 38
    8 27 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 36
    9 16 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 35
    10 20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 34
    11 19 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 33
    12 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 32
    13 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 32
    14 23 43 Aric Almirola Ford 30
    15 11 13 Casey Mears Ford 29
    16 26 51 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 28
    17 22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 27
    18 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 26
    19 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 25
    20 31 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 24
    21 29 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 23
    22 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 23
    23 3 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 21
    24 42 34 David Ragan Ford 21
    25 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 20
    26 40 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 18
    27 37 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 17
    28 25 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 16
    29 34 38 David Gilliland Ford 15
    30 36 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 14
    31 32 30 David Stremme Toyota 13
    32 43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 0
    33 28 83 David Reutimann Toyota 11
    34 33 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 11
    35 13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 9
    36 21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 8
    37 9 55 Mark Martin Toyota 7
    38 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 6
    39 39 32 Timmy Hill # Ford 5
    40 30 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 0
    41 38 44 Scott Riggs Ford 3
    42 35 98 Michael McDowell Ford 2
    43 41 19 Mike Bliss(i) Toyota 0
  • Busch wins the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    Busch wins the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    Kyle Busch won the 15th Annual NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Royal Purple 300.  This was Busch’s sixth victory and 12th top-10 finish in 15 races at Auto Club Speedway.

    This was Busch’s third victory of the season and the fourth top-10 finish in 2013.

    Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, Regan Smith third, Parker Kligerman fourth  and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-5.

    “It feels really good. We started off the year just the way we wanted to and have made sure we took care of the car throughout the first five races as well as we could. We wanted to get out of the box good and I preached that to the team in the off-season.” Hornish said posting his fifth top-10 finish this season.

    Busch started on the pole but Sadler took over the lead on lap 2 and started to put some ground on the other leaders while Busch battled with Brad Keselowski, Hornish Jr. and Brian Vickers.

    Sadler was pulling away when all of a sudden he started to slow down and went down to the apron of the track.  Sadler switched ignition switches and able to continue.

    The first caution waved on lap 33 for debris when the No.7 of Smith blew the left front tire of his JR Motorsports car and threw some tire pieces on the race track to cause the caution. All of the leaders came in to pit for the first stop of the day. Everyone took four tires but the lead did not change as Busch came in first and came out first. Vickers, Hornish Jr, Scott and Sadler came out of the pits in the top-5.

    Restart was on lap 38 with Busch leading while everybody was going two, three or even four wide.  Busch kept the lead while Hornish Jr. passed Vickers for second place. Hornish then gained little every lap and was battling Busch for the lead on lap 41 and took over the lead. Busch battled back took over the lead two laps later.

    The Caution came out right after Busch took over the lead when the No.79 of Paulie Harraka just went up in flames on the backstretch. Harraka got out of the car and was okay.

    The green flag waved on lap 50 with Hornish Jr. and Busch battling for the lead with Hornish Jr.  Busch took over the lead on lap 54 while Vickers was telling his crew that something was not right with the car and went into the pits.

    Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 78 with the No.32 of Kyle Larson came in for his second pit stop of the day. Scott also came in saying his car is pretty good but he just needs a little more tightness in the car and it will be real good. Keselowksi came in and told his crew he was “wrecking loose” but it was getting better. Hornish Jr. and Sadler came in and has solid stops and was away. Busch finally came in on lap 81 and finished his stop but came out second due to Hornish Jr. took over the top spot due to coming in two laps earlier and had faster tires. Busch did not seem fazed by that as he took Hornish Jr. for the lead and pulled away.

    With 57 laps to go, the caution came out for debris on the race track. Everybody came into the pits but nobody will be able to make it as they will be about 10-12 laps short of making it to the good. Everybody took four tires except for the No.2 of Brian Scott as Scott took no tires and came out first out of pit lane.

    The green flag waved on lap 100 and with Scott having no tires, he just flew back into the pack as Busch and Hornish Jr took over the lead like they have been doing the entire race.

    The caution waved with 39 laps to go when Jason White and Mike Harmon got together coming off of turn 4. All but one of the leaders came in for their “money” stop. Most everyone did not take tires as all they needed was fuel. Hornish Jr. came out first with Busch right behind him. Scott was the only one that took tires as he did not take tires the last stop while the others did. Keselowski did not pit and will lead them back to the green with 35 laps to go.

    Green waved with 35 laps to go and all the guys were up on the gas ready to go! Hornish over took his teammate on the backstretch to regain the lead while the young stud of Larson was battling Busch for third. Busch passed Keselowski for second and set his sights on Hornish Jr.

    Brad Sweet spun coming onto the backstretch with 27 to go but no caution flag. Busch got a great run off the corner and past Hornish Jr. for the lead. Hornish Jr. was slowly gaining on Busch but with two laps to go, Hornish Jr. smacked the outside wall trying to get as much as he could but came up one spot short.

    Hornish Jr. leads the series point standings by 28 points over Regan Smith.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Royal Purple 300, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=5
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Toyota 0
    2 7 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Ford 43
    3 16 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet 41
    4 8 77 Parker Kligerman Toyota 40
    5 11 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 39
    6 9 32 Kyle Larson # Chevrolet 38
    7 2 11 Elliott Sadler Toyota 38
    8 12 2 Brian Scott Chevrolet 37
    9 15 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 35
    10 17 98 Kevin Swindell # Ford 34
    11 18 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 33
    12 6 99 Alex Bowman # Toyota 32
    13 14 60 Travis Pastrana Ford 31
    14 22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 31
    15 13 33 Dakoda Armstrong(i) Chevrolet 0
    16 5 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. # Chevrolet 28
    17 19 43 Reed Sorenson Ford 27
    18 10 19 Mike Bliss Toyota 26
    19 4 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Ford 0
    20 24 40 Josh Wise Chevrolet 24
    21 23 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 24
    22 21 5 Brad Sweet Chevrolet 22
    23 26 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 21
    24 34 44 Hal Martin # Toyota 20
    25 29 55 Jamie Dick Chevrolet 19
    26 40 92 Dexter Stacey # Ford 18
    27 37 14 Eric McClure Toyota 17
    28 27 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 16
    29 38 15 Juan Carlos Blum # Ford 15
    30 36 23 Carl Long Ford 14
    31 39 74 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 13
    32 33 24 Blake Koch Toyota 12
    33 35 0 Jason White Toyota 11
    34 3 20 Brian Vickers Toyota 10
    35 28 79 Paulie Harraka Ford 9
    36 30 27 Michael McDowell(i) Toyota 0
    37 20 10 Jeff Green Toyota 7
    38 31 42 JJ Yeley(i) Chevrolet 0
    39 25 47 Scott Riggs(i) Chevrolet 0
    40 32 52 Joey Gase Toyota 4
  • Hamlin wins the pole for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway

    Hamlin wins the pole for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway

    Trying to put the fine and issues with Joey Logano behind him, Denny Hamlin would win the pole for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

    He won the 13th pole of his career with a lap of 38.410 seconds, 187.451 mph. It marks his fourth straight top 10 starting spot of the season and third pole at Auto Club Speedway. Hamlin started on the pole last year before finishing 11th.

    “I told my crew I could pretty much guarantee the pole had we qualified — anywhere 20th or later. I knew our car was just ridiculous fast in qualifying trim. They’re dragging qualifying out so long right now for TV that it’s going to get fast here at the end.” Hamlin said.

    The start of the season hasn’t gone as the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota expected as he was fined the second weekend of the season at Phoenix for words he spoke about the car after the race. Hamlin was going to appeal, however chose to not appeal but refuses to pay the fine. NASCAR said they would take care of the issue, whether taking the funds after a race or at the end of the year.

    Then last week just before halfway, Hamlin would make contact with Logano, putting Logano into the wall. Logano would display his displeasure after the race  before the pair carried their feud on to twitter.

    Greg Biffle would qualify second for his third top 10 start of the season, and his 10th at Auto Club Speedway. Points leader Brad Keselowski was third for his first top 10 qualifying position in Fontana. However, both Biffle and Keselowski will start the race from the rear after changing the motors during practice.

    “That was a spectacular lap considering everything we did today,” Biffle commented afterwards. “We were fortunate enough to get an extra hour of practice here and unfortunately we had about eight minutes of practice today before qualifying. The guys worked really hard to get the engine changed. I got out with three minutes to go to make a lap and we made adjustments from that lap and we were able to put down a pretty fast lap.”

    Last week’s race winner Kyle Busch was fourth, followed by Las Vegas race winner Matt Kenseth. Logano was sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch.

    Clint Bowyer, who led the practice session, would qualify 13th.

    Starting Lineup
    Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/qual.php?race=5
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 187.451 38.41
    2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 187.217 38.458
    3 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 187.149 38.472
    4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 187.13 38.476
    5 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 186.688 38.567
    6 22 Joey Logano Ford 186.514 38.603
    7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 186.273 38.653
    8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 185.864 38.738
    9 55 Mark Martin Toyota 185.792 38.753
    10 78 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 185.677 38.777
    11 13 Casey Mears Ford 185.157 38.886
    12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 185.085 38.901
    13 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 184.876 38.945
    14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 184.715 38.979
    15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 184.625 38.998
    16 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 184.374 39.051
    17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 184.233 39.081
    18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 184.044 39.121
    19 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 184.011 39.128
    20 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 183.988 39.133
    21 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 183.852 39.162
    22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.702 39.194
    23 43 Aric Almirola Ford 183.697 39.195
    24 99 Carl Edwards Ford 183.57 39.222
    25 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 183.248 39.291
    26 51 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 183.113 39.32
    27 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 183.02 39.34
    28 83 David Reutimann Toyota 182.825 39.382
    29 7 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 182.658 39.418
    30 35 Josh Wise(i) Ford 182.639 39.422
    31 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # Ford 182.519 39.448
    32 30 David Stremme Toyota 182.473 39.458
    33 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 182.44 39.465
    34 38 David Gilliland Ford 181.493 39.671
    35 98 Michael McDowell Ford 181.087 39.76
    36 33 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 181.087 39.76
    37 36 JJ Yeley Chevrolet 180.203 Owner Points
    38 44 Scott Riggs Ford 179.829 Owner Points
    39 32 Timmy Hill # Ford 179.471 Owner Points
    40 10 Danica Patrick # Chevrolet 179.305 Owner Points
    41 19 Mike Bliss(i) Toyota 178.355 Owner Points
    42 34 David Ragan Ford 177.813 Owner Points
    43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 177.144 Owner Points
  • Austin Dillon leads practice for Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    Austin Dillon leads practice for Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway

    At the end of final practice for the Nationwide Series, it’d be last year’s rookie of the year Austin Dillon topping the charts with a lap of 40.728 seconds. Dillon is looking to rebound after finishing 11th last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. He finished fifth at Auto Club Speedway last year.

    Kyle Larson would time in second, 0.232 seconds off of Dillon. This marks Larson’s first start at Auto Club Speedway as he continues to learn the ropes. Larson showcased his talent last week at Bristol following a thrilling last lap battle with Kyle Busch for the lead where Larson would lose by inches.

    Elliott Sadler would time in third as he looks to bounce back after engine problems last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sadler finished ninth last year at Fontana.

    Last week’s pole sitter Justin Allgaier was fourth, followed by points leader Sam Hornish Jr.

    Last week’s race winner Kyle Busch was sixth as he looks for his sixth win at Fontana. He was followed by Regan Smith, Nelson Piquet Jr., Dakoda Armstrong and Kevin Swindell.

    Nationwide Series qualifying takes place tomorrow morning, with the race following in the afternoon at 5pm EST.

  • Clint Bowyer leads opening practice for Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway

    Clint Bowyer leads opening practice for Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway

    At the end of the first practice, it’d be Clint Bowyer topping the charts with a lap of 38.832 seconds (185.414 mph) in his No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota.

    “This is a fun race track,” he said. “For as big as it is, it’s always a lot of fun when it widens out on the race — running high, running low and duking and driving.  It always seems to race pretty well.  For the size of this race track, we all enjoy ourselves pretty well out there.  Looking forward to it.”

    In four races so far this year, Bowyer has two top 10 finishes, with his worst finish being 27th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Currently sitting fourth in points, Bowyer is trying to keep the momentum going after finishing second in points last year to Brad Keselowski.

    “Had a strong run last week (at Bristol) and hopefully we can continue this momentum and keep building,” Bowyer continued. “This is a good time of the year to get your mojo rolling and get a good points base established so you can roll into the summer months being able to race as hard as you want and take as many chances as you want.”

    Denny Hamlin would time in second, 0.0124 seconds off of Bowyer. Hamlin has been in the news lately as a result of a comment that NASCAR didn’t agree with at Phoenix International Raceway. Hamlin was penalized and said he wouldn’t pay the fine, but chose not to appeal. Hamlin is also looking for a good run this weekend after a poor finish last weekend due to a flat tire late in the race. Last weekend may be a weekend that the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota would like to forget after a run-in with Joey Logano.

    A.J. Allmendinger was third, 0.169 seconds off of Bowyer in his No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet. Allmendinger will be running some races for Phoenix Racing while running some Indy Car races for Penske Racing, including the Indianapolis 500.

    Last week’s pole sitter and fourth place finisher Kyle Busch was fourth, followed by Logano.

    Greg Biffle was sixth, followed by Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.

    Points leader Brad Keselowski was 20th, 0.570 seconds off of Bowyer.

    “We have done everything but win a race,” Keselowski said of his season so far. “That is where our focus is at this weekend for sure. We’ve certainly got a strong, consistent start but we have been in position on the final restart of each race to win and have come up just a little bit short. Hopefully we can close that out this weekend. I think we have got the car to do it and the team to do it. We are ready to get on track and get going. We have practice and qualifying here today and I am curious how this race is going to play out. I honestly think this is going to be an exceptional race.”

    Qualifying takes place later today at 7pm EST.

  • Kasey Kahne wins Food City 500 at Bristol

    Kasey Kahne wins Food City 500 at Bristol

    After taking the lead on a late race restart with 45 laps to go from Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne would pull out ahead of the field to win the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marks his first victory of the season, and second top 10 in a row after finishing to Matt Kenseth last week.

    “I love racing for Hendrick Motorsports and Rick Hendrick. This team has been great so far this year,” the driver of the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet said in victory lane. “It’s great to come out here and win. We prepared pretty hard this year and we’re running strong.”

    While it marks the 15th victory of Kahne’s career, it marks his first victory at Bristol.

    “It’s such a tough place,” Kahne added. “So many things can happen throughout the weekend. To see this team come together and pull out a win, I feel like we accomplished something big today. I’ve always wanted to win here. It feels good.”

    Pole sitter Kyle Busch would come back to finish second after a pit road speeding penalty for his 12th top 10 in 17 starts on the World’s Fastest Half-Mile.

    “You just stop getting penalties and stay up front all day,” Busch said. “We’re trying to take too much on pit road and it’s not working out for us; we need to back off there. Just was too tight there all day. Just never really had the car. It’s a good day, I guess.”

    Keselowski would hold on to finish third to take over the points lead, nine points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    “Again, it’s not meant to be,” Keselowski said. “Just can’t get it together at the end. He had the faster car, may had gotten by me anyway. On the restart, the 11 (Denny Hamlin) car got into me – hard to restart with my back tires up off the ground. Kahne got a nose there on the restart and he was gone. Either way, another third fourth place finish which is a good run. But I want to get a W.”

    In speaking of the restart, Denny Hamlin apologized after the race, saying that Joey Logano had gotten into the back of him.

    Kurt Busch would finish fourth to bring home a top five finish for Funiture Row Racing.

    “We had our struggles,” Busch spoke of his day. “We had some loose wheels and got off sequence there at times. But luckily we had a fast car. We have some things that we have to polish, but a top five here at Bristol is great. To know that we had the fastest car with 10 laps to go is a good feeling. When I caught up to Kyle and Brad, had it been for the lead, it may had been a little different.”

    Clint Bowyer would complete the top five. Dale Eanhardt Jr. would finish sixth, followed by Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray.

    As typical with Bristol, the day did not go without any blood boiling over as Hamlin would get into Logano on lap 348, causing Logano heavy rear end damage. Hamlin and Logano were teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing last year, before Logano joined Penske Racing for this season.

    “You got to control your car and he slid up into me,” Hamlin said. “We would’ve been in the garage with a broken radiator if I hadn’t let him slide up. I meant to get into him. I didn’t mean to turn him. We both had a bad day, so it’s even.”

    “It’s Bristol, but it’s ridiculous,” Logano tweeted. “I feel like I’ve raced him clean but if he’s going to do that, I know how he’s going to race me now that I’m not his teammate. I will race him from now on the way he raced me.”

    After the race, Logano made his way over to talk to Hamlin and said some words before crew members separated the pair.

    “He told me he’s coming from me but I never see him because he’s never a factor,” Hamlin spoke of the discussion.

    “”It wasn’t much of a conversation, but I guess talk is cheap,” Logano said.

    The pair would trade words via twitter after the race. This marks the second incident between him after some words were traded on twitter following the Daytona 500. Logano would finish 17th with his damage, while Hamlin finished 23rd after blowing a tire late in the race.

    Jimmie Johnson, who came with the points lead, would finish 22nd after blowing a tire and hitting the wall on lap 455. He would finish 22nd.

    Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon would lead 66 laps, but would also suffer damage after blowing a tire while leading and hitting the wall. He would finish 34th.

    “The car was really good out front on the restart,” Gordon said. “Right fronts never go out when you’re up at the wall. I dove down to pass the lap car and it blew it. Definitely unfortunate that we took out Matt with us.”

    Matt Kenseth, who was running second at the time, would be collected as he would run into the back of Gordon with no where to go. Kenseth would finish 35th after leading 85 laps.

    “It’s not a lot either one of us could do,” Kenseth said. “Really encouraged by Jason (Ratcliff). He made awesome adjustments. We got a little behind and just made it up, wanted to be in the lead for that last pit stop. He blew a tire, nowhere to go. Just unfortunate.”

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