Category: RC NASCAR Cup

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

Kyle Busch captured the Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Food City 500 Coors Light Pole Award with a lap of 129.535 mph, 14.813 seconds at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday. The qualifying lap also broke the previous track record of 128.995 mph, held by Ryan Newman (2003).

This was Busch’s first pole of the season and the 11th of his NSCS career and his first NSCS pole at Bristol in 17 starts.

“I’ve never sat on a pole here at Bristol and qualifying is not everything here. Most of my wins come from about 30th or worse, but I think we’ve got a plan for tomorrow which is good to get ourselves a little bit better in race trim. Qualifying trim on this M&M’s Camry right now — so far, so good.” Busch said.

Kasey Kahne qualified second, Denny Hamlin third, Brian Vickers fourth and Paul Menard qualified fifth.

“Yeah, the car felt really good. I knew Kyle (Busch, pole-winner) had put down a great lap and a track record. So I knew I had to go pretty hard. I just felt like I may have given up a little bit in (Turns) 1 and 2, which would have made it really close for the pole.” Kahne said.

Starting Lineup
Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/qual.php?race=4
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	129.535	14.813
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	128.995	14.875
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	128.96	14.879
4	55	Brian Vickers(i)	Toyota	128.528	14.929
5	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	128.356	14.949
6	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	128.288	14.957
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	128.211	14.966
8	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	128.005	14.99
9	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	127.946	14.997
10	22	Joey Logano	Ford	127.877	15.005
11	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	127.869	15.006
12	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	127.852	15.008
13	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	127.835	15.01
14	38	David Gilliland	Ford	127.792	15.015
15	13	Casey Mears	Ford	127.588	15.039
16	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	127.512	15.048
17	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	127.47	15.053
18	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	127.453	15.055
19	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	127.393	15.062
20	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	127.377	15.064
21	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	127.36	15.066
22	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	127.36	15.066
23	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	127.3	15.073
24	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	127.258	15.078
25	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	127.132	15.093
26	30	David Stremme	Toyota	126.595	15.157
27	95	Scott Speed	Ford	126.578	15.159
28	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Ford	126.528	15.165
29	51	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	126.42	15.178
30	34	David Ragan	Ford	126.403	15.18
31	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	126.237	15.2
32	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	125.947	15.235
33	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	125.848	15.247
34	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	125.74	15.26
35	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	125.732	15.261
36	19	Mike Bliss(i)	Toyota	125.708	15.264
37	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	125.142	Owner Points
38	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	Toyota	124.897	Owner Points
39	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	124.743	Owner Points
40	35	Josh Wise(i)	Ford	124.711	Owner Points
41	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	124.638	Owner Points
42	33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	124.379	Owner Points
43	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	123.316	Owner Points

Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor speedway for his first win of the season and first win with his new team at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).

This was Kenseth’s 25th victory career Sprint Cup victory and it was on his 41st birthday.  He joins Cale Yarborough and Kyle Busch who have also won a race on their birthday.

This was Kenseth’s third victory and seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Las Vegas.

“This is awesome,” Kenseth said in victory lane. “I just want to start by thanking the Lord for giving us this opportunity. I just knew it. I knew with working with Jason Ratcliff that we could do this.”

Kasey Kahne finished second, Brad Keselowski third, Kyle Busch fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.

“Never ever give up. Never give up. This team doesn’t and we didn’t today. You get a good run like we did and that is a product of that effort. I thought we had some really good speed there at the end. I almost want another yellow to race the 5 and the 20. Matt (Kenseth) did a great job executing the restarts really well. We were so close.” Keselowski said.

Keselowski started on the pole due to the cancellation of qualifying because for rain. Keselowski led the first lap with Bowyer right behind the blue deuce. Bowyer tried to get the lead but he got loose in turn 4 and fell back to fourth place and continued to fall lap after lap.  Bowyer dropped 24 spots before coming to pit road because of severe loose conditions.

Kahne, who had the dominate car of the day, took over the race lead on lap 11 from Keselowski in turns 1 and 2.

Biffle also came in on lap 40 because he told his team his car was too loose.

Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 45 with Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. coming in. Kahne came in for some four tires and fuel and some adjustments and was on his way. Keselowski got an air pressure adjustment while Jeff Gordon got a chassis adjustment. Busch came in and got his pit stop but was too fast entering and has to come in for a pass through penalty

The first caution waved on lap 66 for debris on the backstretch. Ryan Newman got the free pas and there will be 19 cars on the lead lap. Everybody came in and got two tires and fuel except for the No.1 of Jamie McMurray who got fuel only and came out 6th.

Green flag waved on lap 70 with Kahne leading them into turn 1. Kahne easily cared the No.2 and Johnson over took the blue deuce and got 2nd. Johnson then took the lead on lap 75 in turn 4.

The second round of green flag stops began with Keselowski coming in saying he thought a tire was flat.  Earnhardt Jr, Trevor Bayne and other came in and got there stops completed and were on their way. Hamlin got a speeding penalty for too fast entering. Johnson kept the lead until lap 137 when Kahne took the top spot over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

The second caution waved for the second time with 108 laps to go when the No.9 of Marcos Ambrose was trying to get on pit road but spun it out instead. All of the leaders came into pit and 5-time Johnson came out first with four tires as everybody took four good years. Hamlin got the free pass to put 15 cars on the lead lap.

They went back to green with 102 laps to go and Rowdy Busch went three wide to take the lead into turn 1. He passed Kahne and Johnson and took the lead in his hometown track.

Caution is out for a spin by Bobby Labonte on lap 195. The leaders came in and everybody got two tires and fuel. Kahne came in first and went out first.

The green flag was waved with 68 laps to go and Kahne and Busch were battling for the lead in turns 1 and 2 and Busch over took him on the backstretch. Kahne then took the lead back from Busch and pulled away.

Fourth Caution waved with 43 laps to go when the No.93 of Travis Kvapil blew up on the exit of turn 4 and spewed fluid everywhere around the track. the No.10 of Danica Patrick was right behind him and she got tons of oil on her windshield as she came in and got a tear off and four tires with fuel. Leaders also came in for, what could be there final stop, and most of them got 2 tires and fuel. Truex Jr. could not get his car started and stalled it and lost multiple spots. Kahne was trying to get out but got boxed in by Stewart and also lost some spots. Keselowski and Kenseth did not take tires and they will restart in the lead.

They restarted with 35 laps to go and the restart was a train wreck. It looked like Edwards did not go and bottled up Kahne, Paul Menard and others. Kenseth took the lead with Keselowski right behind him. Caution waved just a few laps later when the No.39 of Ryan Newman missed a shift and blew his engine.

They restarted the race with 26 laps to go and Kenseth shot up like a rocket and took the top spot over Keselowski. Kahne passed Johnson and Keselowski for the second position and was in search for the No.20. Kahne gained a tenth every couple laps and with 14 to go, he caught Kenseth. He finally got to the bumper of Kenseth with eight to go but just could not make the pass.

The race had 22 lead changes among eight drivers and five caution flags for 25 laps.

Johnson leads the series point standings by five points over Keselowski.

Unofficial Race Results
Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=3
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	18	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	47
2	4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	44
3	1	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	42
4	13	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	41
5	16	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	39
6	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	39
7	12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	37
8	11	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	36
9	8	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	35
10	17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	34
11	9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	33
12	21	22	Joey Logano	Ford	32
13	23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	32
14	15	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	30
15	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	30
16	22	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	28
17	5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	27
18	7	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Ford	27
19	25	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	25
20	24	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	24
21	27	51	Austin Dillon(i)	Chevrolet	0
22	19	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	22
23	36	21	Trevor Bayne(i)	Ford	0
24	33	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	20
25	10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	19
26	20	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	18
27	2	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	17
28	31	38	David Gilliland	Ford	16
29	30	13	Casey Mears	Ford	15
30	26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	14
31	29	34	David Ragan	Ford	13
32	38	30	David Stremme	Toyota	12
33	37	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	11
34	32	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	10
35	43	35	Josh Wise(i)	Ford	0
36	35	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	8
37	34	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	7
38	14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	6
39	28	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	5
40	42	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	Toyota	0
41	40	95	Scott Speed	Ford	3
42	41	33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	2
43	39	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	1

Matt Kenseth would give himself a 41st birthday present by winning the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It marks his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing and his 25th career victory.

 

Lap 1 Brad Keselowski leads

Lap 4 Clint Bowyer goes for the lead, but gets major loose

Lap 12 Kasey Kahne grabs the lead

Lap 18 Clint Bowyer makes an unscheduled pit stop

Lap 26 Kahne leads Keselowski Ky Busch Johnson Harvick Truex Stenhouse Earnhardt Hamlin Kenseth

Lap 36 Kahne Keselowski Ky Busch Johnson Harvick Truex Earnhardt Kenesth Edwards Stenhouse

Lap 38 Greg Biffle comes down pit road.

Lap 44 Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Danica Patrick and Martin Truex Jr. come down pit road with others. Kyle Busch to the lead

Lap 45 Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard, Tony Stewart to the pits.

Lap 46 Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson pit. Jamie McMurray to the lead.

Lap 47 Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick pit. Jamie McMurray to the lead while Kyle Busch receives a penalty for being too fast entering section one of pit road.

Lap 48 Jamie McMurray pits. J.J. Yeley and Joey Logano gets a penalty for too fast exiting pit road. Kasey Kahne goes back to the lead.

Lap 51 Kahne Keselowski Harvick Johnson

Lap 59 Kahne leads Keselowski Harvick Johnson Earnhardt Truex Kenseth Edwards Hamlin Stenhouse

Lap 66 Stenhouse passes Hamlin. Caution for debris. Ryan Newman gets the lucky dog. Pit stops. Some take two, some take four, McMurray fuel only. Kahne leads Keselowski Harvick Johnson Earnhardt McMurray Edwards Truex Kenseth and Hamlin off pit road. Greg Biffle gets penalized for an uncontrolled tire. Some people take the wave around to get back on the lead lap/only one lap down

Restart lap 70 Kahne leads ahead of Johnson and Keselowski

Lap 71 Kahne leads Johnson and Keselowski

Lap 74 Kahne lead Johnson Keselowski Harvick Truex Earnhardt Hamlin Edwards Kenseth Martin

Lap 75 Kahne and Johnson side-by-side for the lead. Johnson takes the lead off of turn four.

Lap 77 Johnson leads Kahne Keselowski Harvick Truex Earnhardt Hamlin Edwards Kenseth and Martin. Cassill to the garage with engine trouble.

Lap 80 Johnson leads Kahne Keselowski Harvick Truex Eanhardt Hamlin Edwards Kenseth Ky Busch

Lap 88 Ky Busch passes Kenseth for ninth

lap 105 Hamlin passes Earnhardt for sixth

lap 107 Edwards passes Earnhardt for seventh

lap 109 Johnson leads Kahne Keselowski Harvick Truex Hamlin Edwards Earnhardt Ky Busch Kenseth

lap 112 Keselowski pits with a flat tire. Earnhardt Jr. has also pitted, among others

lap 116 Harvick, Montoya, Kahne, Hamlin, Dillon, Ku Busch, Martin, Truex and Menard pit.

Lap 117 Almirola and Bayne pit

Lap 118 Kenseth, Gordon, Johnson, Ky Busch and Stewart pit. Hamlin was too fast entering section one of pit road.

Lap 119 Stenhouse Jr. and Patrick pit. Johnson back to the lead. Danica Patrick gets a penalty for a tire being outside her pit.

Lap 126 Johnson leads Kahne Keselowski Truex Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Ky Busch Edwards Martin

Lap 138 Johnson leads Kahne Keselowski Truex Earnhardt Ky Busch……Kahne drives around Johnson for the lead

Lap 139 Kahne leads Johnson Keselowski Truex Earnhardt Ky Busch

Lap 140 Ky Busch passes Earnhardt for fifth

Lap 145 Kahne leads Johnson Keselowski Ky Busch Truex Kenseth Earnhardt Edwards Martin Harvick

Lap 148 Joey Logano makes a green flag pit stop.

Lap 152 Kenseth passes Truex for fifth

Lap 159 Kahne leads Johnson Keselowski Ky Busch Kenseth Earnhardt Truex Edwards Martin Stenhouse

Caution lap 160 Ambrose gets sideways trying to come on pit road. Denny Hamlin gets the lucky dog. Leaders make their way down pit road. Johnson leads Kahne Ky Busch Kenseth Earnhardt Edwards Truex Martin Menard and McMurray off pit road. Keselowski came in third, had left side troubles.

Restart 102 to go Kahne doesn’t get up to speed, Ky Busch makes it three-wide with Johnson and Kahne. Ky Busch to the lead ahead of Johnson and Kahne

99 to go Ky Busch leads Johnson Kahne Earnhardt Kenseth Edwards Truex Martin Menard Almirola

98 to go Stenhouse gets into the wall

96 to go Keselowski and Harvick pass Almirola

95 to go Harvick passes Keselowski for 10^th

92 to go Ky Busch leads Kahne Johnson Earnhardt Kenseth Edwards Truex Martin Menard Harvick

Lap 181 Kasey Kahne passes Ky Busch to take back the lead

81 to go Kahne leads Ky Busch Johnson Kenseth Edwards Earnhardt Truex Harvick Martin Keselowski

79 to go Keselowski passes Martin for ninth

73 to go Caution big spin by Bobby Labonte. Tony Stewart got a lucky dog. Most took two tires. Kahne leads Ky Busch Johnson Kenseth Edwards Earnhardt Harvick McMurray Truex Keselowski. Hamlin stayed out, takes over the lead. Keselowski is the first in line with four tires.

Restart 68 to go Kahne grabs the lead off of two ahead of Ky Busch and Hamlin.

67 to go Ky Busch grabs the lead at the line ahead of Kahne and Kenseth

62 to go Ky Busch leads Kahne Johnson Kenseth Hamlin Earnhardt Edwards Harvick Truex McMurray

56 to go Kahne grabs the lead back from Ky Busch

54 to go Kahne leads Ky Busch Johnson Kenseth Hamlin Earnhardt Harvick Edwards Truex Keselowski

49 to go Hamlin pits for two tires

42 to go Caution Travis Kvapil blows up majorly. Joey Logano gets the lucky dog. Leaders pit. Kenseth leads Keselowski Johnson Edwards Earnhardt Kahne Ky Busch Menard Truex and Almirola. Some took two, some took four, some took no tires.

Restart 37 to go leaders don’t get going….Kenseth has the lead down the backstretch ahead of Keselowski and Johnson.

33 to go Kenseth leads Keselowski Johnson Earnhardt Kahne Ky Busch Edwards Truex Martin and Menard……Kahne passes Earnhardt.

Caution 32 to go Ryan Newman goes up in smoke.  Leaders stay out, Hamlin pits.

30 laps to go Kenseth Keselowski Johnson Kahne Dale Jr KyBusch Edwards Truex Martin Menard Almirola Stewart Harvick McMurray Stenhouse

Restart 26 to go Keselowski and Kenseth side-by-side into turn one…..Kenseth to the lead off of turn two…….Kahne passes Keselowski for second into turn three

25 to go Kenseth leads Kahne ahead of Ky Busch and Keselowski.

24 to go Kenseth leads Kahne Ky Busch Keselowski Johnson Truex Earnhardt Edwards Menard Stewart

16 to go Edwards passes Earnhardt for seventh; Harvick passes Stewart for 10^th

8 to go Keselowski passes Ky Busch for third

6 to go Harvick passes Menard for ninth

4 to go Kenseth still leads, Kahne in toe

Happy Birthday Kenseth!! Kahne. Keselowski. Ky Busch. Edwards. Johnson. Earnhardt. Truex. Harvick.

Unofficial Race Results
Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/race.php?race=3
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	18	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	47
2	4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	44
3	1	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	42
4	13	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	41
5	16	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	39
6	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	39
7	12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	37
8	11	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	36
9	8	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	35
10	17	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	34
11	9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	33
12	21	22	Joey Logano	Ford	32
13	23	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	32
14	15	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	30
15	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	30
16	22	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	28
17	5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	27
18	7	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Ford	27
19	25	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	25
20	24	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	24
21	27	51	Austin Dillon(i)	Chevrolet	0
22	19	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	22
23	36	21	Trevor Bayne(i)	Ford	0
24	33	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	20
25	10	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	19
26	20	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	18
27	2	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	17
28	31	38	David Gilliland	Ford	16
29	30	13	Casey Mears	Ford	15
30	26	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	14
31	29	34	David Ragan	Ford	13
32	38	30	David Stremme	Toyota	12
33	37	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	11
34	32	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	10
35	43	35	Josh Wise(i)	Ford	0
36	35	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	8
37	34	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	7
38	14	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	6
39	28	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	5
40	42	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	Toyota	0
41	40	95	Scott Speed	Ford	3
42	41	33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	2
43	39	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	1

Martin Truex Jr. paced Happy Hour with a fastest speed of 188.383 mph leading up to the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway tomorrow afternoon. Truex is trying to get a good race under his belt after poor finishes in both the season-opening Daytona 500 and last weekend at the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix. Could this be a track where Truex can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together? Truex comes into this race with an average finish of 17th. His 6th place finish here at this event in 2011 is his best finish here in Vegas.

Carl Edwards was second fastest with a speed of 187.007 mph. Edwards is coming off his first win in nearly two years last week in Phoenix where he led 122 of the 312 laps. Last season, Edwards only led 250 laps and missed the cut for the Chase and failed to win a race. Edwards is a two-time winner here in Vegas. He won here in 2008, and 2011.

Hometown hero Kyle Busch was third quickest. Busch is also one of those drivers who just needs a break. He left the Daytona 500 due to engine failure and hit the wall twice in Phoenix en-route to a 23rd place finish. He won here in 2009, but hasn’t found much luck since. His engine exploded in 2011, and last year he struggled and wound up in 23rd after spinning out.

Points leader and Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth quickest and he has 4 wins at this race track. He is my pick to win the race. He won three races in a row here at one point from 2005-2007, and beat teammate Jeff Gordon in a duel here in 2010, but it was the decision to take 4 tires on the last pit stop that prevailed the 48 to the front of the field. Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard, and Greg Biffle rounded out the Top 10.

Matt Kenseth was 11th fastest. He is a two-time Vegas winner, but has not won here since 2004. Following Kenseth was Jeff Burton. Burton is also a two-time winner here in Vegas. In the first three races held in Las Vegas, Burton had two wins and a 2nd, but has won come close to winning here since 2009 where he finished third.

Defending winner of this race Tony Stewart was 18th quickest. Other notables include: Keselowski (21st), Gordon (22nd), Kurt Busch (23rd), Danica (30th).

With rain falling throughout the entire afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying was rained out, putting defending series champion Brad Keselowski on the pole. The rest of the field will start based on last year’s owners standings as per NASCAR rules.

The rule states that for the first three races, if qualifying is rained out, the field is set based off last year’s owners standings. For the rest of the season, the field will be set by this year’s owner’s standings if qualifying is rained out.

The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford is fully taking in the perk of being last year’s champion after timing in 12th and 21st during Thursday’s test session.

“That is the first time I have had a decent starting position in a rainout,” he said. “That is great. I feel pretty good about that. I was just thinking when I walked in, with this being Vegas and all, what the odds would be of a rainout in Vegas. I bet that was pretty high. Obviously whenever you can start up front it is a big deal and you get the first pit stall and all those things that make a big difference on pit road. The way our car has been running the last two weeks, and off of what I saw in practice yesterday I feel like we are in position to hopefully keep that for a very long time in the race and hopefully close it out.”

Clint Bowyer will start second, followed by points leader Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Denny Hamlin will start sixth, followed by rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who is using Matt Kenseth’s points from last year), Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Biffle led the second practice session on Thursday.

Matt Kenseth, who led the morning session, will start 18th as he is using Joey Logano’s points from last year.

Phoenix race winner Carl Edwards will start 16th with Daytona 500 pole sitter Danica Patrick starting 37th.

Mike Bliss will be the only driver that does not make the field for the Kobalt Tools 400.

Carl Edwards had the nightmare of his life during Speedweeks leading up to the Daytona 500. He wrecked four race cars before finally finishing off the fifth car in the Daytona 500.

An extremely dejected Carl Edwards said in the garage that they would go to Phoenix and win the race. No one really considered Edwards a favorite to win this weekend. He wasn’t terrifically quick during practice like the No. 55 of Mark Martin and the No.18 of Kyle Busch, but he had a decent place in the top-10. Edwards dominated the final portion of this race, leading the final 78 laps and leading a total of 122 of the 312 laps.

Mark Martin and Kyle Busch came in as the heavy favorites, but both ran into trouble. On Lap 48, Kyle Busch attempted to pass Kevin Harvick on the high side, but got loose and spun out, tagging the outside wall. Busch then received a penalty for pitting too soon and the No.18 ended up in the 23rd position. Martin led 75 laps early, but had to pit on Lap 68 for a loose wheel. A caution would come out soon after to put the No.55 back on the lead lap, but he never came back to the front and couldn’t get as high as 21st.

The biggest story other than the exciting finish was Goodyear tires. The first instance of a problem that came up was when Kevin Harvick cut a tire and hit the wall during the Nationwide event yesterday. Ryan Newman was the crash dummy today as he had two separate incidents for melted beads. Newman blew two-right front tires, both sustaining damage, but the second accident left Newman fuming. Newman exited the car and ran across the track in front of traffic and tried to jump over the pit wall in one jump, but nearly fell and had to regain his posture. Newman went to the infield care center and left through the rear entrance to avoid the media. Later, it was reported that Newman would do an interview, but that never came to light.

And it was a rough weekend for Danica Patrick. She struggled with the balance of her race car for a majority of the weekend, but she was running on the lead lap in 26th before blowing her right-front tire exiting turn four on Lap 184. She hit the wall head-on and then bounced back into the No.34 of David Ragan who shredded Patrick’s car.

It was the first win of the year for Edwards. The last time he won at Phoenix, he would go on to nearly win the championship. Could Edwards be considered a threat now? Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin traded paint for second with Johnson coming out on top, with Hamlin falling short in third spot.

Defending series champion Brad Keselowski would finish in fourth and rounding out the Top 10 would be Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Jeff Burton.

Jimmie Johnson started off the 2006 season with the Daytona 500 victory and a second place finish at Auto Club Speedway the following weekend. He has done exactly that this year. When asked if he considered himself a favorite, he said, “Well I didn’t about know that stat, but I would like to keep that up and five straight championships again will be nice, but we will take it one week at a time.”

When I asked Carl Edwards, “We have seen you have great years and then droughts here and there, is Jimmy Fennig the solution?” Carl then asked Jimmy, “How many more years are you going to do this, Jimmy? I didn’t think he wanted to work with me this year.” Jimmy sat and laughed. “I hope the floodgates open and we can go out and do some good.”

Carl later approached me and apologized if I thought he was picking on me, but I didn’t take it that way at all. And after that conversation, I have a whole new respect for Carl Edwards and he has earned himself a fan. Las Vegas is next week and I cannot wait!

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

Carl Edwards would break a 70-race losing streak at Phoenix International Raceway by winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in the No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion.

 

Lap 1 Mark Martin pulls to the early lead ahead of Kahne. Stenhouse Jr. gets into the wall, continues without too much damage

Lap 4 Martin Kahne Johnson Gordon Stewart Harvick Kenseth Newman Menard and Keselowski

Lap 6 Bowyer passes Keselowski for 10^th

Lap 16 Menard passes Newman for eighth

Lap 18 Keselowski passes Bowyer for 10^th

Lap 20 Martin Kahne Johnson Gordon Stewart Harvick Kenseth Menard Newman Keselowski

Caution lap 21 Scott Riggs blows a tire and hits the wall. Drivers outside of the top 10 pit.

Restart lap 28 Mark Martin jumps out to the lead with Kahne and Johnson racing side-by-side for second.

Lap 29 Johnson passes Kahne for second.

Lap 30 Martin Johnson Kahne Gordon Harvick Stewart Kenseth Menard Keselowski Newman

Lap 31 Harvick passes Gordon for fourth

Lap 32 Kenseth passes Stewart; Kurt Busch passes Newman for 10^th

Lap 36 Kurt Busch says all the gauges are red. May have an engine problem, or an electrical problem

Lap 40 Martin Johnson Kahne Harvick Gordon Kenseth Stewart Menard Keselowski Ku Busch

Lap 42 Keselowski and Ku Busch pass Menard for eighth

Caution lap 48 Kyle Busch spins in turn two after getting out of the groove while racing Edwards for 15^th. Busch had made his way up to 15^th following starting in the back. Leaders pit while nine cars stayed out. Kahne led Mark Martin off pit road. Bowyer hit Kvapil coming off pit road. Busch goes at least one lap down while getting repairs. Martin Truex Jr. stalled on pit road after a rear axle problem.  lap 54 … Biffle Montoya Almirola Stenhouse Yeley Gilliland Martin Kahne Gordon Harvick Kenseth Burton.

Restart lap 56 Biffle and Montoya side-by-side for the lead

Lap 57 Montoya wiggles, allowing Biffle to head out to the lead

Lap 58 Biffle Montoya Stenhouse Almirola Gilliland Kahne Harvick Kenseth Martin Gordon

Lap 59 Kahne passes Gilliland for fifth

Lap 60 Biffle Montoya Stenhouse Almirola Kahne Gilliland Harvick Kenseth Martin Gordon

Lap 62 Harvick passes Gilliland

Lap 64 Mark Martin pits for right side tires due to a loose wheel. Montoya passes Biffle for the lead. Caution as Dave Blaney hits the wall virtue of David Stremme. Mark Martin gets the lucky dog. Some cars pit.

Lap 69 Montoya leads Biffle Stenhouse Almirola Kahne

Restart lap 70 as Biffle grabs the lead ahead of Montoya and Almirola

Lap 71 Biffle Almirola Montoya Harvick Stenhouse Kahne Kenseth Gilliland Edwards Gordon…..Harvick looking for a way around Montoya for third

Lap 73 Harvick clears Montoya for third; Kahne and Kenseth pass Stenhouse

Lap 75 Biffle Almirola Harvick Montoya Kahne Kenseth Stenhouse Edwards Gordon Gilliland

Lap 78 Burton and Keselowski pass Gilliland; Edwards passes Stenhouse

Lap 79 Kahne passes Montoya

Lap 80 Biffle Almirola Harvick Kahne Montoya Kenseth Edwards Gordon Stenhouse Burton

Caution lap 98 Ryan Newman slaps the wall after tire went flat due to melted bead as a result of excessive brake heat. Joe Nemechek gets the free pass. Leaders head down pit road. Edwards leads Keselowski Stewart Johnson Smith Bowyer Earnhardt off pit road. Mark Martin stays out to take the lead

Restart lap 104 Mark Martin grabs the lead ahead of Keselowski

Lap 105 Martin leads Keselowski Edwards Stewart Johnson Ku Busch Bowyer Earnhardt Harvick Almirola

Lap 111 Bowyer passes Busch

Lap 115 Stewart passes Edwards

Lap 127 Martin Keselowski Stewart Edwards Johnson Bowyer Ku Busch Earnhardt Jr Harvick Almirola….Keselowski passes Martin for the lead

Lap 139 Keselowski leads Martin Stewart Edwards Johnson Ku Busch Bowyer Earnhardt Harvick Almirola

Caution lap 141 Newman gets into the wall in turn one. Another melted bead. Leaders pit. Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Harvick Hamlin Almirola Kenseth off pit road.

Restart lap 147 Edwards pull ahead with Johnson and Earnhardt side-by-side for second. Johnson clears Earnhard through the dog leg.

Lap 149 Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Harvick Hamlin Almirola Kahne Kenseth Biffle Ku Busch. Kenseth passes Kahne through turns three and four.

Lap 156 Ku Busch passes Biffle for ninth

Lap 158 Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Jr Harvick Hamin Kenseth Almirola Kahne Ku Busch Biffle

Lap 161 Kahne passes Almirola

Lap 165 Logano passes Biffle

Lap 166 Kenseth passes Hamlin

Lap 176 Edwards Johnson Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Hamlin Kahne Ku Busch Almirola Keselowski

Lap 177 Ku Busch passes Kahne for seventh

Lap 180 Keselowski passes Almirola so its now Edwards leading Johnson Earnhardt Harvick Kenseth Hamlin Ku Busch Kahne Keselowski Almirola…..Kahne went up the track quickly, overshooting the corner. He falls back to 11^th

Lap 182 Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Jr Harvick Kenseth Hamlin Ku Busch Keselowski Almirola Logano

Caution lap 184 Danica Harvick destroys her car after blowing a right front. She hits the wall, and then makes contact with David Regan. Danica: “I’m OK, but it was a huge, huge hit.” Tony Gibson: “Just as long as you’re OK.” Leaders pit. Earnhardt Jr. first off pit road ahead of Edwards Johnson Kenseth Hamlin Keselowski Ku Busch Harvick Bowyer and McMurray.

Restart lap 194 Earnhardt Jr. clear out in front as Johnson grabs second from Edwards

Lap 199 Kenseth passes Edwards for fourth

Lap 203 Earnhardt leads Johnson Kenseth Edwards Keselowski Bowyer Harvick Ku Busch Gordon

97 to go Earnhardt leads Johnson Kenseth Edwards Keselowski Hamlin Bowyer Harvick Gordon Ku Busch

79 to go Earnhardt leads Johnson Kenseth Edwards Keselowski Hamlin Bowyer Harvick Gordon Stewart

Caution 76 to go David Gilliland has a right front go down. Kyle Busch gets the lucky dog. Leaders pit. Edwards leads Earnhardt Jr. Johnson Hamlin Bowyer Keselowski off of pit road.

Restart 70 to go Earnhardt spins the tires, Edwards scoots away. Johnson grabs second from Earnhardt

68 to go Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Hamlin Bowyer Keselowski Harvick Kenseth Stewart Gordon

67 to go Stewart passes Kenseth for eighth

66 to go Logano passes Gordon for 10^th

65 to go Kyle Busch gets up into the wall, keeps going, no caution.

60 to go Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Hamlin Bowyer Keselowski Harvick Stewart Kenseth Logano

54 to go Keselowski passes Bowyer. Kenseth passes Stewart.

50 to go Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Hamlin Keselowski Bowyer Harvick Kenseth Stewart Logano

49 to go Kenseth passes Harvick for seventh

48 to go Stewart passes Harvick for eighth

47 to go Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Hamlin Keselowski Bowyer Kenseth Stewart Harvick Logano

42 to go Edwards leads Johnson Earnhardt Keselowski Hamlin Bowyer Kenseth Stewart Harvick Gordon

39 to go Keselowski passes Earnhardt for third

30 to go Edwards leads Johnson Keselowski Earnhardt Hamlin Bowyer Kenseth Stewart Gordon Burton

5 to go Logano is off the pace – out of gas.

Caution 3 to go Ken Schrader blew a right front. Leaders stay out. Landon Cassil stalls on the backstretch, out of gas.

Restart. Edwards goes, Keselowski on the bumper with the shove. Edwards to the lead, Keselowski side-by-side with Johnson. Hamlin down the short cut, gets up to side-by-side with Johnson for second. Johnson barely beats Edwards to the line.

Edwards. Johnson. Hamlin. Keselowski. Earnhardt. Bowyer, Kenseth. Stewart. Gordon. Burton.

Mark Martin captured his third career pole at the Phoenix International Raceway and this is his 20th career top-10 start dating back to his debut here in 1988. At 54 years old, Martin still shocks guys like the young Kasey Kahne, who will start on the front row for the first time at Phoenix.

Phoenix used to be a tough track for Kahne and when I asked him, “What has changed for you at this race track?”, Kahne said, “This track had always been a struggle for me even in open wheel cars and quarter midgets. The banking was just so tough.”

Since the 2011 season, Kahne has had three top-10 finishes out of the last four races ran and it was in the spring event in 2011 when Kahne got loose and hit the wall early in the race while running in second. If he didn’t hit the wall, I bet Kahne would have been a threat at the end. Look for the 5 car to be the biggest threat out of the Hendrick stable. Out of the top-5, all five at some point have had a history with Hendrick Motorsports.

Kyle Busch will start from third, Jimmie Johnson will start in fourth, and Jeff Gordon will start in fifth.

Matt Kenseth fell off from his quick practice run and he will start the race from the ninth position. Denny Hamlin was one of the favorites to win the pole, but he had a very early qualifying lap and wound up in the eighth position. Danica Patrick had a rough start to the weekend and she will start in 40th.

I asked Mark Martin, “You started on the pole last year and led the first lap of the race and wound up in ninth, how do you ensure you are there at the end of the race and not just the beginning?” Mark said that he and the team, “Just need to make this car the best out of the entire field and it starts with the two hours of practice we have tomorrow.”

Martin is a two-time winner here at Phoenix with his first victory coming in 1993 and his most recent coming in 2009.

Starting Lineup – SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/qual.php?race=2
==========================================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
==========================================================
1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	138.074	26.073
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	137.862	26.113
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	137.804	26.124
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	137.673	26.149
5	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	137.164	26.246
6	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	137.143	26.25
7	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	137.075	26.263
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	136.924	26.292
9	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	136.882	26.3
10	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	136.861	26.304
11	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	136.835	26.309
12	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Ford	136.731	26.329
13	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	136.654	26.344
14	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	136.602	26.354
15	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	136.483	26.377
16	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	136.364	26.4
17	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	136.291	26.414
18	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	136.266	26.419
19	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	135.936	26.483
20	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	135.89	26.492
21	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	135.87	26.496
22	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	135.44	26.58
23	51	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	135.44	26.58
24	34	David Ragan	Ford	135.267	26.614
25	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	135.247	26.618
26	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	135.1	26.647
27	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	135.064	26.654
28	95	Scott Speed	Ford	134.917	26.683
29	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	134.821	26.702
30	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	134.705	26.725
31	38	David Gilliland	Ford	134.695	26.727
32	22	Joey Logano	Ford	134.373	26.791
33	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	134.343	26.797
34	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	133.814	26.903
35	19	Mike Bliss(i)	Toyota	133.774	26.911
36	35	Josh Wise(i)	Ford	133.591	26.948
37	30	David Stremme	Toyota	133.571	Owner Points
38	33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	133.383	Owner Points
39	44	Scott Riggs(i)	Ford	132.92	Owner Points
40	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	132.89	Owner Points
41	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	Toyota	132.023	Owner Points
42	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	131.747	Owner Points
43	13	Casey Mears	Ford	131.286	Owner Points

For the second straight year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself the bridesmaid in the biggest race of the year. His frantic charge on the last lap that came up short, ending in a second place finish in the Daytona 500 behind teammate Jimmie Johnson.

“I couldn’t really do much without Mark [Martin] helping me at the end. I was hoping he was thinking what I was thinking as we came off of turn on the last lap,” said Earnhardt Jr. of his team’s performance. “I felt like we needed to make the move a little earlier than off of [turn] four and I kept backing up, backing up trying not to let guys get to racing behind us too much.”

The plan, at least from Earnhardt Jr.’s perspective was for he and Martin to have enough of a gap that if those behind them started to get lined up, they could take off. When not having to worry about the others, Earnhardt Jr. said he just mashed the gas and began his run down the backstretch, Martin following behind.

“Once we come to turn four, we kind of run out of steam, didn’t have enough to get a run on Jimmie,” he said. “But real happy with the way the car run all day. You couldn’t pass much. But when I was bale to really see what my car could do, it was plenty capable of winning the race.”

The 1-2 finish for Hendrick Motorsports, specifically the shop that houses the teams of Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson, is now home to Johnson’s second win in the Daytona 500 while Earnhardt Jr., who won the event in 2004, finished second for the third time in last four races. He was fourth heading into the final lap before charging forward with the help of Martin.

Struck by how long those in front of him waited to make a move, Earnhardt Jr. looked for his opening and took it. But knew, having the same equipment as Johnson it would be hard to get around him. The two will head to Phoenix the top two in points.

For much of the 500-mile race, the field took a conservative approach. Quickly getting single file and logging laps, but numerous times Earnhardt Jr. told his team that he wasn’t even running full throttle and was pondering how the end of the race was going to play out. With not much passing or pack racing taking place, drivers were unable to gage what they could and couldn’t do.

What Earnhardt Jr. knew however, was that his car was much better than it had been just days earlier. In his Budweiser Duel race he complained about how it handled and said the team had a lot of work to do ahead of the 500. But then, in final practice on Saturday the speed showed up and crew chief Steve Letarte fixed the bugs that plagued the No. 88 National Guard team.

Sunday they ran a safe race, avoided the wrecks and were in contention at the end. But it wasn’t enough for Earnhardt Jr. to find victory lane at Daytona again.

“It’s like a drug, I assume. It’s such a high. You just don’t know when you’ll ever get that opportunity again or if you’ll ever get that opportunity again,” said Earnhardt Jr. about trying to win a second Daytona 500. “I knew before I won in 2004, I was reserved to the idea I may be trying to win this race my entire career because I knew all too well how that was for my father.

“I felt so much relief when I did win it. I’m ready to do it again. It’s been too long. Running second over and over is great and all for our team, a good start to the season, but I would love – even having to go through all the hassle that Jimmie is about to go through this week [as Daytona 500 champion] – it’s worth it.”