Category: Race Central

[media-credit name=”Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]Brad Keselowski pulled away from Kyle Busch in the final turn on Sunday’s in the Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway to win his sixth career race and his second at Talladega.

Matt Kenseth was the dominate car all day and elected to take the outside line with his teammate Greg Biffle on the final green-white-checkered restart. The two teammates quickly pulled out in front of Keselowski and Busch for the race lead. But Kenseth got too far out in front of Biffle, allowing the Keselowski/Busch duo to make a run on them and take over the lead.

“Our Best Buy Ford was really fast today and nobody could stay locked to it. Greg gave me a great push there on the last restart and we got over into turn two and by the time I realized we were separated we were separated by four car lengths. I should have just made sure that we stayed sealed up and had a chance.” Kenseth said.

“It was close at the end but I just wish I could have stayed on Matt’s bumper. He pulled away from me a little bit. If we could have stayed locked together it would have come down to him and me at the end but we just couldn’t stay locked up with him there at the end.” Biffle said.

Busch was in the cat bird seat running second heading to the finish. But Keselowski was able to get far enough in front of Busch coming out of turns 3 and 4 and easily cruised to victory.

“I had this whole plan if I ever got into that situation where I was leading. I thought about it and thought about it and dreamed about it, what to do. Sure enough going into 3 it was just me and Kyle. I knew the move I wanted to pull and it worked.” Keselowski  said.

Busch finished second, Kenseth third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Biffle finished fifth.

Ryan Newman had to come to the garage on lap 43 with an oil pump problem.

“I smelled oil off of (Turn) 2 and felt the motor tightening-up I lost oil pressure and gained a bunch of water pressure. I just pulled it out of gear. I knew it was blowing up, but just seeing if we had a chance to fix it and hoping we could make it or fix it or whatever. But I’m pretty sure it’s hurt.” Newman said.

Jimmie Johnson had a similar problem on lap 65 and was pushed to the garage.

“Or oil pressure situation we don’t know exactly what it is yet. They are in there working on it. The car still spins over so hopefully we can get things, find out what went wrong, get back out on the track and try to collect some points. It’s just a bummer; we had such a great race car, up there leading the race and had something happen there.” Johnson said.

On lap 141, several cars running out of gas and there was a pile pile up in turns 3 and 4 because of all of the slowing cars.  Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola and Dave Blaney all were involved.

“It looked like guys were running out of fuel and going down in there in turn three the guys in front of me stopped and it was just over. We got wrecked. This is Talladega. You come here and you just hope you make it through all that stuff.” Edwards said. Edwards finished 31st.

Casey Mears got loose in turns 1 and 2 on lap 175. He spun up the track and then back down collecting Trevor Bayne.

Bayne was able to battle back and finish 8th.

“We will take that especially after all that mayhem out there. We ran out of fuel once, spun out once after getting hit. I slowed way down and I don’t know what happened. It was a good caution for us because we needed fuel to make it to the end. I think that is a great finish for us.” Bayne said.

With less than 10 laps to go, while running second, Kurt Busch, aka “Ricky Bobby” spun out from slight contact from Keselowski from behind. Busch came to rest after hitting the inside wall. Busch turned around and went the wrong way up the track and continued up pit road.

AJ Allmendinger put the block on Denny Hamlin as Hamlin tried to make a moved to the inside lane on the restart on lap 184. The two cars got together causing a chain reaction crash. Paul Menard, Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Robert Richardson Jr., Tony Stewart and Joey Logano all were caught up in the crash.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Darlington next week for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at 6:30 pm.

Unofficial Race Results
Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=10
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	13	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	47
2	21	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	43
3	10	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	43
4	5	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	41
5	6	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	40
6	24	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	38
7	32	34	David Ragan	Ford	37
8	11	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
9	18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	36
10	29	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	35
11	23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	33
12	4	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	32
13	26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	31
14	3	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	30
15	2	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	29
16	41	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	29
17	17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	28
18	25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	27
19	9	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	26
20	33	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	25
21	42	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	23
22	34	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	22
23	22	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	22
24	8	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	21
25	20	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	20
26	30	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	18
27	39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Toyota	0
28	15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	16
29	28	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	15
30	38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	14
31	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	13
32	12	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	13
33	1	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	11
34	40	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	10
35	19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	10
36	14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	8
37	36	97	Bill Elliott	Toyota	7
38	43	33	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	6
39	27	30	David Stremme	Toyota	5
40	31	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	4
41	37	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	16	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	2
43	35	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	1

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”243″][/media-credit]Jeff Gordon captured the poll for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway with a lap of 191.624 mph (49.973 secs).

“I’m just so proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. We needed something to boost our morale and something positive because we’ve had a rough year so far. This is a surprise. We did not expect to be sitting here right now talking to you about a pole. I think it’s so ironic that we’ve got the DuPont paint scheme, which is celebrating 20 years together this year and here we sit on the pole for 20 straight years.” Gordon said.

This is Gordon’s 71st career pole and his first since this race last season.  This also makes the 20 consecutive years with a pole.

“Oh, thank you. We look forward to that and what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.” Gordon said.

AJ Allmendinger qualified second.

“The Shell/Pennzoil Dodge qualifying run was a little surprising. I didn’t get to make a full-blown Q (qualifying) run yesterday, so we weren’t really sure what we had. It had nothing to do with me.” Allmendinger said.

Marcos Ambrose qualified third.

“We missed the pole by two-one hundredths. I am proud of Todd Parrott, he works really hard at these Superspeedway events. He really knows what to do. We just keep getting better and better at these race tracks for the King and for his whole Richard Petty Motorsports team.” Ambrose said.

Aric Almirola qualified fourth and Kasey Kahne qualified fifth.

The series points leader Greg Biffle qualified sixth.

“I am not sure if that will hold up on the front row. The pole speed was a tenth-and-a-half faster than what we went. We had cloud cover and the best conditions and I thought the car had a little more speed.” Biffle said.

Starting Lineup
Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=10
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	191.624	49.973
2	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	191.111	50.107
3	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	191.039	50.126
4	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	190.981	50.141
5	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	190.772	50.196
6	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	190.586	50.245
7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	190.586	50.245
8	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	190.476	50.274
9	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	190.245	50.335
10	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	190.2	50.347
11	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	190.17	50.355
12	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	190.14	50.363
13	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	190.072	50.381
14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	190.064	50.383
15	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	189.958	50.411
16	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	189.958	50.411
17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	189.906	50.425
18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	189.864	50.436
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	189.797	50.454
20	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	189.785	50.457
21	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	189.691	50.482
22	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	189.68	50.485
23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	189.601	50.506
24	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	189.556	50.518
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	189.477	50.539
26	38	David Gilliland	Ford	189.354	50.572
27	30	David Stremme	Toyota	189.331	50.578
28	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	189.182	50.618
29	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	189.1	50.64
30	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	189.073	50.647
31	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	189.051	50.653
32	34	David Ragan	Ford	189.021	50.661
33	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	188.984	50.671
34	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	188.902	50.693
35	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	188.63	50.766
36	97	Bill Elliott	Toyota	188.171	50.89
37	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	188.012	50.933
38	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	187.625	51.038
39	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Toyota	186.71	51.288
40	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	186.293	51.403
41	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	186.206	51.427
42	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	185.79	51.542
43	33	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	186.529	51.338

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final restart, ending his 20 race winless streak on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch beat then leader Tony Stewart out of the pits during the final caution flag pit stops with 14 laps remaining.  On the restart, Stewart spun his tires again, giving Busch a 3-4 car length lead heading into turn-1. Earnhardt Jr. was able to make it around Stewart for second with eight laps to go.

With three laps to go, Earnhardt reports he is losing his brakes and Busch cruises to his 24th career win and the fourth consecutive spring race victory.

“We had some brake problems all race long. I had a great re-start and I ran really great for one lap and the pedal went back to the floor. I just had to pump it up all the way down the straightaway and I didn’t have any front brakes getting into the corner so I couldn’t get in real hard.” Earnhardt said.

Stewart dominated a lot of the race up until the final caution.  He finished third.

“Well, when the caution is for a plastic (water) bottle on the backstretch, it’s hard to feel good about losing that one, I mean. And we gave it away on pit road. So we did everything we could to throw it away; it got taken away from us. That’s the best car I’ve had a Richmond in a long time.” Stewart said.

Denny Hamlin fourth and Kasey Kahne finished fifth.

Greg Biffle finished 18th and has a 5-point lead over Earnhardt Jr. in the series standings

On Lap 320 Carl Edwards was black-flagged for jumping the restart. Stewart on the inside spun his tires, making it look like Edwards had a larger jump than he really did. Stewart was the leader, so Edwards had to do a drive-thru penalty. Stewart was able to stay on the lead lap until Stewart passed him with 28 laps remaining, putting him one lap down.

“This takes a minute to explain so bear with me. I was on the outside and thought Tony Stewart was the leader on the inside. NASCAR told my spotter about three seconds before the restart that the 99 was the leader. They put us on the scoreboard as the leader and I realized I was at a disadvantaged position on the outside land and NASCAR made a little mistake. I got the best start I could and Tony didn’t start or spun his tires and NASCAR black flagged us. I don’t know why they black flagged me. I don’t think it is right and I don’t agree with it. Before I say something stupid because I am real frustrated I would like to go talk to them.” Edwards said.

A caution flag came out with 13 laps to go, giving Edwards the “lucky dog” pass. Edwards was able to battle back to 10th place.

“I would give anything to be able to have that start again and be able to race to the end. That was going to be a heck of a race.” Edwards said.

Jeff Gordon’s disaster of a season continues. Gordon started sixth but had dropped back to mid pack by the 50-lap competition caution flag. On lap 57, Gordon got a little sideways, possible help from the no.43, went up the track got into Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch. Gordon had to pit for tires and repairs and came out 2-laps down in 31st position. Gordon was never able to overcome the laps down and finished 23rd and sits 17th in the series standings.

Kurt Busch also suffered damage but was able to continue on despite a tire rub. On lap 116 Busch spun out on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution flag and he looses a lap. Busch finished 28th.

The series heads to Talladega Superspeedway next week.

 

Unofficial Race Results
Capital City 400, Richmond International Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=9
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	–	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	47
2	–	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	42
3	–	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	42
4	–	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	40
5	–	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	39
6	–	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	39
7	–	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	37
8	–	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	37
9	–	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	35
10	–	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	36
11	–	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	33
12	–	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	32
13	–	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	31
14	–	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	30
15	–	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	29
16	–	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	28
17	–	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	27
18	–	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	26
19	–	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	26
20	–	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	24
21	–	13	Casey Mears	Ford	23
22	–	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	22
23	–	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	21
24	–	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	20
25	–	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	19
26	–	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	18
27	–	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	17
28	–	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	16
29	–	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	15
30	–	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	15
31	–	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	13
32	–	34	David Ragan	Ford	12
33	–	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	11
34	–	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
35	–	33	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	9
36	–	38	David Gilliland	Ford	8
37	–	30	David Stremme	Toyota	7
38	–	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	6
39	–	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	5
40	–	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	0
41	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	–	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
43	–	195	Scott Speed	Ford	1

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]Mark Martin qualified late and captured the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway with a lap of 128.327 MPH (21.04 secs).

“I tried to get it on the first lap. I really didn’t want to run the second lap. I knew I was going to be close to wrecking and I didn’t want to wreck the car and when he (Rodney Childers, crew chief) didn’t call me off on the first lap, I knew that we hadn’t got it.” Martin said. “I had to buckle down and try to get a little bit more that second lap. It’s just a tribute to everybody that supports us at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing).”

This was Martin’s second pole of the season and the 53rd of his career.

Martin captured his first pole at Richmond 31 years ago.  He also breaks the previous record of the oldest pole winner at Richmond (53 years, 3 months, 19 days).

“I think a lot of guys like to see an old dude like me pull one off every once in a while. It’s pretty cool. Carl’s (Edwards) a good dude. It’ll be there other way around next time probably.” Martin said.

Carl Edwards qualified second, Kevin Harvick third, A.J. Allmendinger fourth and Kyle Busch qualified 5th.

“That is a good lap and we have Ford EcoBoost on the car which is a great product and hopefully this is a top-five or six starting spot. We have a better race trim package than we do a qualifying trim package so I am excited about that.” Edwards said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the final practice session and qualified 10th. Teammates Jeff Gordon 6th, Kasey Kahne 9th, and Jimmie Johnson qualified 27th.

Series points leader Greg Biffle qualified 28th.

“I don’t know what happened there. I just guess we didn’t have the grip we needed. I was probably just a little bit tight in the center I guess and that was all the grip I had. It was all that I could do.” Biffle said.

Starting Lineup
Capital City 400, Richmond International Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=9
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	128.327	21.04
2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	128.29	21.046
3	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	128.041	21.087
4	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	127.962	21.1
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	127.956	21.101
6	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	127.75	21.135
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	127.732	21.138
8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	127.678	21.147
9	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	127.593	21.161
10	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	127.545	21.169
11	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	127.455	21.184
12	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	127.395	21.194
13	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	127.328	21.205
14	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	127.28	21.213
15	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	127.209	21.225
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	126.993	21.261
17	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	126.963	21.266
18	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	126.915	21.274
19	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	126.892	21.278
20	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	126.82	21.29
21	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	126.796	21.294
22	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	126.749	21.302
23	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	126.695	21.311
24	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	126.683	21.313
25	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	126.612	21.325
26	13	Casey Mears	Ford	126.487	21.346
27	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	126.464	21.35
28	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	126.428	21.356
29	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	126.351	21.369
30	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	126.121	21.408
31	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	126.121	21.408
32	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	126.103	21.411
33	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	126.033	21.423
34	30	David Stremme	Toyota	125.98	21.432
35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	125.886	21.448
36	195	Scott Speed	Ford	125.839	21.456
37	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	125.669	21.485
38	34	David Ragan	Ford	125.564	21.503
39	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	125.319	21.545
40	33	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	125.151	21.574
41	38	David Gilliland	Ford	124.481	21.69
42	32	Reed Sorenson+	Ford	124.395	21.705
43	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	124.636	21.663

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The STP 400 was an entertaining race. There was passing, 14 recorded lead changes. There was side by side racing, at times 3-wide going into one and coming out of four. There were stages of the race when there were different dominate cars. But in the end the dominate car would be the no.11 Fed Ex Toyota of Denny Hamlin. With the win the no.11 passed the no.43 for number of wins the number has achieved with 199.

“I just can’t thank everyone at FedEx enough for putting this together and putting me in the driver’s seat. Great day for our race team — the pit crew did amazing there on that green flag pit stop. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made a great call to bring me in one lap early and just a great team effort today. This has been a great weekend and we just had a solid car all week,” said Hamlin.

Martin Truex Jr. was the dominate car and basically walked the dog on the field. MWR’s Napa Toyota, was pulling the dominate horses of the HMS camp down the straight-aways by 7-8 car lengths. But in the end he would finish a disappointing second. “ What can I say about this team? All the NAPA guys have done a nice job — MWR, Toyota — everybody’s put a lot into this and it’s fun to drive these race cars. Just disappointed right now. We had them. I don’t know what happened with that last set of tires, they were terrible. I couldn’t go at all — was just dead sideways, wrecking. At the end of the run, I was back to being okay again, but by then he (Denny Hamlin) had already passed me and clean air is everything.” said Truex Jr with noticeable disappointment in his voice.

The no.48 of Jimmie Johnson was coming. He was coming all day. He would get there and have to pit. He would come back and have to pit. His timing just appeared to be slightly off and left him with a third place finish. “This week it doesn’t register. To me last week at Texas, the week before Martinsville or to lead a lot of laps at Martinsville and have our cars lead one, two, three and not get the victory, to get the most laps and today to get near the end and not close the deal does sting. Today we ran well but we weren’t a dominant car and kind of finished where we should have. Today doesn’t bother me. Sure, I’d love to wise. If things would’ve played out different at the end, maybe we could’ve put two on while the other guys were putting four, something, just trying to give us some options. I don’t think it affected our finish. We got basically back to where we were. I think I was ahead of the 11 but the 11 was real strong that last run and went up there and got the win.”

It was another disappointing day for the 5 car of Kasey Kahne. As a matter of fact, it is beginning to look like Kasey Kahne couldn’t cut a break with a knife. That poor man has done everything but stand on his head and if it can go wrong it has gone wrong. But for once it turned around late in the race and Kasey logged a top ten finish. Finishing 8th.

The no.88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr gave another inspiring performance with a very very strong run. Finishing 7th. Earnhardt Jr is showing consistency this year that we haven’t seen from him in his career. Earnhardt is 4th in the points just 21 points out of first.

A couple of observations that I would like to make about this weeks race. The first, the National anthem is played at every race to pay tribute to our country and our heritage. The number of drivers and crew members that were flatly disrespectful to both was a disgrace. If you can’t show respect for the flag of the country that gives you the freedom to do what you do, then perhaps you should find somewhere else to do what you do perhaps Bahrain.

Second, the STP 400 was a cool windy day. It was a really nice day compared to what it could have been in Kansas in April. The early year date was made necessary due to the repaving project that will begin at the conclusion of this race. Frankly there has been snow in Kansas in April in the past. It was discussed whether this would be one of those years. But the very warm winter prevented that from happening. The weather goddess smiled down on the Kansas Speedway. It was overcast. It was windy. It was a little chilly. But it was dry and it was race worthy. The constant complaints of it was cold were so annoying. Frankly, the dirt track racers in the area raced with temperatures much lower than the what the cup cars had and they were just happy and glad to be racing.

Darrell Waltrip needs to quit. He has no idea what is going on in those cars. Anymore than the announcers of his day knew what was going on his car. To claim that a driver just made an evasive move like going to the apron of the track because he was bored is ludicrous and an insult to his audience. As a matter of fact I am pretty sure that everyone knows what the world disabled means. I didn’t need nor did anyone else an explanation of what a disabled cylinder means.

The taking up of the race surface began just one short hour after the checkered flag waved. When the teams return here in October it will be to a sleek slick black new asphalt surface with progressive banking and an infield road course. Many of the drivers weren’t happy until the surface in the first turn started chunking. At that point it was obvious that there was no choice and the track officials knew exactly what they were doing and were doing the right thing. It’s a changing of era’s. A new phase of growth to begin. Kansas is growing up. She is laying claim to her champions and picking her favorites. It will be exciting to see if her new surface likes the same style of driver as her old one. Or will it prefer a more aggressive driver? Will it take a strong hand and a stronger will to conquer her in the future.

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin on his win in the STP 400. Congratulations to James Beuscher on his win in the NCWTS race at Kansas. Congratulations to Sammy Swindell on his victory in the WoO on Friday and Craig Dollansky on his win on Saturday. Congratulations to Tony Stewart on his victory on Saturday night at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska. Congratulations to Tracey Hines on his USAC Sprint Car win at Eldora Speedway.

To all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

Unofficial Race Results
STP 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=8
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	4	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	47
2	6	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	44
3	15	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	42
4	18	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	41
5	17	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	39
6	2	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	38
7	7	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	37
8	9	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	36
9	21	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	36
10	25	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	34
11	11	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	34
12	39	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	33
13	23	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	31
14	36	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	30
15	3	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	29
16	28	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	28
17	14	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	27
18	19	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	26
19	10	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
20	13	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	24
21	20	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	23
22	12	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	22
23	26	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	21
24	29	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	20
25	35	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	19
26	40	13	Casey Mears	Ford	18
27	22	38	David Gilliland	Ford	17
28	42	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	0
29	16	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	15
30	27	34	David Ragan	Ford	14
31	31	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	13
32	1	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	13
33	5	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	11
34	32	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	10
35	30	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	9
36	8	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	8
37	33	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	7
38	24	30	David Stremme	Toyota	6
39	38	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	5
40	37	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	4
41	41	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
42	43	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
43	34	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	1

[media-credit name=”Jamie Squire/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”231″][/media-credit]Denny Hamlin made the pass on Martin Truex Jr. for the lead with 31 to go and never looked back.

 

Joey Logano drops to the rear despite qualifying second due to an engine change

Green flag as A.J Allmendinger pulls out to the early lead as Kevin Harvick spins the tires on the start.

Lap 7 Allmendinger leads Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr.

Lap 20 Allmendinger leads Harvick, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Bowyer, Kahne, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Martin, Jimmie Johnson

Lap 23 Johnson passes Martin for ninth

Lap 36 Allmendinger leads Harvick, Truex, Hamlin, Bowyer, Kahne, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson and Martin

Lap 37 Harvick and Truex battle side-by-side for second and Truex is able to complete the pass.

Lap 45 Truex was about to pass Allmendinger for the lead as he heads down pit road. Earnhardt Jr. misses pit road. Joey Logano pits.

Lap 46 Allmendinger, Harvick, Biffle, Johnson, Matt Kenseth pit as Allmendinger is out of gas. That handed the lead to Hamlin, who also pits.

Lap 47 Carl Edwards leads a lap and then pits. He is joined on pit road by Regan Smith as Truex goes to the lead.

Lap 48 Bowyer is having an engine problem

Caution Lap 53 as Clint Bowyer spins; he takes the car to the garage. Some drivers choose to pit while the leaders stay out. David Reuitmann gets the lucky dog to make it 27 cars on the lead lap.

Restart Lap 57

Lap 60 Truex leads Harvick, Hamlin, Kahne, Keselowski, Johnson, Allmendinger, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Kenseth

Lap 77 Allmendinger is now having motor problems as he drops out of the top 20

Lap 89 Harvick heads down pit road as he is out of fuel

Lap 92 A bunch of drivers hit pit road as Kahne is out of gas.

Lap 93 Truex pits, handing the lead to Johnson

Lap 94 Kahne makes it to pit road while Edwards, Gordon, Newman also pit; Johnson pits from the lead, handing it over to Kenseth.

Lap 95 Stewart, Kenseth and Greg Biffle hit pit road, handing the lead over to Juan Pablo Montoya. Almirola misses his pit stall

Lap 97 Montoya pits, handing the lead back over to Martin Truex Jr.

Lap 107 Truex leads Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Keselowski, Biffle, Kurt Busch, Martin and Harvick

Lap 116 Truex leads Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Biffle, Keselowski, Busch, Harvick and Martin

Lap 118 Kenseth passes Hamlin for second

Lap 121 Johnson passes Earnhardt Jr. for fourth

Lap 123 Busch passes Keselowski for seventh

Lap 131 Truex leads Kenseth, Hamlin, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Busch, Harvick, Martin, Keselowski as Jamie McMurray pits.

Caution Lap 132 for debris

Lap 133 Leaders come down pit road…..Truex leads Kenseth, Hamlin and Johnson off pit road.

Lap 134 Bobby Labonte has motor problems

Restart Lap 142

Lap 145 Truex leads Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Johnson, Biffle, Martin, Harvick and Kyle Busch

Lap 150 Kyle Busch passes Harvick for ninth

Lap 151 Truex leads Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Biffle, Martin, Kyle Busch and Harvick

Lap 153 Johnson passes Earnhardt Jr. for third

107 to go Truex leads Johnson, Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr.

104 to go Truex leads Johnson, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, Biffle, Kurt Busch, Martin, Kyle Busch, Harvick

93 to go Leaders begin making pit stops.

89 to go Truex and Johnson make their pit stops from first and second.

88 to go Kenseth leads a lap and then pits handing the lead to Keselowski

87 to go Keselowski misses pit road.

86 to go Keselowski pits, handing the lead back to Truex

Caution 80 to go for Montoya getting into the wall as some of the leaders pit while others stay out including Truex

Restart 75 to go as Truex gets a good restart on the field

73 to go Truex leads Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Busch and Keselowski

71 to go Newman pits as he has a possible flat tire

70 to go Johnson passes Kurt Busch and Harvick as Martin passes Kyle Busch for ninth

67 to go Martin passes Harvick for eighth

66 to go Truex leads Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Martin, Harvick, Kyle Busch

65 to go Johnson passes Biffle for fifth

64 to go Johnson passes Earnhardt Jr. for fourth

61 to go Gordon passes Kyle Busch for 10^th

60 to go Martin passes Kurt Busch for seventh

58 to go Kyle Busch and Harvick battle side-by-side for 10^th

57 to go Harvick completes the pass as Biffle passes Earnhardt Jr. for fifth

56 to go Truex lead Hamlin, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Martin, Kurt Busch, Gordon, Harvick

53 to go Stewart got into the wall

46 to go Kahne, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Hamlin pit

45 to go Kyle Busch, Menard, Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Gordon, Mears, Burton and Truex pit, handing the lead to Stewart

43 to go Stewart, Almirola, Smith pits, handing the lead to Montoya

42 to go Montoya pits, handing the lead back to Sam Hornish Jr.

35 to go Hornish Jr. pits to hand the lead to Truex.

33 to go Truex leads Hamlin, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Martin, Harvick, Gordon and Kyle Busch

31 to go Hamlin passes Truex for the lead

30 to go Martin passes Earnhardt Jr. while Kasey Kahne passes Kyle Busch for 10^th while Gordon is off the pace with a motor issue

29 to go Both Kahne and Kyle Busch pass Gordon for position. Kurt Busch is also down a cylinder.

27 to go Hamlin leads Truex, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Kahne, Kyle Busch

17 to go Harvick passes Earnhardt Jr. for position

14 to go Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. pass Martin; Martin is off the pace

11 to go Kahne, Kyle Busch and Edwards all pass Martin

Hamlin wins, over Truex, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle, Harvick, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Edwards, Kyle Busch