Category: RC NASCAR Cup

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.

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 10^th

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 10^th 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

Jimmie Johnson captured his 62^nd 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 25^th, 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 12^th 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

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 11^th

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 10^th

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.